March 26, 2009
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Hosts: David McVay, Mirren Lee, Katrina Smith and Nicholas McVay
Geek Actually is brought to you by listeners, just like you. Thanks for your donations. If you wish to make a donation, go to geekactually.com.
Buckle your seat belt Mirren is Back!
David is joined, after many weeks, by Mirren Lee and returning guest Katrina Smith for a wild and out of control episode of Geek Actually. Genital warts and all 
In tech news: Stephen Conroy and the AMCA black list get a roasting by all of the panel.
Film news includes: A lot of casting notices and the Coen Brother’s tackle “True Grit”.
Katrina and Mirren discuss the film “Easy Virtue” and Mirren and David discuss the new TV series “Kings”.
Nicholas ‘The Little Geek’ McVay joins us for a quick review of the new family film, “Ink Heart”.
As always this episode carries an explicit tag due to bad language.
Listen or download it here or subscribe to it on iTunes
(Post edited 24th May, 2009)
March 25, 2009
In a couple of months we are changing the feed permanently to our new Feedburner feed (it is for tracking stats and Podtrac purposes). We have already set this new feed up and all our iTunes traffic is getting its information from there already. So if you use iTunes, do nothing. If you do not use iTunes as your feed reader for podcasts, can you please update your feed to: http://feeds2.feedburner.com/GeekActually
At the moment both feeds are active but in a couple of months we will be dropping the Podbean feed. Thanks for your patience and understanding.
David
March 21, 2009
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Hosts: David McVay, Jacob Oberman, Katrina Smith and Dean
Geek Actually is brought to you by listeners, just like you. Thanks for your donations. If you wish to make a donation, go to geekactually.com.
David and Jacob are joined (via the miracle of Skype) by the lovely Katrina Smith and our new friend Dean from Melbourne for this special Geek Actually Watchmen Special. We dig deep into this modern classic: Book to film comparison, Actor’s and the portrayals and we look for the deeper meaning of it all.
We also discuss Alan Moore’s hatred of Hollywood and the, um, the big blue package
Warning: This is a spoilers filled show. If you haven’t watched the film yet and don’t want to know who gets killed or the ending, don’t listen yet. Also, if you have never listened to a Geek Actually show before, this is not the place to start, this is a free for all. I suggest that you go and listen to a proper episode to get a feel for our rhythm and style, then come back.
As always this episode carries an explicit tag due to possible bad language.
Listen or download it here or subscribe to it on iTunes
Just a reminder, if you have any comments about the episodes please leave them in the comments field below or email us using the contact link above. If you are an iTunes user, please leave a review as we are trying to get on the featured list and every review helps. Your comments (good or bad) help us improve the show.
(This post edited 24th May, 2009)
March 20, 2009
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Hosts: David McVay and Jacob Oberman
Geek Actually is brought to you by listeners, just like you. Thanks for your donations. If you wish to make a donation, go to geekactually.com.
David and Jacob discuss the weeks news (film and tech) and Radio National’s “Background Briefing” special on the Stephen Conroy Internet Filter. We also look at all the new features that will be on offer with the iPhone 3.0 software that is being released in the middle of the year.
In tech news: Fake Stephen Conroy busted, text dating, Seattle Post-Intelligencer goes 100% digital, Apple’s iPhone 3.0 announcement and Apple sues a company for putting the term “pod” in the word “podium”.
Film news includes: Linda Hamilton’s cameo in “Terminator: Salvation”, Natalie Portman cast in “Thor”, Michael Bay argues with Paramount over the release date for Transformers 3, David Chase returns to HBO, SAG & AFTRA threaten strike over commercial contracts and Sci-Fi channel changes it’s name to SyFy!
Vale to Ron Silver and Natasha Richardson, our thoughts go out to your families.
David quickly reviews Stephan Elliot’s new comedy “Easy Virtue” and it was surprisingly good.
And Mirren Lee even pops her head into the studio to say hi.
As always this episode carries an explicit tag due to possible bad language.
Listen or download it here or subscribe to it on iTunes
Show Notes:
Radio National’s Background Briefing Clean Feed Special
New Zealand’s Viral “True Blood” Advertising
Porn++ Podcast
Easy Virtual Trailer and Website
Just a reminder, if you have any comments about the episodes please leave them in the comments field below or email us using the contact link above. If you are an iTunes user, please leave a review as we are trying to get on the featured list and every review helps. Your comments (good or bad) help us improve the show.
(This post edited 24th May, 2009)
March 13, 2009
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Hosts: David McVay and Jacob Oberman
Geek Actually is brought to you by listeners, just like you. Thanks for your donations. If you wish to make a donation, go to geekactually.com.
Geek Actually is brought to you by listeners, just like you. Thanks for your donations. If you wish to make a donation, go to geekactually.com.
David and Jacob discuss the weeks news (film and tech) and after the film reviews, they explore the musical world of film composer Basil Poledouris.
In tech news: Apple releases a new iPod Shuffle, Australia has slow enough broadband to be considered a Broadband Backwater and Internet Explorer 8 comes with an off switch.
Film news includes: Mickey Rourke confirmed for Iron Man 2, Home and Away introduces a lesbian affair, Seinfeld cast reunite for Curb Your Enthusiasm and is Sam Worthington the next Batman?
David and Jacob review Eric Bana’s new documentary “Love the Beast” and David spits venom at “Punisher: War Zone”.
As always this episode carries an explicit tag due to possible bad language.
Listen or download it here or subscribe to it on iTunes
Just a reminder, if you have any comments about the episodes please leave them in the comments field below or email us using the contact link above. If you are an iTunes user, please leave a review as we are trying to get on the featured list and every review helps. Your comments (good or bad) help us improve the show.
(This post edited 24th May, 2009)
March 10, 2009
Let me start this by saying that I am a huge Marvel Comics fan. There, now I have that out of the way, I can get to my gripe. I just watched “Punisher: War Zone” and I had to voice my thoughts. What the fuck are Lionsgate and Marvel Productions thinking releasing this nonsense? Marvel seems to be working on the theory that if something doesn’t work, just keep re-booting it until it does. This theory doesn’t work!
Both The Hulk and The Punisher are characters that are full of potential and I can understand why Marvel wants hit films based on them, however, you have to get the film right first time or the audience will not come back for another taste. This was the case of The Hulk. When Ang Lee’s “Hulk” came out in 2003, it made a fair amount of money but it was not a fan favourite because Ang Lee crafted a deep and psychological drama about the dysfunction between father and son. The Hulk was the physical embodiment of Bruce Banner’s internal rage because he had daddy issues. The fans didn’t want this! We wanted Hulk Smash!!!!
Marvel did make money on “Hulk”, so a sequel was inevitable. When “The Incredible Hulk” came out in 2008, Marvel decided to give the fans what they wanted. We had a more realistic looking Hulk, we had mass destruction, less soul searching, a super villain, in short we had a comic book Hulk brought to life.
Now “The Incredible Hulk” was not a perfect film, it was a little light weight in the story department but it was a fun romp. The biggest problem the film had was that Marvel decided to “re-boot” the series. This means they wanted to start again, pretend the first film didn’t happen. This theory can work, just look at Christopher Nolan’s new Batman series. But I kind of feel the same way about re-booting as I do about remaking. You need some distance. We had a bit of distance between Tim Burton’s Batman and Batman Begins.
I think you could have made “The Incredible Hulk” more palatable, by just continuing on from Ang Lee’s film. You could have made exactly the same film but just acknowledge the first films existence and not try and re-write history.
But this article is not about the Hulk films.
Let’s take the re-boot concept to the ultimate extreme and talk The Punisher. The Punisher is one of Marvel’s more intriguing characters. He is dark, violent and he appeals to that dark recess of our mind that just wants justice. A film version of The Punisher would always prove tricky, he is no superhero, he is a vigilante, he is a walking one man arsenal that is out to punish the bad guys that the police can’t touch.
In 1988, Mark Goldblatt, an editor who wanted to direct (please note, he is editing again now) came to Sydney, Australia and directed Dolph Lundgren and Louis Gossett, Jr in “The Punisher”. I can’t tell you how awful this film was (yes I can, go to Bad List above), Lundgren spends the entire film with a badly painted five o’clock shadow on his face and Gossett, Jr wonders around trying to figure out how he can get out of this damn film.
A re-boot was inevitable and not unwanted. In 2004, Jonathan Hensleigh, brought us “The Punisher” starring Thomas Jane and John Travolta. This was a low budget origin story. Never mind that they changed the Punisher’s back story, it was an okay action film that would have benefitted from a couple of re-writes and a few more buckets of money. Jane at least gave the Punisher a soul and Hensleigh knows how to stage an action scene. Travolta was the weak link, he just chewed the scenery and hams his way through the film.
The 2004 film, “The Punisher”, was made at a cost of US$33 million and took approximately US$54 million at the box office. Add to that DVD sales and TV sales and you can imagine that Lionsgate wanted a sequel. Now you can imagine my thoughts: learn from your mistakes and now you have done the origin story, you can just get into the action. Maybe we will see the War Van. This could be cool.
HA!!! Marvel and Lionsgate pulled a Hulk on us. New actor (Ray Stevenson) and new director (Lexi Alexander) means re-boot! Ray Stevenson delivers a one note performance in dark and nasty film that owes more to “Saw” than the first film. No War Van. No coolness!
This film is gory to the extreme and I don’t know about you but when I see our hero open a door and look down to see a bad guy, who is actually posing no real immediately threat, and then lowering his rifle and quite literally blows the bad guys head clean off, does not say hero to me.
The film changes the back story again and introduces new characters that comic book fans may know but it will leave the newcomer lost. The secret of making superhero films is take your source material seriously. This was not the case with the bad guy, Jigsaw (played by Dominic West). He was a stereotyped mobster who after an accident with a glass crushing machine becomes the poor man’s version of Jack Nicholson’s Joker. Also, wasn’t Jigsaw the bad guy from “Saw”? Another comparison.
I hated this film and I will review it in detail in the next episode of the podcast (episode 29) but I will say that I believe the three strikes and your out rule must apply here. The Punisher is not a character that filmmakers seem to be able to do on film (not that hard really, think Rorschach from Watchmen, but with big guns) and they have now tried three times. Give it up Marvel, enough is enough. You can’t just keep re-doing films until you get them right. I think the reduced takings on “The Incredible Hulk” and now the box office on “Punisher: War Zone” (films cost US$35 million and so far has taken US$9.8 million worldwide) would say that audiences, once bitten, are twice shy.
March 7, 2009
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Hosts: David McVay, Jacob Oberman and Katrina Smith
Geek Actually is brought to you by listeners, just like you. Thanks for your donations. If you wish to make a donation, go to geekactually.com.
David is joined in studio by Jacob and Katrina for an in depth discussion about the new movie by Zack Snyder, Watchmen. They review the film as a film on it’s own and then do a little comic to film comparisons. We even have a spoiler zone on this one.
In tech news: Microsoft offers up a new search engine, industrious retail offering the Kevin37 TV and Netbook security issues.
Film news includes: Sean Penn trying to get Milk into the White House and Terry Gilliam can’t find a distributor for Heath Ledger’s last film.
As always this episode carries an explicit tag due to possible bad language.
Listen or download it here or subscribe to it on iTunes
Some Show Notes:
Watchmen The Official Site
Watchmen Trailer (Apple Link NB: There is also a trailer for Tales of the Black Freighter here)
Watchmen Score (Amazon Link)
Watchmen Graphic Novel (Amazon Link)
Watchmen Motion Comic (Amazon Link)
Watchmen: Tales of the Black Freighter & Under the Hood DVD (Amazon Link)
Koyaanisqatsi Soundtrack (Amazon Link)
Just a reminder, if you have any comments about the episodes please leave them in the comments field below or email us using the contact link above. If you are an iTunes user, please leave a review as we are trying to get on the featured list and every review helps. Your comments (good or bad) help us improve the show.
(This post edited 24th May, 2009)
March 6, 2009
Hi, we are recording Geek Actually tomorrow morning. The show will be heavily focused on Watchmen, the new film by Zack Snyder based on the DC Comics graphic novel by Alan Moore and Dave Gibons. I saw it yesterday and I am ready to review it on the show tomorrow with Katrina Smith and Jacob Oberman.
Have you seen the film? Did you like it? Did it live up to the hype? Are you going to see the film? How excited are you about this film? I would love to have your views on the show. Post your feelings in the comments field below (or send an email using the contact page) and we will read them out on the show tomorrow.
The new episode will be on the feed by tomorrow (Saturday 7th March 2009 AEDST) afternoon.
March 3, 2009
A new site to promote The Watchmen has just launched called 6 Minutes To Midnight. You submit your name and then answer questions to see exclusive clips. It is fun and there are some great clips.
Only two more days to wait.
http://6minutestomidnight.com/
March 2, 2009
Facebook, in a bid to get their members back on side, have placed the Terms of Service issue in the hands of the users. Users will be able to make their own comments and eventually vote on the policies that Facebook uses. These terms are called, by Facebook, Principles and Statement of Rights and Responsibilities.
Last month Facebook changed their Terms of Service (TOS), a move that completely outraged their users. Users began to jump ship until Facebook U-turned and re-instated their old Terms of Service. Now Facebook is trying a change of their terms again but this time they are including the users in a hope to find a new TOS that pleases everyone.
The new Statement of Rights and Responsibilities, once settled upon, will replace the site’s existing terms of use. Importantly, it states that Facebook’s licence to a user’s content will end when the user stops using Facebook and deletes their account. It was the lack of such a clause that caused the outrage last month.
Mark Zuckerberg, the founder of Facebook, had this to say, “The past week reminded us that users feel a real sense of ownership over Facebook itself, not just the information they share. Rather than simply reissue a new terms of use, the changes we’re announcing today are designed to open up Facebook so that users can participate meaningfully in our policies and our future.”
The two drafts have now been unveiled for the users to vote on. 30 per cent of the sites users have to vote for a draft for it to be passed. Facebook currently has 175 million users, that means 52 million votes.
So get to work everyone and vote for the TOS you like.
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