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by Josh Roth @ 9:02 pm August 28th, 2008
As we approach the end of the first, and most hopefully not last, season of the glorious gem known as The Middleman Javi and the gang continue to show us how unbelievably talented they are. As I said last time, the latter half of The MIddleman’s first season has been significantly deeper and more character-focused. That trend continues as we get to “The Clotharian Contamination Protocol”, the second to last episode of the season. And this week builds up to what looks to be one hell of a finale, introducing us to our main villain, Manservant Neville, as played by Mark Sheppard! Now Sheppard is no stranger to us Battlestar Galactica fans, where he played the suave and infinitely clever lawyer Romo Lampkin earlier this season. He also had a brief stint on Whedon’s Firefly as the conniving criminal ‘Badger’. With his wit and awesome accent he melds perfectly into the Middle-verse. And next week’s season finale is shaping up to the most brilliant episode of the series so far.
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by Josh Roth @ 9:36 pm August 17th, 2008
Tropic Thunder‘s trailers made it out to be a new high in the genre of Hollywood comedies. That’s quite a high standard to appease, but luckily Tropic Thunder comes out smelling like restroom soap. It’s an action comedy war movie directed/written/starring Ben Stiller, and starring Robert Downey Jr., Jack Black, Danny McBride, Jay Baruchel, and Brandon T. Jackson; with guest appearances by Steve Coogan, Nick Nolte, Matthew McConaughey, Bill Hader, AND Tom Cruise. How could you possibly go wrong? Simply put, Tropic Thunder is a comedy masterpiece, filled to the brim with genius parodies and cameos, and enough action to make John McClaine choke. The action is beautifully executed, and the comedy doubly so. This is a real gem of a comedy, and easily the funniest movie of the summer, and more than likely the whole year.
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by Josh Roth @ 7:59 pm August 6th, 2008
I had the pleasure of meeting Javi (the creator of Middleman) on the Comic-Con show floor. He gave and fellow Nerdgasmic blogger Sam Siskind some tidbits on upcoming episodes, and just from those quick one line synopsis I was amazed at how the show was evolving. This week brings us “The Ectoplasmic Panhellenic Investigation” where Wendy must infiltrate a haunted sorority and the Middleman is possessed by a sorority sister mad scientist. Javi and crew continue to impress me, every week brings another brilliant mix of sci-fi and comic book action/adventure on a shoestring budget. Matt Keeslar and Natalie Morales are brilliant as always, and Natalie really got to flush out Wendy’s character (like Matt got to do in last week’s Titanic tuba episode). But some of the real charm this week comes from Brendan Hines as Tyler (back from the Luciador episode) and Louis the ghost interpreter. They help give the episode an added level of charm and cleverness.
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by Josh Roth @ 11:26 am July 24th, 2008
Runaways is one of the most surprisingly fun and clever books I’ve ever had the pleasure of reading. I first heard of Runaways after Brian K Vaughn did an arc of Buffy the Vampire Slayer Season 8 (titled “No Future For You”, and currently available in trade paperback). The story synopsis alone was enough to catch my interest, but the fact that Buffy creator Joss Whedon had worked on an arc of Runaways made it a must read for me. I got a chance to check out the first trade hardback today, just before Comic-Con. Brian K Vaughn’s brilliant writing, combined with some of my all time favorite comic artwork by Adrian Alphona make Runaways an incredible must read. It combines the quick wit of Whedon’s Buffy the Vampire Slayer with another of my loves, the world of Marvel superheroes and supervillains.
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by Josh Roth @ 6:57 pm July 21st, 2008
I watched every trailer, every clip, and every interview available for The Dark Knight, I even delved into the viral campaign for a bit (had tickets to the free IMAX pre-screening, but I had my wisdom teeth out, great luck eh?), and I’m proud to say this movie still knocked me on my ass with surprise. At the midnight show for The Dark Knight the feeling in the air was unbelievable, the sheer excitement could power a small country for a week. When the Warner Bros. logo flew out of that fog the crowd exploded, and was dead silent for the next of the 2 and a half hours. This film will leave you speechless and in awe, and that’s what a great film is supposed to do, show you something you’ve never seen before. “It’s not about making money, it’s about sending a message.” – Joker
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by Josh Roth @ 8:07 pm July 19th, 2008
I don’t want to spoil the surprise of the Dr. Horrible Sing-Along-Blog finale, but believe me it’s perfect. It’s a serious bash to the mind (in the words of Captain Hammer), a bit depressing, and quite dark, but it couldn’t have ended any other way. In typical Joss Whedon fashion Dr. Horrible ends with one hell of a bang. The first act was light hearted and upbeat, the second was slightly darker but still had a glimmer of hope, the third and final act is down right morbid, but with that Joss Whedon touch of charm. Dr. Horrible’s Sing-Along-Blog is a rare gem of brilliance in a sea of mediocrity; not just in the internet but in media in general.
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by Josh Roth @ 5:56 pm July 17th, 2008
Act II of Joss Whedon’s web series Dr. Horrible went live at midnight last night, and I was up eagerly awaiting it’s arrival. I was a huge fan of the first part of this three part musical about a supervillian in love, and I was more excited to see where Whedon would take it. Act II brings us a slightly darker, more rock opera, professional addition to the first act. Whedon gets to really flush out the characters, pumping me up even more for the finale on Saturday.
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by Samuel Siskind @ 10:16 am July 17th, 2008
Moody Motorcycle (August 19th) is the debut album from Human Highway, a band formed by a current member of the Islands Nick Thorburn and an ex-Islands member Jim Guthrie. The band shares a name with a 1982 Neil Young film of which i’ve never seen, but does feature such acting talents as Dennis Hopper, Neil Young, and of course DEVO.
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by Josh Roth @ 6:13 pm July 16th, 2008
Before I begin, let me prefise by that I may be biased because of my extensive love for the works of Joss Whedon, which includes Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Angel, Firefly, Serenity, and even Alien: Resurrection. Whedon is always abe to suprise me, with his quick whitted writing, clever mixing of genres, and all around brilliance. When I heard that Whedon and company were making a new media, online only musical series about a supervillian in love I was thrilled. I’m a huge fan of Whedon, sci-fi and musicals. I knew it be great, but would it be popular? Here we are a few weeks later and Dr. Horrible has graced our computer monitors. And it is as brilliant and clever as always, and it’s looking like it’ll be an economic success as well!!
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by Josh Roth @ 3:49 pm July 11th, 2008
Guillermo del Toro is a true artist with a camera, and a cool guy to boot. Del Toro is a huge fan of the Hellboy comics, written by Mike Mignola, so when he brought Hellboy to the big screen, it was a perfect adaption to the comics. Hellboy 2: The Golden Army picks up where the last one left off, with Hellboy (Ron Perlman), Abe Sapien (Doug Jones), and Liz Sherman (Selma Blair) (John Myers is MIA because the actor, Rupert Evans was busy with the stage) kicking supernatural out of the BPRD in New Jersey. I was a huge fan of the first Hellboy, thanks to its perfect mix of sci-fi and fantasy. Then del Toro brought us Pan’s Labyrinth, which blew most people away. I definitely enjoyed it, but meh. And now Hellboy 2, which gives us the best of Hellboy and Pan’s Labyrinth, del Toro’s brilliant vision is perfectly executed in this excellent sequel to one of my favorite sci-fi films.
