THIS is how you do a movie trailer – Arrival (2016)

Posted inFilms, Geek Stuff, Videos
How wonderful to not know something exists, stumble across a trailer for that thing you didn't know existed, and be instantly blown away at a mere minute of mind-blowing speculative fiction goodness. (Yes, I used "blow" twice.) What I mean is, watch this damn trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gwqSi_ToNPs Now THAT is how you do a movie trailer. Simple, sparse, moody, and frickin' gripping as hell. That's it. That's all I need to see. I'm done. I'm in. I'm seeing it. Might even skip the full trailer that are teasing, because I don't need to see anything else but this. Yes, it appears to be…
Marvel’s villain problem (and why it may not be a problem at all)

Marvel’s villain problem (and why it may not be a problem at all)

Posted inFilms, Geek Stuff
It's hard to complain about Marvel's cinematic efforts. Since coming out of the gate with 2008’s Iron Man, Marvel has been firing on all cylinders in a way few studios ever do. Their best films are fantastic (cough Winter Soldier cough), and even their worst still manage to be decent popcorn entertainment. (Seriously, if The Dark World is the worst a studio has to offer, they are doing something right.) After a shaky start even their network TV offering, Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., has finally come into its own, and their Netflix shows are uniformly superb to the point of making…
I just watched six of the original Godzilla movies, and they were (mostly) awesome

I just watched six of the original Godzilla movies, and they were (mostly) awesome

Posted inFilms, Geek Stuff
As a kid, if I wasn't watching Harryhausen movies or Behind The Green Door, I was watching giant monster movies from Japan. I did this because they had giant monsters smashing stuff. Duh. I liked Gamera more than Godzilla because Gamera was a turtle and turtles are awesome, especially when they can fly and shoot fire and save children, but Godzilla was pretty rad, too. So why not revisit some of the originals? Aside from the very first, which I like to revisit every few years because it's way more amazing than people realize, I haven't seen most of these…
Revisiting Ray Harryhausen’s 1958 classic, The 7th Voyage of Sinbad

Revisiting Ray Harryhausen’s 1958 classic, The 7th Voyage of Sinbad

Posted inFilms, Geek Stuff
Ray Harryhausen was a mainstay of my childhood. His movies were regular features on the Saturday matinees -- on television, not in theaters; I'm not THAT old! -- and they sucked me in every time. How could they not? No sane young boy would be anything but engrossed by giant creatures slugging it out with heroes in sandals, and Harryhausen's creatures were AWESOME. So not too long ago, I decided to revisit a handful of his movies, among them The 7th Voyage of Sinbad. As a kid I had no real affection for the Arabian myths, so Ray Harryhausen's Sinbad…
What I learned from watching all the Star Trek movies in a row

What I learned from watching all the Star Trek movies in a row

Posted inFilms, Geek Stuff
I was a pretty unlikely candidate to marathon all the Star Trek movies. As noted when I started this Trek-a-Thon, I'm a casual Trek fan at best. Star Wars is my star jam. Trek is that other thing I sort of respect and kind of know because you can't run in geek circles without knowing at least some Trek, but despite having seen many original series episodes, most of The Next Generation on TV, and all the movies through Generations, I've never been able to call myself a Trek fan. Hell, I've playfully mocked it over the years because that's…