Marvel’s Phase 4 will be the most ambitious yet. Not only is the MCU dealing with the regular film arsenal, such as origin stories and sequels, but it’s also tackling original content in episodic form for Disney+. Between everything coming to theaters and Disney’s new streaming service, there are upwards of 14 titles to look forward to.
Today, my wonderful wife Lindsay joins me once again, as we discuss all the Phase 4 content Kevin Feige unleashed during this year’s SDCC. Obviously us fans don’t have tons of MCU info yet, so most of what we talk about is pure speculation. Regardless, we hope you enjoy this episode!
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It’s been (almost) 20 years since director David Fincher transformed Chuck Palahniuk’s novel Fight Club into one of the most cult-classic status films of all time. There is much to be said about this movie, albeit not much that hasn’t been said already. And because of that, Ted and I are choosing to focusing on this topic, of Fight Club being a misunderstood masterpiece.
Since its debut in 1999, Fight Club’s message (or messages) has/have been misconstrued by a LOT of people, as well as bent to fit certain narratives and/or agendas. So we’re here to set the record straight. Well, as straight as we can. So grab a friend, some soap, and take a walk with us down Paper St.
Oftentimes hard work, dedication, and persistence goes unnoticed and/or unappreciated. But we don’t work hard and bust our butts for recognition. We do so, because working hard at work worth doing is one of the more noble parts of life.
However, every once in a while, the sky opens up and drops something precious in your lap. And it’s because of all the hard work you’ve put forth, you’re able to recognize this precious thing. This is what has happened to the podcast.
We celebrate the Walkman’s 40th anniversary by diving into a bit of its history. We also discuss the evolution of portable music as a whole, from the late 70s up until recently.
As a warm-up to our main story, we took some time to briefly go over few things that have been in the news recently. These consisted of the Sony/Disney battle for Spider-Man, the announcement of the 4th Matrix film, and the next (and last?) Bond film titled “No Time To Die”.
In this short episode, I explain why we’ve been absent for a while now, and what you can expect in our future. SPOILER ALERT: It’s all good things! Awesome material, consistent episodes, more ways to enjoy the podcast, and even some public appearances. Tune in to get the full scoop!
We teased toward the end of our previous “Goes To The Movies” episode that we would be covering Tarantino’s 9th film Once Upon A Time In Hollywood. And we have delivered!
Since the film has been out for several weeks now, the majority of what can be said about it has probably already been said. However, we did our best to come up with some relatively unique talking points, criticisms, etc.
The main takeaway here is that we both really enjoyed this movie, and we hope you do to. If you haven’t seen it yet, and have any interest in seeing it, here are a few disclaimers: 1) The episode is SPOILER HEAVY, so please proceed with caution; 2) If you enjoyed Tarantino’s earlier works such as Jackie Brown and Pulp Fiction, you will for sure get a kick out of OUATIH.
Please let us know what you think of the podcast by leaving us a rating a review, wherever you listen to your podcasts. It helps us out tremendously when our listeners leave us reviews, because apps like Apple & Google Podcasts will place us higher in their algorithm, making it easier for new listeners to find us!
The main Geek Garage show will DEFINITELY be back this week. I know that I’ve said this before, and do I apologize, but I promise it’s for real this time!
Aaaaand we’re back! Thank you so much to all of you amazing, loyal listeners for hanging on with us during our temporary hiatus. Words simply cannot express how grateful we are for your continued support, especially through trying times!
For our first episode back (and very first episode recorded in the new studio!), Ted and I discuss two summer films that we really enjoyed.
Midsommar, the sophomore effort by Ari Aster (Hereditary, 2018), is a psychotropic-induced fever dream (or nightmare) that explores unconventional ways of making audiences extremely uncomfortable. Ted and I discuss just that, along with some of the cinematography choices, the actors’ performances, and how we’re both officially scared shitless of traveling to Sweden. If you were a fan of Hereditary, you will most likely enjoy Aster’s follow-up film!
The Art of Self-Defense, directed by Riley Stearns, brings new meaning to the Dark/Black Comedy genre. We talked about how Jesse Eisenberg was born to play this role, of a socially awkward geek-type who learns to stick up for himself, by enrolling in Karate lessons. There wasn’t much that we didn’t like/love about this film. It came out of nowhere, and totally blew us away. If you are a fan of dark comedies (such as Death to Smoochy, Seven Psychopaths, and Burn After Reading), then you will most likely get a kick out of this film.
We will be back VERY soon with our next episode of “Goes To The Movies”, where we talk about Tarantino’s 9th film Once Upon A Time In Hollywood! Additionally, the Geek Garage main show will also be back soon, with our brand-new segment titled “Geek For Your Week”, so stay tuned!
What is up, my fellow nerds? I hope all of you have been well! I wanted to take a quick minute to throw a few things out there, and catch y’all up on the most recent developments.
First and foremost, we want to express our gratitude to all the amazing folks over at AkaiCon for making it an amazing experience for the podcast. I personally (along with the other guys at Two Player Media) have been attending AkaiCon for the last 4 or 5 years now, but this was the first time that I got to go and set up a booth in the Vendor/Artist Alley! If you by chance are reading this, and you took the time to stop by and talk to us, I want to thank you sincerely, because it means the absolute world to me! Read More
Spider-Man: Far From Home was released in theaters this past week, and so far it has been pretty well-received. Film critics and moviegoers alike have been praising the film regarding everything from its originality and ability to be a stand-alone Spidey flick, to the more-than-decent job it did at playing “cleanup” after we had our hearts torn open (again) from Avengers: Endgame. Currently, it’s sitting at a comfortable 96% fan rating on Rotten Tomatoes, and for the most part I personally agree with the overall consensus.
What is up, my fellow geeks? Welcome to the first week of “Geek For Your Week”! This is a brand-new weekly segment, where we discuss the happenings in the geek-media-related world during the week prior to the segment’s release. For the first couple of weeks, we’ll be releasing blog-style updates (like this one). Eventually, we’ll be moving to a recorded and live-stream version of the weekly segment. We thought it would be fun to live-stream, and get some viewer/listener participation. So if you happen to come across something in geek-media news that we should discuss during our weekly segment, please feel free to holler at us on social media, or during the live-stream!
Arguably the biggest in geek-media news last week was the announcement of actress Halle Bailey, slated to portray Ariel in Disney’s live-action remake of The Little Mermaid. Now, before I get into my personal thoughts and feelings regarding this decision, and the film as a whole, let’s take two seconds to discuss the elephant in the room. Yes, there are in fact big, fat, entitled a-holes out there that believe that, scientifically, mermaids cannot be black, nor does Ariel have the right to be anything but white. Honestly, I didn’t even want to address this “issue”, because I firmly believe that talking about these people only gratifies them even further, and gives them an undeserved platform to make their silly-ass argument. But I do feel like I have to throw my two cents in: My official stance is that those people can go fuck themselves. Caucasian princesses have completely dominated the Disney canon basically since Disney was a thing. So if having a black mermaid-princess is rocking your world right now, please take a chill pill. Trust me, it’s going to be ok. Oh, and mermaid science isn’t a thing. Also, Ariel totally had a family member or friend that was black. So suck it.
Moving on…
Personally, I don’t have any issue with Disney’s choice of Halle Bailey as the new Ariel (if you couldn’t tell already from my remarks above). I am not familiar with any of her work, but I am sure she will do a fine job in her portrayal. What I do take issue with, however, is the laziness on Disney’s part, and their quest to do live-action adaptations for EVERY. SINGLE. ANIMATED. FILM. EVER. I know it can’t be that difficult to get a couple writers together, and come up with a script at least a little bit original. There’s absolutely no excuse why a company of that size, with the financial resources they have, cannot produce something that’s not a spin-off, sequel, reboot, or live-action remake.
*SIGH* I suppose that’s Hollywood for ya.
Mulan Trailer
I know, I know. Right after I went off about Disney’s never-ending mission to force us to relive our childhood through shitty remakes, I talk about the Mulan live-action trailer. Well, guess what? This is Mulan, and Mulan is fucking boss. End of story. I am so pumped for this, it’s not even funny. As I said, I know this almost completely negates my argument of there being too many remakes, but whatever.
You’ve probably already seen the trailer by now, but here, watch it again:
We’ve all been waiting for like 5 years for the 3rd season of Stranger Things to be released on Netflix. And this past week, on July 4th, our wait finally came to an end…for like a few days (for those of us that binge-watched the whole season immediately).
Also, SPOILER ALERT!!!
Overall, I am quite happy with season 3. I’m glad they decided to branch out, and do some experimenting, so the show continues to push the boundaries of…whatever you classify Stranger Things as. A horror/sci-fi/thriller/80s throw-back TV show?
Anyways, the show did a great job of holding onto the things that make it so great, but without being afraid to branch out a bit. From the very beginning, the banter between characters has been one of my favorite elements. When season one aired, the majority of the fun back-and-forth conversation took place between Dustin, Mike, and Lucas (and Will, considering his short on-screen time). But over the last two seasons, it has spread like wildfire to other characters like Nancy, Jonathan, Steve, Max, and of course El. The show is definitely beginning to hit its stride now, in terms of character development and interaction.
Another thing that has grown substantially, much to my pleasure, are the horror elements of show. With season 2, I wasn’t let down per se with the direction they went with in terms of horror, and specifically the Demo-Dogs and the Cloud-Based Mind Flayer (not the technical name, but you get it). But let’s just say it didn’t really satisfy the incredibly demented side of me, that needs to see sick shit. However, season 3 definitely upped the ante. There were TONS of oopy-goopy grossness to be seen (see exploding rats, and people turning into slime), which was a lot of fun to experience. But I think the two major MVPs in the horror department should go to Billy and the Mind Flayer. I suppose they could be considered one? Either way, both were fantastic. Dacre Montgomery (Billy) was absolutely insane in this season, and really showcased his abilities to be maniacal, sadistic, and horrific. And as I said, the Mind Flayer was pretty goddamned terrifying, with that CG being on point. I was quite curious as to what the “creature” was going to be this season, because as I stated earlier, I wasn’t exactly thrilled with the Demo-Dogs from season two, or the shadowy Mind-Flayer (although the football field scene was pretty fucking dope). However, I was super pumped to see that they found a way to revive the Flayer, but in a 100% physical form that everyone in the show can experience and enjoy and shit their pants from.
I know I already spoke a bunch to the characters/actors in this season, but I want to make special mention of Maya Hawke, who plays Robin. Introducing new characters in a show with an already well-established fan base can be super risky. When done not-so-great, they can seem tacked-on, forced, or just have that “added at the last minute” feel. But none of these cases pertain to Robin. One second, she’s a Russian-language-code-hacking badass, and the next she’s spilling her heart out to Steve, via some incredibly potent truth serum/psychedelic hybrid. I am completely baffled as to how well the Duffer Brothers were able to round out her character in just the one season. Another thing I was a little concerned about was the writers relying too much on Eleven and the other kids for the dramatic, poignant moments, as per usual. And don’t get me wrong, the kids always do a fantastic job with their dramatic acting, but one can only deal with so much drama. So it was nice to get a breath of fresh air, via Robin and her eccentric, well-rounded character.
There’s WAY too much that I can say about this season of Stranger Things, but for the sake of brevity, I shall end it here. There’s a distinct possibility that a podcast episode on this season may be coming down the pike here soon, which would be a good opportunity to explore and discuss season 3 in greater detail.
Well, that about wraps up week 1 of Geek For Your Week. I know it’s a bit light, but I feel like I rambled a bit on the few topics I did discuss. If you feel like there’s anything I missed with these topics, or anything else that happened last week, please feel free to comment here or drop it in the comments section on Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram.
Thank you my nerds, and remember: Be kind, stay geeky, and eat lots of cheesecake.
