FOG! Chats With MAD TIGER: THE PEELANDER-Z Documentary Filmmakers Jonathan Yi & Michael Haertlein at FORCES OF GEEK

I first saw the ‘comic book action punk band’ Peelander-Z (from the Planet Peelander) back in 2006. I’ve seen some colors come and go, different people dress up as bowling pins and cosplayers sliding into themselves at human bowling.

I’ve seen 200 people with varying degrees of musical skill join the band with instruments from a suitcase (and even the bands’ gear) playing a cacophony of noise that can only be described as a beautiful mess. Broken English punk chants ‘Mad Tiger’, ‘Medium Rare’ and my favorite ‘So Many Mike’ are on cue cards for the audience to sing along to, while squid and other Kaiju monsters make their way through the crowd. For the introverted nerd or geek, there was finally a punk band that could being you out of your shell. 

The band feeds on this kind of happiness as well.

Lead by Peelander Yellow and his partner Peelander Red, a Peelander-Z show is like being in a Japanese comic book with action lines and full page spreads. The show is, by Yellow’s definition, “10% music and 90% theatre”. (Though you will be hard pressed not to be singing these songs to yourself days after a Peelander invasion).

Filmmakers Jonathan Yi and Michael Haertlein explore the relationship between the colorful band members in Mad Tiger, debuting in New York on May 6th. What started as a music documentary became the story of a relationship between two friends who are as close as family can ever be, and how Peelander-Z can navigate change.

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CAPTAIN AMERICA: CIVIL WAR (review) at FORCES OF GEEK

Produced by Kevin Feige

Screenplay by Christopher Markus, Stephen McFeely

Captain America Created by Joe Simon and Jack Kirby

Directed by Anthony Russo and Joe Russo

Starring Chris Evans, Robert Downey Jr.,

Scarlett Johansson, Sebastian Stan,

Anthony Mackie, Don Cheadle, Paul Rudd,

Jeremy Renner, Chadwick Boseman,

Paul Bettany, Elizabeth Olsen, Emily VanCamp,

Tom Holland, Frank Grillo, William Hurt, Daniel Brühl

Following up Marvel’s The Avengers: Age of Ultron, Captain America: Civil War is the latest chapter of the Marvel Cinematic Universe from Winter Soldier filmmakers, the Russo Brothers.

In just 8 short years, Marvel Studios has brought the comic book mythology to film, establishing several franchises and then bringing them together.  It’s simple to forget how unheard of a concept that was previously; with 2012’sThe Avengers having Robert Downey Jr., Chris Evans, Mark Ruffalo, Chris Hemsworth, Scarlett Johansson, Jeremy Renner and Samuel L. Jackson share the screen together.

The Brothers Russo have done it again; with Civil War replacing the action-packed Winter Soldier as the very best in the Marvel filmography. On top of the already large cast, Civil War introduces two major heroes to the Marvel pantheon including the introduction of comics’ first African American hero Black Panther (Chadwick Boseman) and the “They FINALLY Got it RIGHT”! onscreen Peter Parker/Spider-Man (Tom Holland) is as pure perfection as Ivory Soap claims (99.9%, last time I checked).

Captain America: Civil War is pure Ever-Lovin’ Merry Marvel Marchin’ Society joy. ‘Nuff said!

We’re just now coming out of a post-holiday The Force Awakens/Deadpool/Batman v Superman/Supergirl Season Onehibernation that never seemed to end. Except now that it has. Some of that stuff was amazing, some not so much but mostly we fed off of the superhero movies and television send down the pike to us.

After leaving Captain America: Civil War, that all seemed like an appetizer for this souped up thrill ride from Wakanda to Berlin.

With longtime Cap baddie Helmut (Baron) Zemo (Daniel Brühl) as the film’s main foil, the Avengers face challenges more complex than infighting over political differences.

For a brief moment—a very brief moment—I was vibrating on all the right frequencies with this movie. And then I thought of the rights situation at Fox. The only thing that could have made this film more enjoyable for me would be to see Hugh Jackman’s Wolverine take a swat at Cap’s shield and scrape it up a bit. Black Panther does manage to damage the Vibranium shield, so that is something. There are no mutants in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, and Bryan Singer is doing a fine job with the X-Men franchise but I can’t help but want to see everyone on screen mixed up with a wise-cracking Peter Parker, a no-good Scott Lang and a beautifully crafted Vision.

Seriously, The Vision looks so cool. I have a note that says only, “The Vision looks cool”. A better writer would have left it at that. While I’m agape at the costumes and visuals, I will also compliment Boseman for his stellar debut as Black Panther and I can’t wait to see more of him. Black Panther costume? Nailed it. Spider-Man? Best one yet.

There are great little bits of humor to break up the high tension, and the Russo Brothers even snuck in a funny visual homage to their former gig as directors of Arrested Development during the fight scene. 

Want some romance? Check! Cap finally seals the deal (in a very proper, polite, 1940s way) with Agent 13 (Emily VanCamp), with whom we discover has a special connection to Steve. No spoilers here but this is the clever nod to another established Marvel character.

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LEGO DC Comics Super Heroes – JUSTICE LEAGUE: COSMIC CLASH (review) at FORCES OF GEEK

Super-genius super-computer and compulsive Collector of Worlds aka Brainiac 1.1 has his sights set on our Earth but the Justice League is there to stop him!LEGO Justice League - Cosmic Clashis the fifth film in the LEGO DC Comics Super Heroesdirect-to-video series.

Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, The Flash, Cyborg and Hal Jordan Green Lantern protect the Earth from being shrunken to Kandor size but not without some help and a bit of timey-wimey adventures.

Digging into the lore of DC Comics Silver Age and recent history, this Lego movie is one for Superman and Batman fans of any age.

The movie opens at the Hall of Justice where everyone except Batman is playing a trust game of hide and seek.

Batman (Troy Baker) refuses to play because he’s sort of a wet blanket and refused to think of his Justice League co-workers as anything other than associates.

Younger teammates The Flash (James Arnold Taylor) and Cyborg (Khary Payton) take the opposite view and embrace friendship!

Led by Blue Boy Scout Superman (Nolan North) and the ultra confident Wonder Woman (Grey Griffin) and Green Lantern (Josh Keaton), the League takes to the sky when the Klaxon alarm warns of a threat to Earth!

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ZOOTOPIA (movie review) at FORCES OF GEEK

Produced by Clark Spencer

Story by Byron Howard, Rich Moore, 

Jared Bush, Phil Johnston, Jennifer Lee, 

Joshie Trinidad, Jim Reardon

Screenplay by Jared Bush, Phil Johnston

Directed by Byron Howard,

 Rich Moore, Jared Bush

Starring Ginnifer Goodwin, Jason Bateman,

Idris Elba, J.K. Simmons, Tommy Chong,

Octavia Spencer, Jenny Slate, Shakira

Disney’s Zootopia is the latest from the main mouse studio to anthropomorphize animals and have them burrow into our hearts.  Jason Bateman stars as fantastic fox Nicholas P. “Nick” Wilde opposite the real star of Zootopia, Ginnifer Goodwin as Zootopia Police Department’s first bunny rabbit officer Judy Hopps.

In a world where predator and prey have put aside their differences and mostly live in peace side by side in the city of Zootopia, some mammals have gone missing and Judy sets out to get to the bottom of the mystery in fear of losing her job.

The resolution and detail of the best animation technology and talent in the world is on display here with Zootopia, as the Disney machine keeps on rolling. 

Zootopia is a funny movie but not without drama, as the city of Zootopia is revealed to us as a whole new world where animals dominate!

Cleverly, the movie sets us up with young bunny Judy in a school play that reflects the rules of the new society we are introduced to in Zootopia. If only more fantasy movies gave a wink and five minutes of exposition at the top we’d all leave the theatre a little less rattled!

Sure, that’s for the kids who will no doubt be watching this over and over on iPads in the backseats on road trips, but for an adult, the explanation serves to rationalize our own obsession with scooping up Zootopia toys from the aisles of Target. We adults will be able to say, “I love THE MESSAGE Zootopia has to teach kids, that we can all GET ALONG”, in the same breath as we snatch the last plush Judy Hopps off the shelf—leaving a snot-nosed kid in a carriage crying because we took his favorite new toy.

Moving on, Judy (Ginnifer Goodwin) is mocked by her parents and her 237 rabbit siblings that she wants to become a police officer. These jobs are typically occupied by bigger, stronger species. Through pure will and determination she trains her way through Police Academy (in a Full Metal Jacket montage) and earns her stripes to move away from her parent’s carrot farm in Bunnyburrow to the big city to be assigned to Zootopia Police Department.

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EDDIE THE EAGLE (review) at FORCES OF GEEK

Produced by Adam Bohling, David Reid, Rupert Maconick,

Valerie Van Galder, Matthew Vaughn

Screenplay by Sean Macaulay, Simon Kelton

Directed by Dexter Fletcher

Starring Taron Egerton, Hugh Jackman, Christopher Walken,

Mark Benton, Keith Allen, Jo Hartley, Tim McInnerny

“The thrill of victory, ..and the agony of defeat” was the signature tag on ABC’s Wide World of Sports program depicting ski jumper Vinko Bogataj tumble in a fateful failed jump.

We are now two years away from the next Winter Olympics in PyeongChang when this movie about a victorious ski jumper hits the screen. 

Eddie the Eagle tells the story of British ski jumper and famous underdog Eddie Edwards (Taron Egerton) and coach Bronson Peary (Hugh Jackman) preparing for the 1988 Winter Olympics in Calgary.

Produced by Fox in association with Marv Films (Matthew Vaughn), this Dexter Fletcher directed film is full of heart and the spirit of amateur athletics driving men and women to pursue their dreams to become Olympic athletes. 

The movie certainly has it’s moments of big screen action but for American audiences, the reverence to an underdog British sports icon might land the jump a few meters short of a qualifying distance.

While the story in the biopic is mostly made up, it is partially based on Eddie’s 1988 book Eddie the Eagle: My Story. We open to see a boy with a leg brace grow up to be the first British ski jumper since 1929. 

Eddie (Egerton) doesn’t meet the requirements to join the downhill ski team in 1984 so shifts focus to ski jumping which he has never done before! He borrows enough to make it to the only ski jumping training facility in Europe, Garmisch in Southern Germany. There, he meets up with the fictional Bronson Peary (Jackman), an amalgamation of some of Eddie’s real life coaches at his real life training ground, Lake Placid. 

Going from the smaller hill to the 70m run in the movie, Eddie gets the skiing part down but not the critical landing piece, but always seems to get back up to try again. The American groundskeeper Bronson Peary takes some persuading to help out Eddie but of course does to train him for the 70m.

The screenplay as a backbone to this story is a bit predictable, with the old drunk coach being coaxed out of retirement before the kid breaks his fool neck. There is a significant cameo with Christopher Walken playing the Qui-Gon to Jackman’s Obi-Wan in a voiceover as Eddie is learning how to ski from Warren Sharp’s (Walken) book.

I guess there comes a time in every studio filmmaker’s career where they need to make an 80s throwback winter sports montage movie — and this is that film for both Matthew Vaughn and Dexter Fletcher. From the Back To School Specialand Quantum Leap synth theme score to mixed with songs from Frankie Goes to Hollywood and Thin Lizzy on the soundtrack the music captures the essence of the time.

Training montage? Check. Multiple training montages? Check.

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WHERE TO INVADE NEXT (review) at FORCES OF GEEK

Produced by Carl Deal, Tia Lessin, Michael Moore

Narrated and Directed by Michael Moore

Featuring Krista Kiuru, Tim Walker,

Vigdís Finnbogadóttir

Despite the title, Where to Invade Next isn’t a military strategy guide, but rather a brilliant look at global routines in other civilized countries that the US could take a cue from.

Where to Invade Next is subversive documentarian and divisive liberal political pundit Michael Moore’s latest movie and his first film since 2009. Moore takes us around the globe to point the camera back at ourselves in a different light as he uses invasion as a metaphor for cafeteria style policy changes that we could use in the United States as a means for treating our citizens better.

Stylistically, the movie isn’t as aggressive or pushy as his other films.

This one takes an already much described ‘kinder and gentler’ style as Moore visits these other countries to tackle everything from free health care to school lunches.

Where to Invade Next may just have enough style and grace to appeal to both sides of the aisle and at the very least get a conversation going about what changes would or could happen here at home for a better tomorrow.

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BATMAN: BAD BLOOD (review) at FORCES OF GEEK

Batman: Bad Blood is the latest DC Universe Animated Original Movie and is quite possibly the best Bat-family animation since 2010’s Batman: Under the Red Hood. The animated franchise rebooted itself to align with the New 52 in 2012 withJustice League: The Flashpoint Paradox, and Batman himself, along with Damian Wayne and Nightwing, Alfred and the rest have their own continuity to follow now starting with 2103’s Batman: Son of Batman and the Court of Owls storyline in 2014’s Batman vs. Robin. 

With a dynamic screenplay from comic book industry veteran J.M. DeMatteis (Justice League International, Spider-Man: Kraven’s Last Hunt), Batman: Bad Blood borrows heavily from New 52 storylines featured Grant Morrison’s Batman, Batman Incorporated, Batman and Robin and Batwing as well as Batwoman from Greg Rucka and J.H. Williams III. 

The stripped down Batman: Incorporated story in Batman: Bad Blood definitely works, with dynamic action, great character work and introduction and nods to the spanning comic stories that preceded this feature.

Batman: Bad Blood introduces some key members of the family, while piggybacking on Batman: Son of Batman andBatman vs. Robin. Batwoman (Yvonne Strahovski) appears early on as an uneasy ally to Bruce Wayne (Jason O’Mara) before Batman disappears from Gotham City.

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NINTENDO QUEST (review) - Forces Of Geek

There were 678 Nintendo games releases for the Nintendo Entertainment System in North America.

This is the story of lifelong friends issuing a challenge to one another to collect them all in 30 days.

Jay Bartlett is a super-fan of Nintendo and Star Wars, already has most of these games but must start from scratch using his own money and no online purchases in a race against the clock.

Nintendo Quest is the documentation of that journey and the hero’s challenges along the way as real life and anxiety set in as stumbling blocks toward achieving the goal.

Jay Bartlett and friend Rob McCallum (writer/director) have been friends for 30 years.

To channel the thrill of the hunt and also to showcase some great Nintendo trivia and history, Rick started a Kickstarter under the name NES Club. Nintendo Quest is the successful product of a crowdfunded movie, at the very least. They incorporate some great original 8-bit graphics for titles as well as an 8-bit soundtrack to set the mood.

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FINDING NEIGHBORS (movie review) at FORCES OF GEEK

Produced by Judy Korin, Jennifer Day Young
Written and Directed by Ron Judkins
Starring Michael O’Keefe, Catherine Dent, Blake Bashoff,
Julie Mond, Sean Patrick Thomas, Mike Genovese

Do you ever feel stuck?

I’m sure some of us (speaking for myself of course) reaching middle age feel that way all the time. Even when stuff is going well, it’s never going anywhere it seems. Or, at least that’s how it is on the bad days.

When Sam Tucker (Michael O’Keefe — Caddyshack, Michael Clayton), a working cartoonist feels stuck he looks for his neighbors for some inspiration, support and a change of pace.

This independently released film was a great exploration into realistic characters and their lives intertwining. While dealing with somewhat mundane routines, Finding Neighbors never itself feels that way. This is a colorful portrait of Sam, his sensitivities as an aging man in a relationship and his relationship with his work and other people’s expectations of him.

Sam struggles with his ever straining relationship with his wife Mary (Catherine Dent, The Shield, Auto-Focus) and befriends his gay neighbor Jeff (Blake Bashoff, Lost) and gets intimate with the details of Jeff’s own ennui. Another neighbor Sherrie (Julie Mond, Exit Speed, General Hospital) plays the temptress next door whom Sam can see showering outdoors from his drawing studio window.

Will all of these complications make things better between Sam and Mary, and will Sam follow up his latest graphic novel with something — daresay anything? Mostly he’s stuck on his story and can’t get anywhere with it.

This is where Jeff comes in.

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SALAD DAYS: A DECADE OF PUNK IN WASHINGTON DC (review) at FORCES OF GEEK

Wishing for the days
When I first wore this suit
Baby has grown older
It’s no longer cute
Too many voices
They’ve made me mute
Baby has grown ugly
It’s no longer cute

But I stay on, I stay on
Where do I get off?
On to greener pastures
The core has gotten soft

— Minor Threat, Salad Days (1985)

Reflecting on these lyrics thirty years later, the documentary Salad Days: A Decade Of Punk In Washington DC serves as a backstage pass to one of the most explosive and important hardcore punk scenes in this country. 

One could argue that Ian MacKaye’s bands and Dischord Records label defined the look, attitude and stage behavior of East Coast hardcore and straight edge kids from up in Boston down to Gainesville for years to come. 

This documentary puts the spotlight on McKaye and Jeff Nelson (Minor Threat, Dischord Records), Henry Rollins (Black Flag), Dave Grohl as well as horror comic writer Steve Niles (Gray Matter) among many others to patch together a decent image of D.C. punk in the 80s.

I was pretty stupid back then.

Well, let’s say uncultured. Let me go back. I was a teenager once.

Like many teenagers, I needed to rely on older siblings to clue me into my next move. It wasn’t my sister (Guns-N-Roses fan) that got me into punk rock. Rather, it was a complex web of a social circle and older siblings that circulated mix tapes of everything cool from Violent Femmes (who’s ‘Add it Up’ connected with me the way it could only connect with a virgin’s sex drive) to Minor Threat, we had it figured out. 

And then we started our bands. The rest as they say is a rather boring personal history that means nothing besides that it was real. Real to us. Music, expression, Minor Threat and the Dead Kennedys and the through line to McKaye’s later band Fugazi and $5 shows was very real. 

Hot summertime basements were filled with our bands. We scrawled giant X’s on our hands one week and then asked the same older brothers to buy us beer the next. We played next to washing machines and bicycles in the cellar and waited for the cops to come.

We bought army jackets, paint, sewed patches and made our own version of ‘The Sound of Punk to Come’. We weren’t very cool, but that’s what we were.

90% of what we were TRYING to do every day was to be like Minor Threat.

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JUSTICE LEAGUE: GODS AND MONSTERS (review) at FORCES OF GEEK

Doomed planet. 

Desperate scientists. 

Last hope. 

Kindly couple. 

Superman.

— Grant Morrison, All-Star Superman

Grant Morrison is most certainly capable of distilling Superman down into a few words, especially when introducing what has since become considered one of the greatest stories of all time of the iconic character.

Another master of the DC Universe  is Bruce Timm, the mastermind behind Batman: The Animated Series, Superman: The Animated Series, Justice League and Batman Beyond (to name a few).

Timm is back in with his latest project,  an alternate reality version of Justice League with Justice League: Gods and Monsters, which debuted on Machinima last month with three shorts and has been released this week as a feature length animated movie.

These new interpretations include Superman / Hernan Guerra (Benjamin Bratt, 24, Modern Family), the spawn of General Zod and Lara Lor Van’s DNA (in vitro, you pervs) raised by a Mexican farming family.

Batman is the creature of the night we know in our world as Man-Bat, Kurt Langstrom (Michael C. Hall, Dexter).

Rounding out the un-holy trinity is Bekka, granddaughter of Highfather from New Genesis aka Wonder Woman (Tamara Taylor, Bones, Lost).

With a reimagined DC Universe including dozens of Easter Eggs and a President Amanda Waller calling the shots, Alan Burnett (Batman: Mask of the Phantasm, Batman Beyond) and Timm’s PG-13 alternate reality gets a little racier thanThe Animated Series ever could. A member of the new guard for DCAU Sam Liu (Batman: Year One, All-Star Superman) directs.

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SPY (review) at FORCES OF GEEK

Produced by Paul Feig, Jessie Henderson,

Peter Chernin, Jenno Topping

Written and Directed by Paul Feig

Starring Melissa McCarthy, Jason Statham,

Rose Byrne, Miranda Hart, Bobby Cannavale,

Nargis Fakhri, Allison Janney, Jude Law

Melissa McCarthy’s latest movie Spy is a treat.

Director Paul Feig graduated McCarthy from supporting player in 2011’s Bridesmaids, to co-star in 2013’s The Heat and now, badass leading lady in Spy. 

The comedic sendup of the classic James Bond formula goes back at least as far as the original 1967 Casino Royale and Get Smart but also was reinvented in the ‘90s by Mike Myers in Austin Powers.

Gadgets, plane fights, prat falls and cat-lady sweaters are what populatesSpy.

Next year, Feig will take McCarthy into her next showbiz tier with Ghostbusters, where she’ll get her doctorate in ‘ensemble cast’.

Susan Cooper is a CIA Agent, working as an assistant to field agent Bradley Fine (Jude Law). She witnesses Fine’s brutal murder via a very unrealistic ‘contact lens camera’ as she’s guiding him through his final mission. 

When the CIA is made aware of a possible leak, the only thing left to do is send someone after his murderer Rayna Boyanov (Rose Byrne). Hothead agent Rick Ford played by Jason Statham is a braggart and bumbling parody of the usual roles the actor plays. 

Ford goes rogue when the agency picks the unassuming analyst Susan Cooper to go out into the field to Paris to gather intel on that “Thundercunt” Rayna, her bosses and a nuclear bomb!

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BATMAN UNLIMITED: ANIMAL INSTINCTS (review) at FORCES OF GEEK

The strange Batsuits with angular black and yellow emblem we’ve been seeing at Target from Mattel have been finally been brought to life by Warner Bros Animation and DC Comics. If you were off-put by the Batman and Robin (1997) look of the things, you are not alone.

My expectation of an eventual animated property were that of a Joel Schumacher ice rocket, plummeting further into the abyss.

Expectations mean a lot to Batman fans, and we especially take note when they are exceeded. 
Bat-fans may be surprised by this with the latest offering, Batman Unlimited: Animal Instincts.  

Keep in mind though, this isn’t New 52 Batman, this movie is geared toward a younger all-ages crowd.

Roger Craig Smith reprises his role as Batman/Bruce Wayne from the video games Lego Batman 3 and Batman: Arkham Origins. Charlie Schlatter returns to The Flash role from Superman: TAS and The Batman, Green Arrow appears alongside Nightwing, Red Robin, and Alfred for an alliance that is more Outlaws than Justice League to face down Penguin and the ‘Animalitia’.

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Slamdance 2015: BATKID BEGINS: THE WISH HEARD AROUND THE WORLD (review) AT FORCES OF GEEK

Review by Clay N Ferno
Produced by Liza Meak, Dana Nachman
Written By Dana Nachman, Kurt Kuenne
Directed by Dana Nachman
Featuring Miles Scott, Natalie Scott , Nick Scott,
Teresa Clovicko, Audrey Copper, Katie Cotton,
Ama Daetz, Mike DeJesus, Ej Johnston, Sue Graham Johnston, Mike Jutan


Having just returned from San Francisco, I can safely say that the city is intact, largely thanks to a brave little boy named Miles Scott aka Batkid.

By thwarting The Riddler and The Penguin and saving not only a lady on the trolley tracks but also SF Giants mascot Lou Seal, Miles was given the Key to the City from Mayor Ed Lee on November 15, 2013.

The Make-A-Wish Foundation made Miles’ dream come true and in turn, a city was transformed into a heroic playground for the leukemia survivor.

Batkid saved the day, took over our social media for the afternoon and everyone from fellow Batmen Affleck, Kilmer and Keaton to President Obama thanked him for his service.

Batkid Begins documents the small town of Tulelake, CA family’s battle with cancer and the redeeming qualities of community based action. What was meant to be perhaps 100 volunteers turned into an entire city playing a small background character in a real life Batman Movie starring our Batkid, a five-year-old Miles Scott.

I remember ‘Batkid’ Day.

We’re three hours ahead so here on the East Coast this was prime twitter time for me. It was unavoidable. Even Facebook’s algorithms couldn’t stop that which was the heart of this thing.

It was all over everywhere, and I shared and retweeted as much as I saw from #SFBATKID on Twitter, reading about this amazing story.

Batkid Begins tells the story of Miles and his parents and their struggle since Miles was diagnosed at 18 months. Can cancer just stop it already? I mean that villain goes after a young kid that just wants to play with his toys all day and run around in a cape. Actually, as clarified near the beginning of the movie, 18 months is old enough to qualify for the amazing work of Make-A-Wish, but the parents smartly waited until he was a bit older and he fought his own battles and became more of a person before asking Miles what his wish would be.

Naturally, putting anyone, let alone a kid, through countless draining hours of treatment can take its toll. Steroids, chemo, the whole stinkin’ lot of it is the pits. What comes out of that is a spirit of being a fighter. And that is around the time Miles’ Dad Nick introduced him to Adam West on TV as Batman. Our little Bruce Wayne fell head over heals for the Caped Crusader and demanded his own cape for dress-up.

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AMERICAN SNIPER (movie review) at FORCES OF GEEK

Bradley Cooper stars in the Clint Eastwood directed American Sniper. A sure-shot for Oscar winner, with a total of six nominations, this heartbreaking war picture astounds with it’s scale.

From hearing the sniper’s heartbeat quicken to the plucked the heartstrings on the home-front, the true life story of Navy Seal Chris Kyle’s life brought to the big screen may be a crowning accomplishment for both Cooper and Eastwood. The story unfolds between tours as ‘The Legend’ returns home and Kyle is forced to adjust to civilian life and the effects of the thousand-yard stare of a true American hero.

Sienna Miller costars as Taya Kyle — Chris’ wife forced to stay at home and raise kids while her husband — the greatest sniper in the world — agrees to multiple tours fighting the War in Afghanistan.

Eastwood and Cooper were highlighted in two of my favorite films of last year, Jersey Boys and Guardians of The Galaxy. These movies, one a musical and the other a comic book action romp could not have been more different a movie than we are given with American Sniper.  

Sniper marks the first time these strong leading men worked together, and markedly this is a very serious film and shift in tone for both.

As a director, Eastwood has been taking audiences on a more introspective and serious ride in his later years with movies set in the present day like Million Dollar Baby, Gran Turino all the way back to Mystic River to name a few. He’s taken on the horrors of war with period pieces Iwo Jima and to some extent in J. Edgar.

By basing this film on the autobiography of Chris Kyle (American Sniper: The Autobiography of the Most Lethal Sniper in U.S. Military History - with Scott McEwen & Jim DeFelice), the realism is ramped up to such intensity that only seeing the film in theaters will do it justice.

From the accuracy of the SEAL sniper training to the small moments at home where men can not express feelings or emotion about doing their job abroad will chill you to the bone.

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BLACKHAT (movie review) at FORCES OF GEEK

BLACKHAT (review)

Review by Clay N Ferno
Produced by Thomas Tull, Michael Mann, Jon Jashni
Written by Morgan Davis Foehl, Michael Mann
Directed by Michael Mann
Starring Chris Hemsworth, Tang Wei, Viola Davis,
Ritchie Coster, Holt McCallany,  Yorick van Wageningen,

Chris Hemsworth leads the cast as convicted white collar hacker Nicholas Hathaway enlisted by the FBI and the Chinese to take down a globe-spanning network of criminals threatening the safety of the world’s economy and nuclear energy in Blackhat.

Divisive director Michael Mann (Heat, Public Enemies) gets on the cyber-hacking bandwagon nearly twenty years too late, but the movie does have some great action moments if you can start to follow the logic of the thing.

Co-star Tang Wei (Lust, Caution) delivers a great performance as Lien Chen, partner to the furloughed Hathaway, though she could have easily been given more to do as a female leading lady by Mann or the story architects.

Blackhat is a named after a hacker term for someone who can decode high level security. How that translates to the screen is often hum-drum and at times this is where the movie dictates its own very slow pace. Close-up shots of USB flash drives, 1’s and 0s scrolling across the screen a la The Matrix all look cool — for a second — but this sets the tone as being a bore from the intro.

The movie opens on one computer terminal, follows the signal down to the Tron-like circuit board and into a CPU.

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THE GAMBLER (movie review) at FORCES OF GEEK

Review by Clay N Ferno

Produced by Irwin Winkler, Robert Chartoff, 

Mark Wahlberg, Stephen Levinson, David Winkler

Screenplay by William Monahan

Based on The Gambler by James Toback

Directed by Rupert Wyatt

Starring Mark Wahlberg, John Goodman, 

Brie Larson, Michael K. Williams, Jessica Lange, 

Emory Cohen, George Kennedy, Richard Schiff

Mark Wahlberg stars in a remake of 1974’s The Gambler directed by Rupert Wyatt (Rise of the Planet of the Apes, The Escapist). No, not Kenny Rogers as The Gambler, that came out in 1980!  Wahlberg takes on the role of Jim Bennett, a college professor with a knack for getting in deep with the wrong kinds of people while feeding his gambling habit. 

The rest of the cast features heavy hitters Jessica Lange as Jim’s long-suffering rich mother, John Goodman as Frank the whale and one of our favorite actors from HBO’s Boardwalk Empire and The Wire, Michael Kenneth Williams.

Brie Larsen (Scott Pilgrim vs. the World) is Amy Phillips, a literature student working off her student loans nights at an upscale underground Hollywood casino. Amy knows her professor’s secret but is not the only student to be affected by the Bennett’s actions—mirroring points in the original film.

There is more than debt resolution and distracted teaching in this film, however. Wahlberg delivers a serious performance of a man bordering on being out of control with his habits but not an addict.

There may be more to what we see behind Jim Bennett’s blackjack face.

Some other reviewers and I were all invited to what could best be described as a meet and greet with director Rupert Wyatt when he was in town. There, we cozied up and in the least formal way imaginable—over tea sandwiches and soup in the lobby of a Boston hotel—to take advantage of a rare opportunity to talk to the director in an intimate setting. Being on the opposite coast of such regular occurrences, I took full advantage of this and broke bread with Mr. Wyatt and we all picked his brain about working with hometown Hollywood anti-hero Wahlberg his experiences making this movie. Martin Scorsese was once attached to The Gambler, but Rupert was the final directorial choice.

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BIG EYES (movie review) - at FORCES OF GEEK

Review by Clay N Ferno

Produced by Tim Burton, Scott Alexander, 

Larry Karaszewski, Lynette Howell

Written by Scott Alexander, Larry Karaszewski

Directed by Tim Burton

Starring Amy Adams, Christoph Waltz,

 Danny Huston, Jon Polito, Krysten Ritter, 

Jason Schwartzman, Terence Stamp

Set in the sixties, Tim Burton’s Big Eyes, is based on the life of artist Margaret Keane (Amy Adams) and her shyster husband, Walter (Christoph Waltz). This is a sidestep from Burton’s previous work while still maintaining some of his signature weirdness. Supporting cast includes Jason Schwartzman, Krysten Ritter, Terence Stamp, Danny Huston and a host of others. 

The title comes from Margaret’s ‘waif’ paintings, you’ve seen these and knockoffs for years, perhaps in your grandma’s sitting room.

The unfortunates look sad and look through you, and Big Eyes means to set the record straight about who is behind the brush.

I’m surprised at the PG-13 rating for this one, as the subject matter is tame and a bit of a departure from what you might expect from a Tim Burton movie. Other reviewers have been comparing this to 1994’s biopic Ed Wood. Needless to say, where Burton shines are in locations where you may expect to see him — in Halloween Town or Wonderland. The only real fantasy we get is in the supermarket where everyone is taken over by Big Eye syndrome among 60’s pop art exaggerated product branding straight from the cover of The Who Sell Out.

The styling, costumes and the set pieces are very much of the time — we’re trained to expect a certain throwback to the same era after seven seasons of Mad Men — and the overall palette of the picture is as bright as you may expect. 

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SHE MAKES COMICS (movie review) - at FORCES OF GEEK

Review by Clay N Ferno

Produced by Karen Green, Patrick Meaney, 

Jordan Rennert, and Marisa Stotter

Executive Produced by, Julian Darius and Mike Phillips

Directed by Marisa Stotter

Starring Ramona Fradon, Trina Robbins, Karen Berger,

Joyce Farmer, Karen Berger, Kelly Sue DeConnick, 

Becky Cloonan, Wendy and Richard Pini, 
Jenette Kahn, Marie Severin, Paul Levitz

She Makes Comics is the latest film by the Sequart Organization funded by Kickstarter and available for sale and digital download for comics fans of any gender.

Marisa Stotter directs this documentary produced in association with Respect! Films that delves into the history, present and future of female fandom, lady creators and what it means to be a fan of comics today. A true celebration of the medium, She Makes Comics puts the spotlight on key contributors, editors and cosplayers to encourage young girls and women to embrace what they love.

It seems like you can’t swing a longbox these days without running into some internet discourse or open letter about gamergate, cosplayers at conventions or fan backlash about new costume designs for female heroes (looking good, Batgirl and Spider-Woman)!

As a straight white male (boring, I know!) checking my privilege seems to be something I do without such reminders but I’m grateful to have the opportunity to review great films like this.

We need more movies like She Makes Comics! 

Not only are we given a history lesson about comic books, a subject that I’ve quite literally worn the leather of my armchair reading up on, but we get to learn and listen to important lessons in this documentary. I watched this with my girlfriend, also a comic book fan and we were high-fiving throughout! Mostly when Kelly Sue DeConnick was speaking, because she’s just so cool.

Scanning the indicia (you know, the tiny print on the inside of comic books, usually page 1) and the credits was something I always did while reading comics as a kid (didn’t everyone? No?).

Some of my favorite books were by ladies and I thought nothing of it, I mean anyone can write and draw a book, right? There were Mary Shelley and Anne Rice for example. Until I grew into an adult, I had NO IDEA what kind of struggle an Ann Nocenti, Louise Simonson or Lynn Varley might be dealing with just because they were female. I saw them just as creators — and most of the time I thought they did a better job than their male counterparts.

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HORRIBLE BOSSES 2 (review) at FORCES OF GEEK

Review by Clay N Ferno

Produced by Brett Ratner, Jay Stern, John Morris

Screenplay by Sean Anders, John Morris

Story by John Francis Daley, Jonathan Goldstein, 

Sean Anders, John Morris

Directed by Sean Anders

Starring Jason Bateman, Charlie Day, Jason Sudeikis, 

Jennifer Aniston, Jamie Foxx, Chris Pine,

Christoph Waltz, Jonathan Banks, Kevin Spacey

Hollywood returns to the well once again for another sequel that questions it’s own existence!

Thankfully, the familiar television and movie stars making up the ensemble cast do have their moments, and Horrible Bosses 2 isn’t a complete waste of time.

Jason Bateman, Jason Sudeikis and Charlie Day reprise their roles as Nick, Kurt and Dale and become their own bosses unleashing a new product “The Shower Buddy” onto the world.

Jennifer Aniston and Kevin Spacey return as well, along with mastermind “Motherfucker” Jones — Jamie Foxx.

Added this time around are the father/son team of leading man Chris Pine and Basterd Chrisopher Waltz. 

For schlock value, if you like to tune out here’s a movie for you, with some funny moments but the spark isn’t as bright as the original concept or the director Sean Ander’s last effort behind the camera, Adam Sandler’s That’s My Boy.

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