Apr 03

Geek Actually Ep126 – The Vegetable Orchestra

Hosted by: David McVay & Josh Philpott (with guest Jacob Oberman)

This week on the all new Geek Actually Jacob Oberman (the original co-host of Geek Actually) joins David and Josh for our weekly geek out. Topics discussed include installing iMovie on an iPad 1, the artificial leaf, billboard porn, virtual girlfriends, geeky airforce call signs, vegetable instruments and Oreo stuffed chocolate chip cookies. So sit back, stretch out and let’s geek out!

Geek Actually is the fusion of the old Tech Actually and Geek Actually After Show podcasts into an all new show. All the Tech and geek goodness that you have come to expect from the old shows wrapped up and made easier to swallow as one simple, little, tasty podcast. DeltaKnight (AKA DAvid Murray) continues to supply us with some of the geekiest stories on the web and Josh and David love to play with the tech news.

Geek Actually is recorded live on Saturdays around 12pm (AEST UTC+10). Go to geekactually.com/live to watch it live.

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Mar 31

TV’s Wonder Woman Gets A Costume Update

I don’t know if they listened to the fans or they just realised that what they had looked like an off the shelf Halloween costume, but the producers of TV’s new “Wonder Woman” have fixed the costume up a little. We can see the costume updates from these set photos from the production of the pilot.

Although I still don’t think the costume is particularly good, at least it looks a lot better than it did. Gone are the vinyl light blue pants and same coloured boots and in their place a dark blue material pants and red boots.

Now I can at least look at Adrianne Palicki and see Wonder Woman and not have to suppress my laughter. Continue reading

Mar 30

Review: Just Go With It

Adam Sandler is a frustrating actor, he wields a lot of power in Hollywood and is obviously talented. He continually produces films for him, and his friends, to star in through his Happy Madison Productions and still has time to stretch as an actor by appearing in other people’s projects such as Judd Apatow’s “Funny People”. So why is he frustrating? Because with all of the above, he continues to pump out juvenile sub-par comedies that really are aimed at the lowest common denominator. His films range from truly awful (“Little Nicky” & “The Waterboy”) to fairly good fun (“The Wedding Singer” & “Click”) but unfortunately most fall into the middle, mediocre and forgettable (“Happy Gilmore” & “Anger Management”).

So, where does his latest Happy Madison Production “Just Go With It” fall? Thankfully it falls at the slightly higher end of the scale. It is a pleasant romantic comedy that offers up a few laughs and a sweet performance from “Friends” star Jennifer Aniston. That doesn’t mean the film is without flaws, it has many. Flaw one, Adam Sandler just isn’t loveable enough (more on that later). Flaw two, the film is uncomfortably sexiest in parts (oh, we will come back to this as well). Flaw three, Nicole Kidman (do I need to explain this?).

“Just Go With It” is a remake of the 1969 film “Cactus Flower” that starred Walter Matthau, Goldie Hawn and Ingrid Bergman. The setting has been updated and Sandler is now a Plastic Surgeon rather than a Dentist, but the story is similar. Continue reading

Mar 28

Amy Adams is Lois Lane

Zack Snyder’s “Superman” finally has it’s Lois Lane and it is Amy Adams. An interesting left field choice and not from many of the short lists I saw.

Amy Adams is a terrific actress who is a three time Academy Award Nominee, but more importantly, she is a grown up. Kate Bosworth’s Lois Lane was a bitter pill to swallow in “Superman Returns” because I never believed she was old enough for the role. Ms. Adams is 35 and has more screen presence than five Kate Bosworths (just watch “The Fighter” for proof).

From her breakout role in “Junebug” in 2005, Amy Adams continues to turn heads with strong performances in films such as “Sunshine Cleaning”, “Doubt”, “Julie & Julia” and “Enchanted” to name a few. She is good choice for the feisty Lois Lane. Continue reading

Mar 28

Film Actually Ep033 (125) – The Mechanic Old and New

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Hosts: David McVay & Josh Philpott

This week we review “The Mechanic”, the original and the remake. We also take a look at a bunch of new trailers including: “Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides”, “Captain America: The First Avenger”, “Your Highness” and “The Big Bang”. All this and a new Lists of Five: Five Movie Assassins. So get comfy it’s a long show this week. Film Actually is the official movie podcast of geekactually.com.

*Update 31/07/2012 – Film Actually was a split off from the main Geek Actually show and originally maintained numbering continuity with that show. That logic no longer works as the shows have become two unique entities, so we have gone back and re-numbered the Film Actually shows to reflect their true episode number. This show is now officially episode 33 but when you listen to the show you will hear it referred to as episode 125, this is why. Sorry about any confusion or inconvenience.

Film Actually is recorded live every Saturday. Go to geekactually.com/live for the schedule and to watch it

Your show notes:

Entertainment Buzz

New trailer for “Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides”.
https://geekactually.com/2011/03/22/new-trailer-pirates-of-the-caribbean-on-stranger-tides/

Screen legend Elizabeth Taylor dies at 79 of heart failure
http://today.msnbc.msn.com/id/12517000/ns/today-entertainment/

The “Captain America: The First Avenger” trailer is finally here!
https://geekactually.com/2011/03/24/new-trailer-captain-america-the-first-avenger/

A director’s cut of the 1990 version of “Captain America” coming in May! WooHoo!
http://io9.com/#!5784495/directors-cut-of-the-1990-captain-america-movie-coming-in-may

The second Red Band trailer for “Your Highness”, we’re still not excited!
https://geekactually.com/2011/03/24/new-red-band-trailer-your-highness/

Trailer for “The Big Bang”.
http://www.slashfilm.com/the-big-bang-trailer/

Feature Film Reviews

‘The Mechanic’ (AKA “Killer of Killers”) (1972) directed by Michael Winner and written by Lewis John Carlino. It stars Charles Bronson, Jan-Michael Vincent, Keenan Wynn, Linda Ridgeway and Jill Ireland.

 

The Mechanic (or Assassin) Arthur is the best at his craft; he has made assassination an art form. He has learned to stay detached and methodical. But when he is told to kill his friend, Harry, it’s hard for him but he does it anyway. Harry’s son Steve wants into the business and Arthur decides to make Steve his apprentice. The plot thickens when Arthur finds out that Steve’s next contract is Arthur.

Our Verdict: A seminal 70’s classic and although dated still stands up today. Bronson is cold, clinical and methodical. The opening 15 minutes is still a cinema classic.

 

Watch the trailer here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xgBo7eWQlHY

‘The Mechanic’ (2011) directed by Simon West and written by Richard Wenk and Lewis John Carlino. It is based on the 1972 film of the same name. It stars Jason Statham, Ben Foster, Tony Goldwyn, Donald Sutherland and Mini Anden.

The Mechanic (or Assassin) Arthur is the best at his job; he says a bullet is easy but making it look like a hit didn’t take place is an art form. He has learned to stay detached. But when he is told to kill his friend, Harry, it’s hard for him but he does it anyway. Harry’s son Steve is so depressed over his father’s death he sets out kill every carjacker he can find. Arthur decides to make Steve his apprentice. And while Steve is not as refined as Arthur he learns fast but plot thickens when Steve finds out it was Arthur who killed his father.

Our Verdict: As a stand alone film it is DVD fodder at best, as a remake it doesn’t even compare to the original. It is more a poor “Transporter” film rather than a remake of the original.

Watch the trailer here: http://trailers.apple.com/trailers/independent/themechanic/

Lists of Five

This week our Lists of Five: Five Movie Assassins.

Just a reminder, because we never like to just make things easy on ourselves, our lists are not necessarily top five lists, they are more or a less a list of film recommendations within the theme of the list. The full lists can be found on our Facebook page.

This episode carries an explicit tag due to infrequent coarse language.

Listen or download it here or subscribe to it on iTunes

Send feedback for this show to feedback@geekactually.com or leave us a voice mail message to play on the show at (Sydney number) 02 8011 3167 or Skype ID: geekactually (you can also send us an mp3 file if you’d prefer).

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Make sure you check out our other fine podcast Geek Actually for all your geek cuture needs.

David’s “My Year With Movies” blog is on Tumbr

Listen to Reel Junkies podcast by going to weekendronin.com

Find out more about Josh’s other show, DLC Live, and Movember go to rawDLC.com

Our show logo is by Josh Spencer over at Spencer Cartoons at http://attackninja.blogspot.com/

The closing music this week is from Klaus Badelt’s score to “Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curese of the Black Pearl”, the track is called “He’s a Pirate”.

Mar 27

Trailer: The Three Musketeers in 3D

Oh dear, Paul W. S. Anderson’s new film “The Three Musketeers in 3D” is a difficult one because his films always trailer (watch the trailer below) well but his track record is really mixed and his films are often disappointing messes.

Why am I pre-judging this one so much? It’s Paul W. S. Anderson dude! Does anyone really take his films that seriously? I mean they often make a lot of money (“Mortal Kombat”, “Death Race”, “Resident Evil”, “Alien vs. Preadator”) but they are also often terrible films (“Death Race”, “Alien vs. Preadator”, “The Soldier” and “Resident Evil: Afterlife”). Anderson’s film look great (“Event Horizon”) but his scripts are terrible pieces of dibble written by a hack, himself (did I mention “Death Race”?). Continue reading