GeekRoundTable.com

Marvel Set to Release AVENGERS ASSEMBLED 10-Disc Six-Movie Blu-ray Collector’s Set

 

In the event that you haven’t picked up all of the previous Marvel movies separately, the studio has a beast of a Blu-ray collection headed our way.  A 10-Disc special edition set was in the works, and now Amazon has provided a listing for Marvel Cinematic Universe: Phase One – Avengers Assembled.

Hit the jump for more details.  There’s currently no official release date or price for Avengers Assembled, but Amazon says more information about the set will be announced on July 15th, which makes a 2012 release highly likely.  The Avengers will hit Blu-ray, 3D Blu-ray, DVD, and Digital Download on September 25th.  If Avengers Assembled does hit this year.

According to Amazon, the limited edition collection includes:

• Marvel’s The Avengers (Blu-ray 3D and Blu-ray)
• Captain America: The First Avenger (Blu-ray 3D and Blu-ray)
• Thor (Blu-ray 3D and Blu-ray)
• Iron Man 2 (Blu-ray)
• The Incredible Hulk (Blu-ray)
• Iron Man (Blu-ray)
• Bonus Disc – “The Phase One Archives” (Blu-ray)
• Collectible packaging with exclusive memorabilia from the Marvel Cinematic Universe

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GANTZ...One Night Only Event

01/20/2011

NEW PEOPLE and NCM Fathom are bringing the world premiere of GANTZ to movie theaters nationwide for a one night live event on Thursday, January 20th at 8:00 pm ET/ 7:00 pm CT/ 6:00 pm MT/ 8:30 pm PT (tape delayed).This live-action feature, based upon the popular Japanese manga and anime series, is the ultimate survival game. It will be English over-dubbed exclusively for this big screen event.

Following the feature, the two stars, Kazunari Ninomiya and Kenichi Matsuyama will participate in an exclusive live interview that can only be seen at this event

Gantz (ガンツ, Gantsu^?) is a Japanese manga and anime series written and illustrated by Hiroya Oku. Gantz tells the story of Kei Kurono and his friend Masaru Kato who die in a train accident and become part of a semi-posthumous "game" in which they and several other recently deceased people are forced to hunt down and kill aliens armed with a handful of futuristic items of equipment and weaponry.

The Gantz anime, directed by Ichiro Itano and animated by Gonzo, ran for 13 episodes and had a direct sequel called Gantz: Second Stage, which continued the series for another 13 episodes. Both seasons make up the 26 episode series. It was licensed in North America by ADV Films. The anime series is distributed in the United Kingdom by MVM Films, and in Australia and New Zealand by Madman Entertainment. Dark Horse Comics started releasing the manga in English in June 2008. A series of two live-action movies based on the manga are also currently in production and will be released in 2011.

 
cover of 1st Gantz video

Wonder Woman to Hit TV Before the Big Screen

By Brad Trechak

There have been repeated attempts over the past few years to bring the Amazon Princess to the big screen -- including a notable attempt by geek icon Joss Whedon -- though for now it looks like folks have instead turned their attention toward getting 'Wonder Woman' on television again. For those too young to remember, Diana Prince's alter ego had her own show in the '70s starring Lynda Carter.

The most surprising piece of information relating to this news is that David E. Kelley, creator of such television shows as 'Ally McBeal' and 'The Practice', has been assigned to revamp the heroine for television.

It seems a shame that the number three icon at DC Comics is sent back to television while the top two (Superman and Batman) have made successful movie franchises and arguably number four (Green Lantern) is on his way to movie stardom. Back in May, Warner Bros. did say that they're still developing Wonder Woman for the big screen, though as of now there's no word on how far along they are. DC plans to reveal their plans for the big screen by the end of the year.

While there is no doubt that some talent is behind this new concept for Wonder Woman, one can only hope that they don't alter her for television audiences to the point of unrecognizability (like J. Michael Straczynski has just done in the comics). In a world where the big superheroes are finding themselves in movie theaters nowadays, can someone like Wonder Woman survive on the small screen? Is there still a place for live-action superheroes on TV?

The Return of GeekRoundTable.......

It has been a HARD 11 months for me, but it has all lead me to one conclusion, The Show Must Go On!

November 12, 2009: The Death of my Mother....

My Mom and Dad are both geeks and gave me my love of The World of Geek.  From my Dad, I got my love of Comics and Classic movies, and Toys, and from my Mom I got my love of Japanese Giant monster movies and action figures.  In July of  2009 my Mom, Brother, Sister, and their kids came out for a visit from New York.  We talked about Comic-Con and my being a board member and other things. She brought me a replica of Mecha-Godzilla, that she carried on the plane.  Then, roughly 3 and a half months later I get a phone call from family telling me my Mother is gravely ill.  I rush home and spend time with her in the Hospital.  After 10 days I run out of cash and have to come home with plans to return.  November 12, 2009, I get a call from my brother in tears telling me my Mother has passed away.  I am numb for the next 6 months.  I consider quitting Comic-Con and the board and giving up this site.  But, my Geek friends won't let me.  The love and support I got from my friends, still surprises me to this day.  Thanks to all of you.  I also want to say thanks to all the folks who came up to me after The GRT panel this year and shared their sympathy and  their own stories of loss.  Thank you.  All that support said to me, that the show must go on.

I Love You Mom,

,and always will.......

I dedicate The GRT website to my Mother.

A New GeekRoundTable!!!!!!

While the old GRT was not a bad set of show, it seem to be a lot slower in getting out to you guys.  I really want this site to be a fun, source of info for geeks, but not make it feel like you have to read a ton of content or listen to a 2 hour show.  So, what we are going to do on GRT is STREAMLINE the show.  What this means is we are not only make easier for you guys to get content, but make it easier for us to get it to you.  What this means is, getting the show to you in different ways. The pod casts will happen, but, they will be shorter.  There will be a GRT page on You Tube, to get you content directly from us at home and at the various show we all go to, like Anime Expo, APE, Wonder Con, and other conventions.  We are now  going to do  3 different shows:

1. A leaner, meaner GRT

We are going shorten the shows from over an hour, to 45 minutes to up to an hour.  What this means is because most of the cast is all over California, we will Skype more shows to make it convenient for everyone.  We will not cut out full, live cast show, there will just be fewer live ones.

2.The Politics of Geek

This show will be a passionate exploration of The World of Geek, from Women in Geekdom to Racism in the Geekdom.  This will be the Meet the Press for geeks.

3. From the Balcony Geeks

This show will concentrate on classic movies and will be manned by the old guys in the group, but not limited to them.  We will talk classic films and little known gems.

A fourth show, Rant! ,is more of a commentary bit that will mostly end up on You Tube, since they show will run anywhere from 10 minutes and up.  This will be the show where geeks get to grind that Geek Axe.

A new feature that we will also use will be The Empty Chair, where we invite a fan of GRT to sit in on a show(in person or via Skype).  will will start the  Empty chair in January.  We are looking forward to the new format and will be changing the face of GRT site, to fit the new shows.  If anyone wants to design new headers,will will put them up and give you full credit and put you at the top of the list for The Empty Chair.  If you have any questions drop us an email at [email protected]. 

Geek Out!

Ned Cato Jr

Twilight Review

Unless you’ve been living under a rock (or in Canada) for the last year or so, you’ve heard of Twilight. References to it are everywhere; Team Edward shirts, Team Jacob shirts, tween girls wrapping a line around the San Diego Convention Center that would make George Lucas jealous. Inevitably anyone familiar with the basic laws of physics knows that for every action, there is an equal or opposite reaction, and react vampire and Gothic lore fans did. For every dozen twilight fans there was another dozen self-proclaimed nerds shouting that the way vampires were portrayed in the books (probably more the movies but I’ll get to that) was “wrong”. I never personally understood this myself as vampires have been shown many different ways in many different forms of media. The Nosferatu of the original black and white classic film is about as far from Angel and Spike portrayed in Buffy the Vampire Slayer as the vampires from 30 Days of Night are from Edward Cullen of Twilight. Personally defending the books myself with arguments like this.

The one thing I seemed to share with self-proclaimed haters of the Twilight series was that neither of us had actually read the books or seen the movies. The books MUST be horrible, they HAVE to be for vampires to sparkle and be dreamboats who every girl aged ten to twelve seems to have fallen in love with. Wait though, aren’t Angel (and to a lesser extent Spike) complete dreamboats in the Buffy and Angel series? That’s when it struck me that not only was I being a hypocrite, but I was doing so while being completely ignorant to what I was bashing. That isn’t like me at all. When I attended the funeral services for a friend of mine who passed away recently, his girlfriend told an amusing anecdote about how Dan had read all the Twilight books just so he could make fun of the girls in Team Edward shirts from a more knowledgeable standpoint. That settled it.

I had to read Twilight and review it for myself.

Sure, it might be terrible, but it couldn’t be worse than other books I’ve read. The Silmarillion comes to mind. Heck, I’ve even read the Bible three times just so when people would ask me why I was an atheist in Temecula (the California bible belt) I could at least explain my point of view from a stance that wasn’t ignorant. Twilight couldn’t be much harder than those.

So here we go;

Told from the point of view of Isabella (Bella from now on) Swan. The book begins by following Bella from her move from Phoenix, Arizona to a perpetually rainy Forks Washington. Bella, for your money, could not, even with all the combined efforts of NASA, the US Military, and MIT, be more ordinary if she tried. The efforts Stephanie Meyer went to to make Bella the perfect character for any female human to identify with were so perfect it made me laugh out loud every time her exceptional levels of plainness slapped me in the face. She’s tall, but not too tall, has straight brown hair, is clumsy, poor at sports, becomes overwhelmed to the point of tears over almost any occasion, is a little smarter than everyone else in her class due to Phoenix’s superior school system in comparison to that of the one ruling over her Forks high school, and spends the entire book questioning why anyone would love or even be interested in her. Bella’s character for these reasons, as I’ve heard from male friends of mine, is a big reason why the entire series should be written off.  What’s so exceptional about her that anyone should care what happens to her, most of all the exceptional Edward (we’ll get to him in a bit). Though this is how the book identifies itself as being strictly for women (and gay men to a certain extent). There ISN’T anything exceptional about her, and somehow beyond ALL odds she manages to attract the attention of not only every boy in her school, but of the dreamiest male since Brad Pitt swaggered his way onto the set of Thelma and Louise.

Edward is introduced as a member of a family (the Cullens) who are beyond any regular measure of attractiveness and athleticism. Edward somehow can NOT keep his eyes off of her, and reacts ALMOST violently to Bella’s presence in his class. Bella can not understand the hatred this beautiful Edward has towards her with almost no excuse what-so-ever. Edward is the first archetype of the dime store romance novel introduced. Tall, chiseled from white stone, with high cheekbones and eyes that “smoulder” so often I thought about making “smouldering eyes” a drinking game (every time you read it, take a drink). Edward at one point saves Bella from being crushed by a car with his supernatural vampire abilities leaving Bella with a ton of questions about this superhero roman god in finely tailored clothing who attends high school. I also enjoyed the almost Superman/Clark Kent obvious secret identity thing here. No one notices of course when he stops a full sized van from crushing the perpetual Louis Lane that is Bella. Eventually Edward’s malice towards Bella fades into an attraction, and from there develops into a deep and intense love.  A love so deep and pure I couldn’t help but laugh and laugh and laugh at it’s ridiculousness. Again though, this is where the book shows that it isn’t written for me, it’s written for my girlfriend (oh dear god is this book ever written for my girlfriend).

While Edward and Bella’s relationship begins to blossom and they talk more often,  Bella meets a young boy named Jacob Black who unravels all the questions that Bella has of Edward with his tales of Native American folklore. Jacob Black would be the second dime store romance novel archetype. Why else would there be a well built Native American boy in the story? They don’t cover it in this story, but I can smell romantic tension from a few books away. Evidently what happened is the Cullens came to Washington long ago to hide from the sun, which comes out in Forks a total of seven days a year, and made a deal that they would not ever enter the Native’s reservation land in exchange for the natives not ever selling them out as being vampires (as harmless as they promised to be towards humans). Of course Bella is already far too in love with her picturesque Edward to even care that he’s a vampire. Then Edward takes Bella to a meadow and reveals much about himself, how and when he became a vampire, and to the chagrin of vampire fans everywhere that vampires don’t burst into flames when in contact with direct sunlight, but instead sparkle.

 

The translation via myth of course is that they hid from the sunlight because of bursting into flames, but evidently it was just that they would be highlighted because of their sparkly weakness. Actually the vampires in this story don’t really have ANY weaknesses. They’re unbelievably strong, much stronger than any vampire I’ve read about or seen previously.  They play baseball with each other only during thunderstorms to hide the boom of the bat [yes I know vampires playing baseball, I laughed too]. Edward is the fastest of of his family, which is saying a lot because at times they run fast enough to keep pace with a full speed Mercedes. Some of them even carry over minor mental abilities that are exaggerated in the process of being turned into a vampire. Edward can read minds, has a “sister” Alice that is prescient, and another “sibling” Jasper who has the ability to calm or excite people as he wishes.  According to Edward the only way to kill one of their kind is to tear them into pieces and burn the remains.

I use quotes around sibling and sister because this isn’t Edwards family per se, just his coven. A group of vampires that has sworn off human blood in favor of hunting only animals. That is where you also, though, discover Edward’s almost impossible attraction to the plain and hapless Bella. Evidently her blood is too tempting. It’s used to explain the avoidance when they first met after his almost outburst of violence at their first encounter. It’s Edward’s heroin if you will. Having been a vampire that has sworn off the blood of humans for so long, being around Bella is the ultimate temptation, like an alcoholic that eventually has to start attending New Years parties where champagne is served I guess. He’s always on the edge of giving into his animal instincts, but is unable to resist being near Bella, who always appears as a vision of beauty to him and smells irresistible.

It’s also revealed in the story that Bella is the only person Edward has ever met who has a mind that is completely unreadable. So while Edward can pry information from the mind of anyone around him, Bella gets to keep her thoughts a mystery from him. Why any woman would find this to be desirable is completely beyond me (it’s true, there really does need to be a sarcasm font).  The real action of the story is pretty anticlimactic. It happens when, while playing baseball, the Cullens run across a trio of vampires. One of the new vampires decides he’s going to hunt Bella and the family instigates him by protecting her. She flies back to Phoenix to hide but he follows her there and supposedly kidnaps her mother. Bella is lured away from Alice and Jasper (her protectors), just before Edward arrives, by the hostage scenario. Of course just as Bella is about to be killed the Cullens sweep in and save the day. At one point Bella is almost turned into a vampire, but with some careful blood consumption, Edward saves Bella, and proves his love for her by not drinking her bone dry, in one fell moment.

Bella admits to Edward during her recovery process that she wants badly to be a vampire so she can spend all of eternity with him (not for men), and he refuses because “oh boo hoo I’m a monster, I can’t damn you forever”. It’s pretty typical vampire fare to be honest. Then Edward takes Bella to prom, against her wishes, because of her aforementioned inherent clumsiness. Bella thinks she’s being turned into a vampire and disappointed to find out that it’s just Edward’s efforts to make sure that, in spite of his condition, she experiences as much of a normal human life as possible.

There you have it, the story of Twilight. Now for my impressions.

This book is pretty much exactly what I thought it would be. Though I had hoped that it would be written poorly, it’s actually well put together. It drags on in sections much in the same fashion as a Stephen King novel (though being fair I can NOT stand Stephen King because of this fact). Twilight is saccharine sweet, and is in no way shape or form meant for your average man, but couldn’t possibly be in any way shape or form be MORE for your average woman. It panders to the awkward teenage girl inside every woman which hopes that in spite of one’s overwhelming averageness, an extraordinary man will sweep in and add an element of excitement to their lives. I’ve read studies saying that every single demographic of women loses self confidence when hitting the age of puberty, and when you take this fact into account with how the character of Bella is structured, it’s almost nigh impossible to believe that this book could ever NOT be insanely popular. If this series continues in the vein that was started here with this first book, as I’ve said to friends and family before, this couldn’t be a larger boon to Buffy fans.

The parallels between Edward and Angel are almost too many to count. Yes, I understand Buffy is a much cooler character than Bella, but the steamy forbidden relationship between a high school girl and an ancient creature of the night who broods and is sexy can not be ignored here. I’m sorry to all my Buffy fan friends who have latched on to hating this book.  No, I didn’t personally enjoy the book myself, but it’s already too similar with the Joss Whedon series for you to be able to complain. A lot of people will escape into the sparkling vampires argument, but anyone who watched the Angel series knows they did away with the no sunlight at all thing pretty quickly there, which leaves Angel and Edward sort of in the same boat.

If there’s any reason to not like this book as a man, it’s because the romance of the situation is over the top and described from a female point of view that a lot of us will never understand. We’ve never been awkward teenage girls longing to be loved by someone who is completely above our station in life, but that didn’t stop a lot of us from enjoying Pretty in Pink. I’ve been arguing since comic-con that the vehicle that all of nerdkind has been waiting for to get girls into our culture has finally arrived and read this book in hope that I could maybe prove myself wrong, but as someone who considers himself a pretty big fan of Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Angel series I can say without a doubt, you may not LIKE Twilight, but we certainly have no room at all to bash it.

Geek Out!

Wesley Strawther

Disney to buy Marvel for $4 billion

By MARC GRASER for Variety

Last week, Disney wasn't in the superhero business, having distributed Pixar's "The Incredibles" but produced little else to capitalize on popular comicbook characters. This week, it's poised to become the owner of Marvel and its vast array of crime fighters and villains.

The deal between the two companies, valued at $4 billion, would put Disney in charge of the comicbook factory that launched Spider-Man, the X-Men, the Incredible Hulk, Iron Man, the Fantastic Four, Captain America and other iconic characters.

Most of those established characters will remain ensconced at their current studio homes, at least for the foreseeable future. But the pact, which Walt Disney Co. topper Robert Iger called "a great opportunity at the right time," nonetheless has the potential to yield billions of dollars for Disney by turning Marvel's library of more than 5,000 characters into movies, TV shows, Internet properties, theme park attractions, videogames, toys, licensed merchandise and, of course, comicbooks.

In return, Marvel gains the marketing and distribution muscle to turn its characters into bigger brands, especially overseas, where it's been focusing much of its efforts lately.

Although the deal caught many in Hollywood by surprise, Disney had been pursuing Marvel for some time, mainly because it has been eager to identify properties that will help target an audience of younger boys more aggressively across multiple platforms. Disney's animated films, the Disney Channel and product lines featuring its princesses and fairies have appealed more to girls.

Ironically, Disney had already brokered a first-look production deal with Stan Lee, the creator of Spider-Man, Iron Man and the Incredible Hulk, and his Pow! Entertainment, as part of plans to produce more male-skewing programming. It had also started airing Marvel-produced fare on Disney XD, the cabler formerly known as Toon Disney, that the Mouse retooled to target 6- to 14-year-olds.

The Mouse-Marvel deal, Lee said, "gives Disney a library of literally hundreds of unique and colorful characters that have the potential to make great, high-concept movies and long-lasting franchises -- and nobody knows how to play in that ballpark better than Disney."

Disney is adamant that it doesn't plan to "rebrand Marvel as Disney," Iger said. Marvel CEO Isaac "Ike" Perlmutter will continue to oversee the company.

What Disney gets via the acquisition is a curious mix.

Until Marvel started taking more control of its properties by self-financing and producing its own pics in 2005, with "Iron Man" and the reboot of "The Incredible Hulk" as the first films to emerge under the new mandate, the company had been setting up its higher-profile characters at various studios around town.

Sony, for example, has Spider-Man, while Paramount locked down Iron Man, Thor, Captain America and the Avengers. Universal distribbed the Incredible Hulk and New Line released Blade, while the X-Men, Fantastic Four and Daredevil have been housed at Fox. Marvel had also set up lesser-known properties like the Punisher at Lionsgate, which also distribs Marvel's direct-to-DVD animated features.

While a percentage of the coin collected by films such as the "Spider-Man" and "X-Men" franchises go into Marvel's coffers, buying Marvel doesn't give the Mouse House immediate control of all those characters, if at all.

"Our intention is to respect the deal in place," Iger said of the current pacts, calling it "the right thing" to do.

• Sony will continue to control Spider-Man through a deal that doesn't lapse. Three more pics are planned for the franchise, with the next set to bow in summer 2011.
• Paramount will continue to distribute Marvel's next five pics, starting with the "Iron Man" sequel next summer and including a planned third installment.

"This distribution deal will be unaffected by today's transaction," a Paramount rep said. That deal will likely be renegotiated once the final film is released.

• Fox retains the right to make movies based on Daredevil; the Fantastic Four, which includes the Silver Surfer; and the X-Men, which spun off a separate Wolverine franchise this summer, as long as the studio has films based on those characters in active development.

Disney will also have to figure out how to work around a deal between Marvel and Universal's theme parks in order to start building attractions at the Mouse House's own venues.

Through a long-term licensing pact, Marvel is a fixture at U's Islands of Adventure in Orlando, Fla., with several rides and a significant portion of the park themed around the comicbook giant's superheroes.

"Marvel Super Hero Island and the Marvel characters are an important part of the Universal Orlando experience," a Universal spokeswoman said. "They will remain so. Our agreement with Marvel stands for as long as we follow the terms of our existing contract and for as long as we want there to be a Marvel Super Hero Island."

That means characters currently featured -- Spider-Man and his villains, Wolverine and other more notable X-Men, as well as the Hulk and Captain America -- will remain in U's parks, and the existing deal prohibits Disney from building a new ride around them. Anything else, however, is up for grabs, including an Iron Man ride.

"If it's not in our parks, it can be in theirs," said one insider.

Despite the other deals, Disney gains a lot of characters to work with. Most of Marvel's library has yet to be exploited beyond the pages of comicbooks. And while many characters are unknown to most consumers, marketing mavens have launched franchises from such lesser-known properties in the past.

Many in Hollywood initially wondered whether "Iron Man" would strike a chord with auds, considering the character is more obscure than Spider-Man or DC Comics icons like Batman or Superman. The film earned $585 million worldwide.

The terms of Disney's acquisition, which is expected to close by the end of the year, involves both cash and stock.

The $4 billion figure is far less than the $7.4 billion Disney paid to pick up Pixar Animation Studios in 2006. But it still makes Perlmutter, Marvel's largest shareholder with 37%, a very rich man.

The exec is expected to collect as much as $881 million and 21 million more shares of Disney stock, worth $587 million, through the deal.

Christian Bale blames sound man for leaked rant

It looks like Christian Bale's pre-movie antics are becoming more interesting than the actual release Terminator: Salvation on May 21st.  First he goes ballistic when a director of photography interrupts "the most emotional scene in the film", he then goes on a radio show trying to explain the rant by saying that he was in a"crazy place" because of John Connor's "history of insanity" because Sarah Connor, John's mother was committed to a mental institution because she was "crazy". Hurumph!

Now he is blaming the sound guy who was recording the scene at the time for breaking an assumed "on-set pact" that exists on movie sets.  In an interview with Total Film, while Bale takes responsibility for his outburst, he blames the sound engineer for continuing to record the now historic rant.

"Hey, I did what I did. I'm not hiding from that. I went overboard," the actor said. "But there is an essential trust and it's not a tacit one, it's a verbal one, a spoken one, which is [that] every sound guy says, 'We are not only not recording, we're not even listening.'"

He added, "It's not in any way a trust that's there to cover up bad behavior. It's not about that. It's an essential trust that's needed for creativity."

Bale insisted that too much information about behind-the-scenes controversy hurts the viewer as much as the actor. Asked if he was concerned that 'Terminator' fans would suffer from having heard the fight, Bale said, "Yeah. It's not in anyone's interest to know that much. I look at it as old-school movie magic and with magic you do not reveal your secrets.... you know, for me, I've never been comfortable with the revealing of those mysteries which I think are wonderful mysteries."

Bale added, "I'm not making any excuses, I'm not whining, I'm not going, 'Oh well, if it hadn't have been for that...' Hey, listen, I did it, it's in the public space. Hey, I take the consequences for it. But it's that. It's a creative trust."

So, that's what a crock of shit sounds like!  Don't get me wrong I like Mr. Bale and his movies, but if you make an ass of yourself, apologize, then SHUT THE HELL UP!  Do not blame others for a rant that YOU went off on.  The man was doing his job, it is not his fault someone leaked this to the internet. Deal with it.  Ok, see ya on the 21st!





Geek Out!


Ned Cato Jr,

Skip over this content

London Times gives New Star Trek Five Stars

It's official, The new Star Trek rocks!  The London Times reviewed the premiere of the newest Trek, and it seems to be very well received from the 5 stars the reviewer gave the J.J. Abrams' reboot of the Trek franchise. After 10 films and 5 series, with some faltering steps during the last 40+ years fans should n't expect  much from the new film.

According the the reviewer, The movie has all the elements Trek fans should enjoy, plenty of action, a great story, wonderful CGI, the optimistic message that Roddenberry instilled in the original show.  Abrams, who directed Mission Impossible III, brings his blockbuster flair to bear on a story that starts with a massacre and rarely draws breath for the next two hours as it unravels a deadly battle between the Federation and a rogue Romulan from the future who is bent on destroying Earth.

It seems that the first review seems very positive and leaves me hopeful the movie will deliver all that commercial says and much more.  According to the reviewer, this movie has it all, a great director, a capable cast, a great script, and a respectful nod to Trek's roots.  I cannot wait for this film and all the commercials do are rev my geek engines for a great second geek film, after Xmen Origins: Wolverine on May 1.  See you in the movie theaters May 8.  Read the London Times review.

 

Geek Out!

Ned Cato Jr,

On Avatar and Racism Part 5

This is just getting out of hand, to try appease the gathering angry geeks who feel frakkin' slighted yet once again by a "colorblind" casting of live action version of an popular animated property.  The producers decieded to try to make us feel better by setting up an casting for extras  and background folks for the film.  But, guess what folks, WRONG!  And here's why.  The insensitive production wanted to "color up the movie by looking for extra's of ethnic background and encouraged actors to come in their "best ethnic clothing".

"Deedee Rickets, the casting director for the film, said she is looking to cast men and women ages 18 to 65 and children ages six to 15. Casting officials are seeking candidates with military or martial arts experience, athletes, gymnasts and people of various races and cultures.

"We want you to dress in traditional cultural ethnic attire," she said. "If you're Korean, wear a kimono. If you're from Belgium, wear lederhosen."

Another way to stand out is to demonstrate skills such as basket weaving, hair braiding, making clay pots, puppeteering, knitting, looming - "any artisan craft," Rickets said.

She said the set and cast will reflect the alternate world of the film, and not the streets of Philadelphia."

You are kidding me.  Not only too little too late, but insult added to injury.  Just as we have dealt with issue of the star casting of the movie's casting. more salt is poured into to our collective geek wounds.  Read the full article here.

Next up, in a more recent release, Dragonball Evolution, a live action release from 20th Century Fox.  Not a great film but closer to what geeks would want in a live action version, but not on the target.  The movie has  a great character actor of the same desent of the culture of the film, Chow Yun Fat, as well as other asian actors.  It has a mix of actors that would not make me happy, but not make me want to protest it's release like Avatar.
Don't get me wrong, I understand the movies need to make money, but casting name actors, but Hollywood seems to forget that there are brilliant actors of color out there to put in these film to give them believibilty.  I refuse to believe that the producers and casting directors cannot find decent actors of color to put in the starring roles.  It smacks of stupidity or racism, or maybe a little of both.

Finally if you think that just my friends and I are the only one who feel the way that we do, I found a witty young man on YouTube, who found a witty way to show the world how he feels about the same subjects I have been talking about for months.  Take a look at his viral video and tell me do you think Im crazy.  Preach it my Asian Brother!

Because geeking out, just isnt enough

WATCHMEN

Saw the Watchmen, and even though everyone on here before me stated it, the movie is awesome. The little things they cut out made sense on the interpretation. And some of the things that were cut obviously for time constraints. The ending as everyone possibly knew is different than the comic. But you know what I say? Good, it was a perfect ending. Made damn more sense than the comic. I've heard it before that the comic ending seems a bit out of left field. But this ending just seems more realistic to the world that's created in the comic. Don't get me wrong, loved the ending in the comic. It made sense in the comic and it was fitting, and at first I did wonder how they could possibly change the ending, but now, I wouldn't want to change a damn thing!

Rorschach, god damn could that have been anymore perfect? Even the bruises on his face looked like the comic. The comedian as he was about to get thrown through the window? Looked like the panel.

A real awesome adaptation. There isn't much else I can say that the guys of geek-tastic.com have done so already. But I do feel kinda bad for the box office tallies of this weekend. I've heard various responses to why they didn't go, movie being too long, don't want to support fox, I'll wait for the DVD, and this kinda makes me sad because this movie has been in waiting for so damn long that when they finally got it released with the proper script, director, cast and fan base. It isn't doing as well as it had hoped.

I for one am going to see it again, and even though I know I can get a pirated copy of it (who can't nowadays), I know this film deserves my dollars. The only temptation I have for the pirated version is to watch this movie on times I'm not at the theater and when the movie goes out of the screen before it comes out on DVD, but I will pull through the temptation, and also get the Tales Of The Black Freighter when it gets released.

TWO THUMBS UP! 

DOLLHOUSE

This show has been getting way too much flak, and I don't even hear anyone mention what the show really is about. I had the first impression that this show was a "Identity Of The Week" type of show. And the first episode it did look like that. But during the second episode I realized the first episode was just an introduction to the main characters and the idea of "Dollhouse", not the real story. The second and third episodes give you a glimpse of who the main villain is, who has yet to be fully revealed. And also the idea that Dollhouse is a urban legend being investigated by none other than Helo of BSG. Then they start to reveal that the characters who are supposed to be the dolls of the show are showing signs of not being completely mind wiped, and even gives some speculations of the main villain.

Now for right now this isn't a Buffy or a Firefly (*swoon* Firefly) but it has it's potential to add more depth to the characters and story and hopefully be good. Maybe Whedon will add his touch at directing and being the main writer for some episodes and add that big 1 2 punch that makes the show. He directed & wrote the pilot but I think he'll do better once the characters have established depth.

I haven't seen that big episode everyone needs to watch yet, but I do recommend maybe giving it a chance. Especially the second episode more than the first. Check it on Hulu or something.

And since the latest article came out that Nielsen ratings have been recording larger amount of viewers, this could potentially give this show a chance to make it's mark.

I'm reserving my thumbs up or thumbs down rating until I've seen more about this show.

Rating Pending

 

As for the Geek Me episodes, it's been difficult to schedule another recording with everyone's busy schedules and I would like to try to be on top of all the news as I post them, so I'm going to be changing the format to smaller snippets.         

And also Rockband is releasing the Beatles track pack. Im really hoping the best for it, development and playability. I dont own Guitar Hero or Rock Band, but I really wouldnt mind rocking out with friends to Love Me Do, I Wanna Hold Your Hand and All You Need Is Love (And of course have a back up singing She Loves You)