Once Upon a Geek

I picked up my copy of the Iron Man DVD on Tuesday from Target.  If you haven’t seen the packaging yet for the “Ultimate 2-Disk Edition” from Target, it’s SWEET!  There are several different retailer exclusives, but I personally like the Target version best.   The DVD package itself is shaped like Iron Man’s head!  How cool is that?!?!?  See the pictures below.

Other retailer exclusives include comic books, access to exclusive digital comics, bobbleheads, a DVD featuring the first episode of the new animated series, and more.  You can find a complete list of the exclusives at SuperHeroHype.com.  Special features included with the “Ultimate 2-Disk Edition” include: deleted and extended scenes, a “Making of” documentary, a “History of the Hero” feature, a segment on visual effects, Robert Downey Jr’s screen test, the actor’s process, still galleries, and more.

When I sat down to watch the movie again, I was worried I wouldn’t enjoy it as much.  I was completely over the moon for the film when it was first released.  On occasion in the past I’ve really enjoyed a geek-related movie, only to find myself suffering from a “geek hangover” upon second viewing.  That was not the case this time!  This movie still rocks!  It starts with a bang (literally in Afghanistan) and keeps a hold of you all the way until the end.  Jon Favreau directed a comic book masterpiece here.  This is definitely my favorite comic book movie yet!  Robert Downey Jr really is the perfect Tony Stark; suave, focused, handsome, and can really act the rich playboy.  I also really like Gwyneth Paltrow as Pepper.  She’s not exactly like Pepper from the comics, but she did a fine job as Tony’s girl Friday.  It doesn’t hurt that she looked really hot in this film.  While I wasn’t thrilled with Terrance Howard as Rhodey the first time I watched the movie, he’s growing on me.  I can’t wait to see him as War Machine!  And Jeff Bridges as Obadiah Stane… just wow!  Who would have guessed he could pull off such a menacing villain (and bald too!).

Two minor characters worth mentioning are Agent Phil Coulson of SHIELD and Happy Hogan (Jon Favreau).  I really liked the unassuming character of Agent Coulson.  Once he got his chance to shine it was great.  On top of directing an outstanding movie, Favreau was also fun to see as Hogan.  In Daredevil he played “Foggy”, in Iron Man he played “Happy”.  Sounds like he’s collecting his own seven dwarfs cast of roles. 

The special effects in this movie were completely seamless!  It was very difficult to tell what was CGI and what was costume.  I’ve also been negligent in complimenting the script.  What a well put together story with lots of action, drama, and humor!  If the script had been lousy, these great actors and fantastic special effects wouldn’t have been able to save it.  I hope they get the same script writers back for Iron Man 2!  I’m looking forward to the “Demon in a Bottle” storyline.  Finally, check out the deleted scenes on the DVD… there is more on the Stark Industries airplane with the sexy stewardesses!

To sum up, “Iron Man” truly is an invincible movie!

After watching the movie again, it makes me want to bust out some of my old Iron Man comics.  I was a pretty big fan of ole shellhead back in the day.  I have over 130 issues of his comic; I collected pretty regularly from 1985-1987, 1992-1993, and 1995-2003.  My personal favorite era was the 1985-1987 stuff, which a lot of the movie was based on.  Just check out the cover to Iron Man #200 from 1985.  Awesome stuff!

Forget DARK KNIGHT… Forget HULK… Forget IRON MAN…

This is the superhero movie everyone SHOULD be talking about…. 

Stop whatever the hell you are doing right now and go watch the movie, “Free Enterprise“.  At work right now?  Screw it. Tell them you’re violently ill and need to go home.  Already seen the movie?  Then you know what I’m talking about.  Go celebrate 10 years of this masterpiece!  Go watch it already!  Geez… Do I have to tell you everything multiple times?

If you haven’t seen the film, it stars Eric McCormack (Will from ‘Will & Grace’), Rafer Weigel (sadly who never really went on to do much else), and William Shatner (a little known actor, you’ve probably never heard of him).   Worth mentioning also was Phil LaMarr (a man with SERIOUS geek cred) in a supporting role.   It’s a comedy about two geeks, one of which is having trouble accepting that he’s about to turn 30 years old.  During the film, these two geeks get to meet their real-life idol, William ‘Bill’ Shatner.  Unfortunately, Bill is about 30 cards short of a full deck.  From there wacky hijinks ensue!

This movie is an affirmation of your geekdom!  More importantly, it was made years before Hollywood decided to capitalize on us geeks.  This film was released in 1998 and celebrates fanhood of things like ‘Logan’s Run’, Mego action figures, comic books, buying movies on disc (back then it was Laser Disc), ‘Star Wars’, and obviously ‘Star Trek’.  Also worth mentioning is that it treats geeks as people who can have successful lives/relationships.  The two main characters are scoring with chicks frequently (yes, there is a little nudity in the film), going to swank Martini bars, and are generally cool.  The dialogue in this movie stands out especially because these guys talk like us geeks, throwing obscure references left and right (i.e. “Bad call, Ripley”, “Stay on target”, etc).  Oh yeah, and they drop the F-bomb about as much as I do.  Some people describe this movie as “Swingers” for geeks.  I think that’s a fitting description.

Here is a trailer for the film…

If you can’t view the trailer with the embedded player, click here.

And here is one of the last scenes of the movie.  Sorry if it spoils it for you.  This is ‘Bill’ performing his version of Julius Caesar.  It’s so crazy campy, it’s brilliant!

If you can’t view the video with the embedded player, click here.

Check back here tomorrow for the conclusion of my comic book t-shirt gallery.  Meanwhile…

If you haven’t been listening already, be sure to swing by “Views from the Longbox” and check out the week-long mini-series BAT WEEK!  From this past Sunday (August 17) through this coming Friday (August 22), there is a new episode of “Views from the Longbox” available for download each day.  All six of them are dedicated to the film exploits of the Caped Crusader himself, the Dark Knight Detective, one half of the Dynamic Duo … Batman.

Michael Bailey, host of “Views from the Longbox”, was kind enough to invite me to join him on this deep-dive into the Batman films. Along the way we mention peripheral items (such as trading cards), and even dedicate a whole episode to the Clown Prince of Crime himself, the Joker. To enhance BAT WEEK even further, Michael has been posting related YouTube videos on his site.

So be sure to check out the podcasts and his site!  It’s more fun than a barrel full of missile-launching penguins!

This week I attended a day-long educational workshop related to my job.  The workshop was held in one of the meeting rooms at the Tallahassee Antique Car Museum.  It was a pretty good workshop with interesting speakers.  On a break, I was strolling through the museum thinking about the topics and real-world applications for use back at the office.  Needless to say I was in total “work mode”.  Then I rounded a corner and found myself face-to-face with a major piece of geekdom… Batmobiles!

Yup!  I said Batmobiles… as in plural.  I’ve known for years that the museum had at least one of the Batmobiles, but I wasn’t expecting all the items I found.

Here is the 1960s Batmobile from the TV series.  There was no sign, so I can’t vouch for whether this particular car was actually featured in the TV series, or if this is a replica.  Either way, it’s a really sweet looking car!  It’s amazing how a 40 year old design can still look awesome.

The Batman Returns Batmobile.  According to the placard, this is one of two Batmobiles constructed and used in the filming of “Batman Returns”.  There is a corvette engine in this bad boy!  And for the record, this is my favorite Batmobile.  When I actually saw it with my own eyes, I was astounded.  This car is REALLY big. I’d hate to have to park it.

Batmobile from Batman Forever.  Again, no sign so I can’t validate whether this is original or not, however, I imagine it’s the real article.  For the record, I don’t care for this design. It looks like a Hot Wheels car to me… hate the big fin on top.

The 1960’s TV Bat-Cycle…

…including the Robin sidecar!

The Batskiboat from Batman Returns!  Neat to look at in real life.

Here is the Penguin’s Yellow Duck transport from Batman Returns.

So after picking my jaw up off the floor, I snapped these pics for your enjoyment.  Then I had to figure out a way to purge all my geeky giddiness and get back into “work mode”.  Eventually I was able to focus on the workshop, but there were fleeting moments of daydreams filled with, “Atomic Batteries to Power…”

Other than the Doctor Who dynasty of shows, I don’t watch much television.  However, there is one new show that I have totally fallen for in the past year… “Chuck” on NBC.  The show is about a computer geek who is catapulted into a new career as the government’s most vital secret. With the government’s most precious secrets in Chuck’s head, NSA’s John Casey and CIA’s Sarah Walker assume the responsibility of protecting him. The show is a mixture of action/adventure and sitcom, with just a dash of angsty romance.  Somehow they’ve hit upon a magical formula that just works.

If you haven’t seen the series, you can watch a few episodes (including the pilot) at the official NBC web site for Chuck.  The series features the hilarious and brilliant Zachary Levi as Chuck.  Sara Walker is played by one of the hottest women to come out of Australia, Yvonne Strahovski. John Casey is played by fantastic Adam Baldwin.  The supporting characters are also awesome (pun intended, if you watch the show)!

Recently Wildstorm comics started a six-issue mini-series based upon the show.  It’s being written by series co-executive producer Peter Johnson and series writer Zev Borow, so it’s not just some lousy throwaway spin-off.  The first issue came out last month (hopefully you can still find it in stores), while the second issue is slated to come out this week.  I felt that Issue #1 was well done.  Since its being written by people from the actual show, you get the sense that they got the characters “voices” right.  I love the homage to Gilligan’s Island in the beginning where Chuck plays Gilligan and his boss plays Skipper.  Funny stuff!  Also, some former Chuck adversaries make appearances in the comic, so that was fun.  Finally, there is a one-page back-up called “Captain Awesome’s Tips for Being Awesome!!”  That was great… or dare I say AWESOME!  All told, I think the comic mini-series is off to a good start.

There were also a few recent Hellboy II: The Golden Army commercials featuring Chuck.  Check them out below.

 Chuck hangs with Hellboy…

Better head to the Buy More…

If you can’t view the embedded videos, just head over to the official NBC web site for Chuck.

While the reviews have been somewhat mixed, I personally enjoyed the new movie “Hancock“.  I felt the movie delivered on what was promised in the trailers (a down-and-out superhero mends his ways to become a hero).  There were fun displays of superpowers, such as the way Hancock does super-jumps and his landings.  They also did an excellent job showing the collateral damage caused by superheroes.  It makes you think how dangerous it would really be to have super-powered beings running around.

Surprisingly, there is a whole other plot that takes place on the back-end of the movie that was not featured in the trailers.  I won’t spoil it for you, but I imagine that is what most people are fussing about.  The expectation nowadays is that every major plot thread should be featured in the trailer.  When something hits you during the film you weren’t expecting, you should rejoice!  Wow, a genuine surprise during a movie!  When was the last time that happened?  We’ve all become so used to knowing in advance what is going to happen, we’ve forgotten how much fun it is to be surprised.  Good job Hancock!

Finally, there were some concerns early on about the similarities between the Hancock plot of a down-and-out/alcoholic superhero and the potential “Demon in a Bottle” plot for Iron Man 2.  In fact, the director of Iron Man 2 suggested they may have to drop the entire Tony Stark alcoholic storyline if it would be too repetitious of Hancock.   After seeing Hancock, I don’t think they have anything to worry about.  I think the storyline of Tony Stark spiraling into self-destructive alcoholism could still be done quite well without concern for plot repetition.  Just my two cents.

The name “B-Wing” has always bothered me.  I believe I can safely say that some of you are thinking, “hell ya, that’s always bugged the crap out of me too!”  While another percentage of you are thinking, “what the frig is a B-Wing, and why do I care?”

The B-Wing is a spaceship from the movie “Star Wars: Return of the Jedi” (don’t you dare refer to it as “Episode 6″ around me).  However, unlike all the other letter-named ships in the series (i.e. X-Wing, Y-Wing, and A-Wing), the ship design doesn’t resemble the letter of the alphabet. 

Here are some images to demonstrate my point.  First row (l-to-r): X-Wing and Y-Wing.  Second row (l-to-r): A-Wing and B-Wing.

Clearly the B-Wing name doesn’t match its body design.  It doesn’t look anything like a “B”!  In fact, the B-Wing sure looks a lot like the lower case letter “t”.  You’d think it would be called the “T-Wing”.  I suspect someone at ILM had their radio up too loud listening to “Maneater” by Daryl Hall and John Oates.  Because of the noise, they simply misheard “bee” in place of ”tee” and it stuck.  Once Kenner started making the toys, they realized they couldn’t go back and change it to “T-Wing” (especially after the whole 4-LOM/Zuckuss debacle from “Empire Strikes Back”).

Now before you go believing that crap about “B-Wing” being named for the Nebulon-B frigate, you gotta realize that’s a “expanded universe” retcon.  So I don’t believe for a second that was the plan back in 1983. 

I blame Hall & Oates. 

In honor of the new “Incredible Hulk” movie.  This is hilarious!

I ganked it from Michael Bailey, who ganked it from dj_intheuk. 

I finally saw “Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull”. I liked it. Yup, I’m one of the few geeks I know that actually enjoyed the movie.

Now, I have to admit that I was probably not impartial going in. I’d read quite a bit of spoilers, so I was much better prepared for the controversial parts as compared to most people. I think knowing about those parts in advance (and already personally working through the surprise and disappointment) allowed me to enjoy the film more. It’s sort of like having surgery. Prior to the surgery, the doctor explains in gory detail what they are going to do to you. So when its time for the actual procedure, you aren’t really surprised or upset by the painful bits.

Beware, there be SPOILERS ahead…
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Things I liked…

• I enjoyed the second Act that took place back at the University. I felt like they introduced a nice subplot about a hero getting older. Loved the line, “We seem to have reached the age where life stops giving us things and starts taking them away.” I liked that they lingered on the photo of Indy’s dad.

• Indy gaining a son was a perfect counterpoint to the earlier scene about getting older. Here Indy is given something new (a son he never knew he had). Well structured.

• I enjoyed hearing Harrison Ford’s famous Star Wars line, “I got a bad feeling about this.”

• I thought the use of the army ants was really cool! Very unexpected but fitting for Indiana Jones. I’m going to have the creepy crawlies for days.

• Throughout the movie I was waiting for the moment, and dreading the thought of, when Indy would put the hat on Mutt as sort of a passing of the torch. I was happy to see that moment was stolen from Mutt. It symbolically said that Mutt wasn’t picking up Indy’s mantle and that Indy was still around. Nice.

• I liked that the his son was called Mutt. Given that Indiana chose his name because of their dog, Mutt was a funny choice and seemed to fit with the 1950’s era. I’m sure some people thought it was a silly homage to how Indiana chose his name, but I liked it (especially because they didn’t actually come out and remind us during the film).

Things I struggled with…

• I’m all about Indiana action being over the top. However, even I had a hard time overlooking some of the ridiculous stunts, such as the atomic refrigerator & Mutt on the vines. Additionally, as it did with Ravenface, the bad stunt stand-ins during the motorcycle chase really took me out of the film.

• I could have done without the majority of the sci-fi stuff. I think they could have still done a Crystal Skull plot (but more based upon the Mitchell-Hedges skull and myth), included Area 51, but only hinted at and left the audience wondering about the alien stuff.

General missives…

• I thought I’d heard during pre-production that John Hurt was playing Abner Ravenwood. I wonder what happened there.
• Why did the aliens need to be from another dimension? Was outer space just to simple of a concept? Given the homage to the 1950’s alien invasion movies, I would have thought simply making them from outer space would have made more sense.

• In regard to the sci-fi elements, I understand where the filmmakers were coming from. I think their hearts were in the right place and they were in a Catch-22 situation. If they simply made another archeological adventure movie, fans would have griped that there was nothing new and they failed to live up to the old films. By going in a different direction, they risked alienating fans with the psychic/dimensional subplot. Either way, the fan base was going to doom the movie. So I think trying something different was probably the best approach (even though I personally didn’t like some of the elements).

Again, overall I enjoyed the movie. I may not have agreed with some elements, but overall it was a fun adventure romp with a hero from my childhood.  I probably won’t see it in the theater again, but I’m sure I’ll buy the DVD.

The Irredeemable Shag

http://onceuponageek.com