LEGENDS OF THE KNIGHT (review) AT FORCES OF GEEK

Produced by Brett Culp,Tricia Culp, 

Matt Andrews, Josh Costella, Ian del Carmen, 

Vasilis K. Pozios, 5th Element Events, Sultan Saeed 

Al Darmaki, Sultan Al Saud, Southeast Psych

Written and Directed by Brett Culp

Starring Michael Uslan, Denny O’Neil, 

Lenny B Robinson, Jill Pantozzi, Kye Sapp, 

Petaluma Batman, Rabbi Cary Friedman, 

Dr. Travis Langley, Gotham Chopra, 

Brian Elliott, Patrick O’Connor, Daniel Scott

As a side dish to your binge-watch of Batman ’66 DVDs we present to you Legends of the Knight from Virgil Films. The documentary takes a look at people passionate to a fault about the Caped Crusader on his 75th Anniversary.

From Batman film franchise executive producer Michael Uslan’s story, to the one-legged breakdancing Daniel Scott to Lenny Robinson — “Maryland Batman”, each vignette tells the story of people making the world better as if Batman were real.

Brett Culp’s touching documentary shows the side of fandom not exploited by cosplay press, but the human side of using Batman as an inspiration to make the world a better place.

As an avatar of justice for the past seventy-five years, Batman has meant a lot to a lot of different people.

This documentary explores how a fictional character like Batman is a real life role model to kids and adults across the world. Sure, Adam West, Christian Bale, Michael Keaton and the rest are all very different models on the screen, but the essence of Batman as a hero is always the same.

Like a perpetual “It Gets Better” campaign, Batman is lurking in the shadows to show kids that the impossible is possible and to do what is right.

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Birdman: Following The Superhero Actor’s Trajectory - at JIMSULLIVANINK.com

I had expected Alejandro González Iñárritu’s Birdman to be a little on the nose as far as following the career of Michael Keaton. I was pleasantly surprised to find out this was not the case. Keaton has continued to act and be successful since his Batman of 1986, and remains a respected and relevant actor even if not as active as he once was. Keaton plays Riggan Thompson, once famous for his roles inBirdman I, II & III (presumably things went down hill for Riggan when he refused to cash in on the opportunity to do Birdman IV — analogue to the Batman franchise and the Schumacher bombasts to follow the gritty Tim Burton Dark Knight interpretation. Riggan finds himself struggling to stay in the spotlight on Broadway, producing, directing and starring in his own play “What We Talk About When We Talk About Love” by Raymond Carver.

Another superhero movie actor, (arguably three, all told) stars in the film, Edward Norton. Norton’s own relationship with his Marvel superhero, The Incredible Hulk (2008) is complex as he was replaced unceremoniously by Mark Ruffalo in The Avengers (2012). Norton’s arrogance off screen is perhaps a reason he was replaced, and here in Birdman he plays a well known stage actor Mike Shiner, struggling to inject realism on the stage playing opposite his girlfriend Lesley (Naomi Watts). Shiner drinks real gin on stage, throws tantrums and is just a real dick to everyone. Perhaps it is because he can’t get it up!

Zach Galifianakis plays Riga’s agent and astraight man this time around. As comic artist Ray Hueston in HBO’s Bored to Death, he played the alter ego of Super Ray — a hero that can fight with his enlarged penis!

[READ MORE AT JIMSULLIVANINK.COM]

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GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY (review) AT FORCES OF GEEK

Review by Clay N Ferno

Produced by Kevin Feige

Screenplay by James Gunn, Nicole Perlman

Based on Guardians of the Galaxy by Dan Abnett and Andy Lanning

Directed by James Gunn

Starring Chris Pratt, Zoe Saldana, Dave Bautista, 

Vin Diesel, Bradley Cooper, Lee Pace, Michael Rooker, 

Karen Gillan, Djimon Hounsou, John C. Reilly, 

Glenn Close, Benicio del Toro, Josh Brolin

Marvel Studios, James Gunn and Kevin Feige have done it.

They’ve taken sci-fi to a new level, brought humor to the game and among the accomplishments too many to list have made unknown characters to the spotlight with great actors to get Marvel Cosmic into movie theaters across the globe.

The ensemble cast, one who is a raccoon, another a tree, spark on the screen and the space battle action triples from the previous epic-scale Marvel movie, The Avengers. 

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DIAGRAM FOR DELIQUENTS (review) at FORCES OF GEEK

equart takes on the Senator McCarthy of comics, Dr. Frederick Wertham in their latest deep dive into comic book history.

Longtime fans of comics are familiar with the Comics Code Authority stamp on nearly every comic book cover until very recently, and those with a sharp sense of comic book history are familiar with Wertham’s damaging 1954 book,Seduction of the Innocent.

The book blamed comic books and other media for the rising problem of juvenile delinquency in the United States and spearheaded regulation for the funny books.

1954’s comic book hearings in front of United States Senate Subcommittee on Juvenile Delinquency had Wertham as the key witness. 

From censorship to juvenile delinquency to the severed heads in EC Comics,Diagram for Delinquents looks at the tarnished side of the Silver Age and how one man changed the face of comics and book publishing forever.

This documentary explores the nature of the censorship in the 50s and the lasting effects of how the Comics Code continues to ripple into how publishers make decisions to this day. 

Wertham’s motivations are explored and his little known contributions to the African-American Civil Rights Movement are also spotlighted, showing that the man was complex, compassionate and not as much of a demon as everyone may perceive.

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A BRONY TALE (Review) AT FORCES OF GEEK

Ashleigh Ball is a voice over actress and singer for Canadian indie pop band Hey Ocean! who played at my nightclub in Cambridge, MA last year. Another performer to grace the same stage last year was the twenty-one year-old Silva Hound, an Atlanta, GA DJ that spins Brony remixes on a tour with Brony musicians as Musiquestria.

A Brony Tale tells the story of Ashleigh going to her first BronyCon as the voice of Applejack and Rainbow Dash, main characters on the My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic animated TV show. 

This is the second documentary about the Brony subculture to cross my desk, and the second to make me visit the show again as we see fandom’s most picked on rise above the negativity outside and embrace community inside. 

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THE IMAGE REVOLUTION (review) AT FORCES OF GEEK

‏Twenty years ago, the comic book industry’s top guns took their pen nibs, pouches, flowy capes and big eyes away from the Big Two and started Image Comics. Creator ownership and the comic book industry fundamentally changed that day when McFarlane, Larsen, Liefeld, Silvestri, Lee, Valentino, and Portacio took control of the business of comic books and the rights to their own characters. 

‏Written and directed by Patrick Meany and produced by Seqart in association with Respect! Films, The Image Revolution interviews the guys, plus Sean Howe (Marvel Comics: The Untold Story), Image publisher Eric Stephenson, Robert Kirkman (The Walking Dead), Nick Spencer (Morning Glories) and many more to tell the tale of the early ‘rock star’ days of Image Comics and takes us through today. With the success of The Walking Deadand Image Comics dominating the creator owned market and business model, the impossible dream became real.

We get another great inside the bullpen look from Respect! Films here, highly recommended for fans of these superstar creators but mostly for people of my comic book reading generation. The early ‘90s were an amazing time to be reading the books coming out from Marvel. 

‏The split happened right before our eyes, and like many things no one was sure if it would work.

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JERSEY BOYS - (movie review) - at FORCES OF GEEK

Produced by Clint Eastwood, Graham King, 

Robert Lorenz

Screenplay by Marshall Brickman, Rick Elice

Based on Jersey Boys by Marshall Brickman and Rick Elice

Directed by Clint Eastwood

Starring John Lloyd Young, Erich Bergen, 

Michael Lamenda, Vincent Piazza, Christopher Walken

John Lloyd Young stars as Frankie Valli in the Clint Eastwood directed movie Jersey Boys, based on the jukebox musical of the same name.

This retelling of the origin of the Four Seasons flips from being Goodfellas to Bye Bye Birdie, adds a bit of previously unknown dangerous element to the pop groups’ origin, and offers another outlet for Eastwood’s directorial oeuvre. 

The talented cast are triple threats in the classical show-biz way, and the romantic notion of cutting a record and shopping it around to labels is illustrated in the musical as the quartet finally gets a name and a ‘sound’.

Told partially by having each of the members of the Four Seasons break the fourth wall and narrate the story, we start out with Vincent Piazza (Boardwalk Empire) as founding member Tommy DeVito. His criminal activities, black market dealings and revolving door at the state prison make for a very Henry Hill intro to the movie.

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EDGE OF TOMORROW (review) at FORCES OF GEEK

Review by Clay N Ferno

Produced by Erwin Stoff, Tom Lassally, 

Jeffrey Silver, Gregory Jacobs, Jason Hoffs

Screenplay by Christopher McQuarrie, 

Jez Butterworth, John-Henry Butterworth

Based on All You Need Is Kill by Hiroshi Sakurazaka

Directed by Doug Liman

Starring Tom Cruise, Emily Blunt, 

Bill Paxton, Brendan Gleeson

Tom Cruise and Emily Blunt star in this dystopian sci-fi tale directed by Doug Liman (The Bourne Identity, Mr.  Mrs. Smith).

With spectacular robot control suits and space age firepower, the heroes take on the Mimics, a spindly looking race of alien monsters that seem to know what is happening next.

When Private Bill Cage (Cruise) has an encounter with one of the slippery beasts, his fate is changed by absorbing some of the Mimic’s power.

Under Rita’s (Blunt) training, Cage and the misfit goons of Master Sergeant Farell’s (Bill Paxton) J Squad go after the enemy with guns blazing.

The catch?

They get to do it over again by resetting Cage’s life.

No review of this movie is going to not reference Groundhog Day. So yeah, it’s kinda like Battlestar Galacticameets Groundhog Day. 

That elevator pitch is no slight to the movie, it may actually hook some of your on the fence pals to head to the theatre for this one.

[READ MORE AT FORCES OF GEEK]

X-MEN: DAYS OF FUTURE PAST (REVIEW) AT FORCES OF GEEK

Review by Clay N Ferno

Produced by Lauren Shuler Donner, Bryan Singer, 

Simon Kinberg, Hutch Parker

Screenplay by Simon Kinberg

Story by Simon Kinberg, Matthew Vaughn, 

Jane Goldman

Based on Days of Future Past by 

Chris Claremont and John Byrne

Directed by Bryan Singer

Starring Hugh Jackman, James McAvoy, Michael Fassbender, 

Jennifer Lawrence, Halle Berry, Anna Paquin, 

Ellen Page. Nicholas Hoult, Peter Dinklage, 

Shawn Ashmore, Omar Sy, Daniel Cudmore, 

Evan Peters, Fan Bingbing, Adan Canto, Booboo Stewart, 

Josh Helman, Lucas Till, Ian McKellen, Patrick Stewart

Director Bryan Singer is back for an epic cross-time caper with X-Men: Days of Future Past. The latest Marvel Comics summer blockbuster merges the casts of the previous X-Men films and offers a glimpse at a not-so pleasant future.

Drawing inspiration from the comic book storyline of the same name, mutants in the future are forced to wear inhibitor collars or fear being eliminated by robotic Sentinels.

There are differences in the stories, however.

The movie doesn’t take direct cues from the famous storyline, rather it deftly adapts plot points from each of the other X-Men movies (Including Matthew Vaughn’s 2011 X-Men: First Class) to weave in and out of possible timelines. Are you a fan of Doctor Who and The Wolverine?

Singer delivers with this all-star cast and intelligent storytelling.

The movie opens on the future, as Bishop (Omar Sy), Blink (Fan Bingbing), Colossus (Daniel Cudmore), Kitty (Ellen Page) and Ice Man (Shawn Ashmore) fight off Sentinels. Our new brand of Sentinels are unlike any you have seen in the comics, more T-1000 than robot, with the ability to change form to fight the mutant enemy.

Before long, we’re treated to a meet up in China where surviving X-Men meet up with the old guard of X-Men: Storm, Wolverine, Professor X and Magneto. Actors Barry, Jackman, Stewart and McKellen are of course all reprising their signature X-Men roles. 

Divergent from the comic storyline, Kitty has a new skill whereby she is able to send someone’s consciousness back into the past (reserved in the comics for Rachel Summers). In order to escape their current fate, someone must go back in time to stop the Sentinels from being invented. Wolverine takes Kitty’s place this time because of his healing factor and the fact that he doesn’t look all that different! 

[READ MORE AT FORCES OF GEEK]

CHEF (review) at FORCES OF GEEK

Review by Clay N Ferno

Produced by Jon Favreau, Karen Gilchrist, Sergei Bespalov

Written and Directed by Jon Favreau

Starring Jon Favreau, Sofía Vergara, John Leguizamo, 

Scarlett Johansson, Oliver Platt, Bobby Cannavale, 

Dustin Hoffman, Robert Downey, Jr.

Triple threat Jon Favreau (Swingers, Iron Man) writes, directs and stars in this delightful family friendly comedy about a chef that redefines himself through his cooking, and his relationship to his son after being torn apart by a popular food blogger.

Guest starring half of the cast of Iron Man 2 (Scarlett Johansson, Robert Downey, Jr.), plus other on-screen heavyweights John Leguizamo,Dustin Hoffman and Oliver Platt, Chef is a story about how people touch other people’s hearts with their food.

When food blogger Ramsey Michel (Oliver Platt) descends on Chef Carl Casper’s (Jon Favreau) restaurant, he’s expecting to be wowed like he was in Miami years ago when he saw the young chef in his element.

Now the years have gone by, Carl’s still a great chef with innovative ideas but is held back by ‘playing the hits’ at Riva’s (Hoffman) restaurant.

The food isn’t all that’s changed.  Carl has a young son Percy (young talent Emjay Anthony) with his ex-wife Inez, the gorgeous Sofía Vergara. Carl keeps Percy at arms-length as he struggles to keep his kitchen together and his pride, working for Riva at the expense of his creativity.

Riva’s hostess Molly (Johansson) and Carl spend time smoking behind the bar, as kitchen workers do, and hint at a flirty romance that you spend the whole movie wondering what will happen between the two. Chef parlays this into him simply making her a pesto instead of taking it further at one key scene in the movie before movie takes a shot at a redemption story.

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GODZILLA (REVIEW) - AT FORCES OF GEEK!

Review by Clay N Ferno

Produced by Thomas Tull, Jon Jashni, 

Mary Parent, Brian Rogers

Screenplay by Max Borenstein

Story by David Callaham

Based on Godzilla by Toho

Directed by Gareth Edwards

Starring Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Ken Watanabe, 

Elizabeth Olsen, Juliette Binoche, 

Sally Hawkins, David Strathairn, Bryan Cranston

“Oh no, they say he’s got to go go go Godzilla!”

— Blue Öyster Cult

With fans screaming in anticipation for the kaiju as equally as for the return of Bryan Cranston since the end of Breaking Bad, 2014’s Godzilla delivers all of that and more.

Is it time to relegate the 1998 film to the archives and stop complaining about it like oh so much Burton’s Planet of the Apes?

The answer is yes!

Let Pacific Rim be your ersatz prequel for this summer giant monster movie that digs deep into the Toho Co. archives for meaning behind Godzilla’s motivations and where he ranks on the good monster vs. bad monster scale.

Is he better thank Neutral Good? You will need to get out and see Godzilla vs. M.U.T.O. to judge for yourself!

Bryan Cranston stars as Joe Brody, an American scientist living in Japan with his wife and young son Ford (CJ Adams). When testing seismic readings, he discovers an anomaly and heads to the nuclear power plant where he works with his wife, Sandra (Juliette Binoche).

An accident befalls the plant, with tragic loss of life, and then the scene jumps to ten years later.

Ford (Aaron Taylor-Johnson) has joined the Navy as an Explosive Ordnance Disposal (EOD) specialist and has just returned to his wife Ellie (Elizabeth Olsen) and son Sam. A call from Japanese police confirm that his dad Joe has been arrested for trespassing.

On a recon mission, we discover that Joe’s suspicions about a resurgence of the same readings from that fateful day have occurred. It is not too long after we discover that our new monster, the first to appear in the film, M.U.T.O. (Massive Unidentified Terrestrial Organism) is feeding off of the radiation on in the plant to gain power. Many policemen in hardhats scurry as M.U.T.O. rips through high tension wires meant to contain the creature! And we’re off!

[READ MORE AT FORCES OF GEEK]

TRANSCENDENCE (review) AT FORCES OF GEEK

Review by Clay N Ferno

Produced by Broderick Johnson, Andrew A. Kosorve, 

Kate Cohen, Marisa Polvino, Annie Marter, 

David Valdes, Aaron Ryder

Written by Jack Paglen

Directed by Wally Pfister

Starring Johnny Depp, Morgan Freeman, 

Rebecca Hall, Kate Mara, Cillian Murphy, 

Cole Hauser, Paul Bettany

Johnny Depp stars as Dr. Will Caster in Transcendence, a look at the singularity whereby artificial intelligence progresses to beyond human intelligence.

A self-replicating computer (Depp) attempts to right the wrongs in the world via technological intervention as Evelyn Caster (Rebecca Hall) is caught between helping her husband’s dream come true and her own humanity.  Anti-tech rebel Bree (Kate Mera) enlists the help of former Caster colleagues Joseph Tagger (Morgan Freeman) and Max Waters (Paul Bettany) and FBI Agent Buchanan (Cillian Murphy) to shut this whole thing down.

We’re introduced to the Caster couple as they are ready to give a symposium on the benefits of artificial intelligence to a sold out auditorium. A member of the anti-tech contingent, RIFT attempts to assassinate Dr. Caster shortly after the presentation. He is not killed, but poisoned by an isotope that infected his blood stream with radiation poisoning. 

[READ MORE AT FORCES OF GEEK]

CAPTAIN AMERICA: THE WINTER SOLDIER REVIEW at FORCES OF GEEK

Review by Clay N Ferno

Produced by Kevin Feige

Written by Christopher Markus, Stephen McFeely

Based on Captain America by Joe Simon and Jack Kirby

Directed by Anthony Russo and Joe Russo

Starring Chris Evans, Scarlett Johansson, Sebastian Stan, Anthony Mackie, 

Cobie Smulders, Frank Grillo, Emily VanCamp, Hayley Atwell,

Toby Jones, Maximiliano Hernández, Garry Shandling, 

Robert Redford, and Samuel L. Jackson

The First Avenger is back in his blockbuster sequel, joining Iron Man and Thor for in-between The Avengers movies solo ventures.  Chris Evans is back as Captain America Steve Rogers, and in contrast to the introduction of the character, the movie is set in present day, after the events in New York in The Avengers.

Flashbacks occur to move the story along, and are welcome callbacks to the WWII story of Cap and Bucky vs. Hydra, but there is much more going on with Nick Fury (Samuel L. Jackson), Black Widow (Scarlett Johansson), Maria Hill (Cobie Smulders) and introducing Sam Wilson as Falcon (Anthony Mackie) as the Scooby Gang of espionage S.H.I.E.L.D. is on watch.

Former Community/Arrested Development producer and director team Anthony and Joe Russo add humor to the mix in a subtle way, but more importantly pack so much action and tension into this chapter of the Marvel Cinematic Universe that we hope to see more from them with Cap 3.

While closest to Iron Man conceptually, the flavor of this Marvel Movie is all espionage Cap and Secret Avengers—a combination sure to make comics fans as well as Avengers fans excited, intrigued and headed to the theatre more than once for a taste of this non-stop action.

This is certainly the most meaty of stories and filled with the most Avengers since the franchise took off.

Nick Fury and Black Widow have a lot of screen time, and introduction of Stan Lee and Gene Colan’s Falcon as Captain America’s wingman makes for a great team. While this is still a superhero movie, we are taken to the world that Ed Brubaker established in his run on Cap. Throw in the main, practically unavoidable spoiler that Winter Soldier is in fact Cap’s erstwhile partner in justice Bucky Barnes (Sebastian Stan) and you have a complicated past mixed with a technologically advanced future. 

[READ MORE at FORCES OF GEEK]

COSMIC TREADMILL: 'AVENGERS CONFIDENTIAL: BLACK WIDOW & PUNISHER' (REVIEW) at FORCES OF GEEK

Ramping up for the big Cap movie this weekend got us all excited, preened and pumped for some small screen Marvel action, NOW!

The weekend brought us to the store for a DVD copy of Thor: The Dark World and a stranger, peculiar animated relative (second cousin?) Avengers Confidential: Black Widow & Punisher.

Mixing Anime and the Marvel Cinematic Universe (I think) made for a great sequel to the Madhouse produced Marvel Anime series, but underserved as a rally cry for this weekend’s live-action Winter Soldier. The Cosmic Treadmill ran with this on the HUD, and here’s what worked and what didn’t! 

The Punisher, for better or for worse, has always been a favorite Marvel character. I grew up with his War Journals, his Armory, his War Zone and throughout the ‘80s. Artists like Jim Lee Mike Zeck drawing Frank Castle and his family’s murder was my raison d’être! One day, I thought, I’d be rich and sexy enough to buy Amazing Spider-Man #129. I thought wrong!

As for Black Widow, co-star of this movie and The Avengers, I’ve only been interested since Iron Man 2. ScarJo’s stoic yet sexy expressions and her trickery over Loki in The Avengers certainly puts her in the front lines of the squad, but ‘back in my day’ Black Widow was second string. I have more Mockingbird comics in my long boxes than Natasha Romanoff!

Either way, story wise, this is a great pairing. You know what you are going to get with Frank Castle. He’s the opposite of Batman—killer, judge, jury, executioner. Black Widow, a former Russian spy, now S.H.I.E.L.D. spy under the thumb of Director Nick Fury (Cinematic, Samuel L. Jackson version) is one who must answer to military protocol and her higher ups.

[READ MORE AT FORCES OF GEEK]

300: RISE OF AN EMPIRE (review) at FORCES OF GEEK

300: RISE OF AN EMPIRE (review)

Produced by Gianni Nunnari, Mark Canton, 

Zack Snyder, Deborah Snyder, Bernie Goldmann

Screenplay by Zack Snyder, Kurt Johnstad

Based on Xerxes by Frank Miller

Directed by Noam Murro

Starring Sullivan Stapleton, Eva Green, Lena Headey, 

Hans Matheson, Rodrigo Santoro, Callan Mulvey 

The sequel to the 2006 epic comic book film 300 is an impressive one, taking place at a similar timeline to the first movie as Greeks defend their land against Persia.

The beginning of the movie shows the mystical origin of the God King Xerxes (Rodrigo Santoro) as well as the rise of Athenian general Themistokles (Sullivan Stapleton).

In a refreshing breath of balance not seen often in Hollywood action movies today are the two female leads, Persian ally Artemisia (Eva Green) and widow of King Leonidas, Queen Gorgo (Lena Headey).

At points, it seems the God King Xerxes’ origin was a red herring, allowing these ladies to shine and spill copious amounts of blood with their own blades, while the golden king sat on the safety of this throne—quite literally the backseat for this movie.

Embrace the 3D version of this movie if you can! “Tonight we dine…in spectacle”!

Though not a requirement for enjoyment of the movie, most FOG! readers may want to give themselves a refresher on the original movie, directed by Zack Snyder and based on the comic book series by Frank Miller.Xerxes by Miller isn’t even out yet, so fans of the writer artist will need to wait.

The closest you can even get is a preview in Dark Horse Presents #1!

[READ MORE AT FORCES OF GEEK]

KING OF COMICS: A TRIBUTE TO ILLUSTRATOR RALF KÖNIG (REVIEW) at FORCES OF GEEK

Germany has it’s own King of Comics, and that man is Ralf König.

The 2012 documentary of König’s life is now streaming on digital platforms and is a wonderful exploration of cartooning dealing with sexuality, censorship, religion and König’s rise to popularity and his life today as a treasured hero to both the comic book and homosexual communities.

Filmmaker Rosa von Praunheim (The Einstein of Sex, I Am My Own Woman, Rent Boys) invades Ralf’s loft for some heartfelt interviews as well as connects with the important people in Ralf’s life.

König’s most infamous comic, The Most Desired Man, was made into a film in 1994 starring Til Schweiger. Der bewegte Mann (International title: The Most Desired Man, U.S. title: he Most Desired Man) is a highly regarded cult film in which König makes an appearance as a drag queen.

The 53 year-old Ralf König came to prominence after coming out in the early 80s by producing humorous cartoons about the gay lifestyle, dating, drag queens and gay fantasies.

In the past couple of decades, König has taken on religiosity, live-in relationships and even the radical Islam.

Many German homosexuals credit König for the bravery to come out, via his humorous and matter-of-fact take on gay stereotypes in his early comics. Of course König’s comics deal with 80s AIDS fear as well, encouraging safe sex and dealing with the death of his friends from the disease as well.

[READ MORE AT FORCES OF GEEK]

KICKSTARTER KORNER: 'Ghost Source Zero' - A Sci-Fi Film by LARRY HAMA and MARK CHENG - FORCES OF GEEK & LEAGUEPODCAST!

Double Post! Want to hear the audio of this interview? LeaguePodcast #182 has you covered, full interview there!

YO JOE!

We spoke with filmmaker and G.I. Joe fan Mark Cheng (Operation: Red Retrieval -G.I. Joe Fan Film, 2011) about his newest project, an idea that impressed G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero writer, comic book legend Larry Hama.

As issue #200 of G.I.Joe: RAH approaches, another milestone will be met as the original sci-fi film Ghost Source Zero reaches it’s funding goal.


Mark joins us to talk about his collaboration with Larry on this exciting film, his background, education and his favorite Joe!

FOG!: Welcome, Mark how are you doing today?

Mark Cheng: Great, it happens to be my Birthday!

Tell us a little about your filmmaking history.

Like every kid, I loved watching movies when I was young. I really got into comic books as a visual storytelling medium, I was one of those guys who went to college to study film at Cornell University as a Political Science major. I dropped out of that, and pursued film production.

I spent about 8 months after college working on music videos, commercials, a memorable Chef Boyardee commercial, spinning a ravioli can on the table and filming it from 1000 different angles. I was a lowly Production Assistant, driving a prop truck from location to location.

I worked on a Blues Traveler video in the summer. Then I called it quits. 

I looked at the crew, three levels above me, and the tiers didn’t make sense to me, so I taught myself web design and that led to corporate America and getting a real job.

[READ MORE AT FORCES OF GEEK]

[LISTEN TO THE FULL INTERVIEW AT LEAGUEPODCAST.COM]

3 DAYS TO KILL (REVIEW) AT FORCES OF GEEK

Kevin Costner stars as Ethan Renner in the latest action adventure mixed with family drama directed by McG (Charlie’s Angels, Terminator Salvation) with screenplay by Luc Besson (Taken, The Fifth Element).

The PG-13 spy movie just barely meets the basic requirements for an action movie, and is mostly about the relationship Renner has with his daughter, Zoey (Hailee Steinfeld—Enders Game, True Grit).

With only 3 days to live, Renner takes the experimental drug treatment from his boss Vivi Delay (Amber Heard) to summon the strength to take on Russian gangsters as an American living in Paris.

The whole operation could have used a bit more sting, to tell the truth.

In all the movie was not for me but has potential to introduce teenage girls and boys to the spy genre with dashing and distinguished Kevin Costner in a borrowed suit and loose tie.

[READ MORE AT FORCES OF GEEK]

LEGO MOVIE: FUN FOR THE WHOLE FREAKING FAMILY - JIMSULLIVANINK.COM

My first for legendary Boston journalist Jim SullivanInk.com!

I received three texts from my girlfriend telling me that “Awesome,” the Tegan and Sara song from The LEGO Movie has been stuck in her head all day: “Everything Is Awesome!!!” And I streamed the song a few times today (Sara Quin told Billboard:“Whether you think it’s funny or annoying, there’s no denying that it’s a ridiculously hooky thing,”

So we went to the movie. The LEGO Movie itself is awesome, bricking together generations of builders, movie stars and imagination for a truly all ages movie to be enjoyed by all.

The prologue features god-like Vitruvius (Morgan Freeman, perhaps reviving his holy Evan Almighty role) facing down an evil and maniacal President Business/Lord Business (the always funny Will Ferrell). They speak of the prophecy, where one MasterBuilder will one day stop the evil tyrant from making permanent changes to the world of LEGO with his many tentacled Kragle gun.

Next we cut to everyman, our faithful builder Emmet Brickowkski (Chris Pratt, star of Parks and Recreation and the upcoming Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy). Emmet heads to work, where he follows President Builder’s instructions for his city of Bricksburg, singing (literally) all day, the theme song, “Everything Is Awesome!!!” before running into our strong female lead Wyldstyle (Elizabeth Banks). Wyldstyle’s snooping around triggers the alarms and our next big star is on the hunt for them, Badcop/Goodcop (Liam Neeson). Using the swivel head to switch from evil to nice is the typical LEGO touch, as soon as you start thinking of the bricks as people, the writers put in a clever reference to the toy parts that makes you giggle.

[READ MORE AT JIMSULLIVANINK.COM]

ROBOCOP (2014 review) at FORCES OF GEEK

Produced by Marc Abraham, Eric Newman

Screenplay by Joshua Zetumer

Based on Characters Created by Edward Neumeier and Michael Miner

Directed by José Padilha

Starring Joel Kinnaman, Gary Oldman, Michael Keaton, 

Samuel L. Jackson, Abbie Cornish, Jackie Earle Haley, 

Michael K. Williams, Jennifer Ehle, Jay Baruchel

While certainly not set in a desperate and dystopian Detroit of the future, the new Robocop movie is full of huge movie stars, video game action and a compelling storyline to take the franchise in a more modern direction.

Joel Kinnaman stars as cop Alex Murphy, and dons more than just a metal suit this time around to become a Robocop out for vengeance. Samuel L. Jackson is news anchor Pat Novak, Gary Oldman is Dr. Dennett Norton who brings Murphy back to life with his research funded by Omnicorp’s Raymond Sellars played brilliantly by Michael Keaton.

[READ MORE AT FORCES OF GEEK]