CastMedium » Movies

The Geekbox: Episode 76

Jonathan Downin — Thu, 29 Jul 2010 17:18:44 +0000

Karen is back and the show starts with talk of DeathSpank. Ryan S.is loving it, but Karen is just getting through it. Next up is Limbo and the inevitable price discussion ensues. Ryan H. has a strong stance on pricing for digital good and Karen almost can’t handle it.

After touching on Burn Notice the group moves on to the new Street Fighter X Tekken announcement. Ryan S. talks about the idea of achieving true balance in a fighting game with 40+ characters. Green Lantern and Smallville talk lead into a spoiler-filled Inception discussion.

Wherein we discuss alien invaders, boring jobs, DeathSpank, Limbo, digital distribution ad nauseam, StarCraft II’s impending release, San Diego Comic-Con 2010, the Avengers movie, the Burn Notice movie, the Suicide Squad videogame, Street Fighter x Tekken, Marvel vs. Capcom 3, the Avengers’ new comic book line-up, Jeph Loeb’s screwed-up career, Scott Pilgrim: Book 6, upcoming Smallville cameos, Geoff Johns’ Green Lantern comic book run, British TV, island midi-chlorians, and more Inception (spoiler warning!). Starring Ryan Scott, Karen Chu, Edward Cook, Andrew Fitch, and Ryan Higgins.

Runtime – 1:19:28

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at1UP: 07/27/2010

Jonathan Downin — Tue, 27 Jul 2010 22:15:40 +0000

After a short hiatus due to Mike’s Vacation and Comic-con craziness, the at1UP group is back. First up this week is some discussion about the $150 Kinect pricing. No one is too interested in the forthcoming motion control solutions, and the $150 price point makes it even harder for them to get excited.

The bulk of time is spent on comic-related topics this week, and rightfully so with Comic-con having just finished. Travis also pops in for a bit and talks about his initial impressions of the StarCraft 2 single player campaign. Jade and Alan close the cast with their opinions of Inception.

Note: Audio issues clear up around the 5 minute mark.

Covered games and topics: $150 Kinect, Street Fighter vs. Tekken, Spiderman: Shattered Dimensions, Hulk, StarCraft 2, Inception

Things fall apart quickly as Travis gets pulled away by corporate fat cats before the show starts and audio difficulties hinder the first few minutes of the show. But things quickly get back up to speed with talk of Starcraft II, Comic-Con, and Inception. Travis even manages to come back into the studio for some zombie discussion.

Runtime – 47:03

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CastMedium Podcast 045 – 07.27.10

Jonathan Downin — Tue, 27 Jul 2010 05:54:56 +0000

StarCraft 2 starts the cast this week, but we are not exactly the best group to be talking about it. Valve’s Alien Storm is an interesting release,and there really is no reason not to check it out since it is free on Steam– really, fire up Steam, just like Valve wants you to.

Official pricing for Kinect has been confirmed at $150. This a bit higher than many would have liked, but the $299 bundle seems to be just right. Also Street Fighter vs.Tekken and Tekken vs. Street Fighter have been confirmed. We are light on tech topics this week, but make sure you check out Firefox’s Tab Candy project.

Jon touches on Armond White’s appearance on the latest /Filmcast to finish the show.

Covered topics and games: StarCraft 2, Alien Swarm, $150 Kinect & bundles, Street Fighter vs. Tekken, Firefox Tab Candy, Armond White on /Filmcast

Runtime – 34:22

Links → mp3 | iTunes | Zune | rss

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CastMedium Podcast Inception Podblast – 07.22.10

Jonathan Downin — Thu, 22 Jul 2010 05:02:53 +0000

Here it is, our first non-traditional, topic-specific podcast. This one is all about Inception. We spend 50+ minutes talking about why we loved Christopher Nolan’s latest. Spoilers abound, so if you have yet to see the film, give this one a pass until you have.

We cover our overall impressions, theories about the continuity of the story, minute details of specific scenes, and much more.

This is a new thing for us, and we had a lot of fun doing it. If you enjoy this, by all means, please let us know in the comments as we would love to do more of these if people like it.

Required reading (well, not really, but it helps):

Runtime – 54:22

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/Filmcast Ep. 109 – Inception

Jon Cole — Thu, 22 Jul 2010 02:00:15 +0000

This week’s episode of the /Filmcast is all Inception, all the time. Before things start, Dave takes a quick moment to plug The Tobolowsky Files, which recently got aired on Seattle Public Radio. If you don’t listen to Dave’s other major podcasting venture, it’s definitely worth trying out.

The first half of the show is dedicated to the reviews from the regular /Filmcast crew, starting things off with Devindra. As a soundtrack-loving podcast, he quickly comments on the great score by Hans Zimmer, which he says never gets old as many times as he listens to it. Dave and Adam comment on the scope, execution and originality of this film, which easily surpasses his recent work on Batman.

The second half of the review is shared with the New York Press’s Armond White, who many would argue writes contrarian, trolling reviews to get attention. Suffice it to say that a summary like this can’t cover White’s ideas, which should rather just be listened to.

Note: Dave states the /Filmcast’s collective policy on what qualifies for spoilers early in this review, so if you don’t want any plot elements revealed at all, it might be worth saving this episode for after you see Inception.

This week, David Chen, Devindra Hardawar, and Adam Quigley delve into the mysteries of Christopher Nolan’s Inception. Special guest Armond White joins us from New York Press.

Runtime – 1:49:09

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The Totally Rad Show – Episode 174:Nolanverse

Ross Adams — Wed, 21 Jul 2010 14:10:41 +0000

The TRS crew has highly anticipated Christopher Nolan‘s newest flick, Inception. Going in with high expectations they have varied feelings on the film. Alex starts off, he really enjoyed the movie and thought it was great fun but it wasn’t quite the gamechanger he had been led to expect it would be. Jeff adored the film, citing the emotional story as something that he especially enjoyed. Dan also loved the film but seems to share Alex’s feelings that it wasn’t quite the epic masterpiece it was being built up to be.

The guys also discuss the trailer for The Social Network, Dan seems to have more to say about the actual trailer than the movie it’s advertising. Alex isn’t impressed and doesn’t think the film really needs to exist because the events are so recent and (to him) well known. Jeff doesn’t say much but Aaron Sorkins involvement is enough for him.

Deathspank is this weeks game and one the guys have been looking forward to. They all agree it was hilarious and it satiated Alex’s loot lust although he was disappointed by the lack of proper co-op. Jeff and Dan make note that the writing is far funnier than the actual delivery of the lines by the voice actors. Despite the shortness of the game the main complaint seems to be that the combat gets repetitive toward the end. Jeff uses the game to lead into a discussion about comedy in games and comedy games.

Is Inception a dream come true, or convoluted nightmare? DeathSpank, a rad action-RPG for under $20? Will the story of Facebook make a good movie? Plus, can games be funny?

Runtime – 44:56

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The Geekbox: Episode 75

Jonathan Downin — Wed, 21 Jul 2010 12:36:33 +0000

It’s a straightforward episode this week with just a few topics covered– most of which has Fitch upset about something. Burn Notice talk leads into a discussion about the Simpsons with Higgins arguing the quality of the whole series while Fitch outlines his approach to milked franchises and why singular good episodes can’t even be acknowledged.

The group also touches on Final Fantasy XIII and IV,with Higgins calling the beta of the latter almost unplayable due to its archaic MMO mechanics. The last 30 minutes is nothing but Inception talk. It is completely spoiler-filled, so stop listening at the 55:30 mark if you are so inclined.

Covered topics and games: Burn Notice, Simpsons, Green Lantern, Final Fantasy XIII & IV, Inception

Wherein we discuss Burn Notice, Mad Men, The Simpsons (and why it might or might not suck), EW’s Green Lantern cover, the horrible Thor movie costumes, The Hammer, more Final Fantasy XIII rage, Tiger Woods’ videogame slump, shark-jumping commercials, and Inception (major spoiler warning!). Starring Ryan Scott, Andrew Fitch, Greg Ford, and Ryan Higgins.

Runtime – 1:27:11

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CastMedium Podcast 044 – 07.20.10

Jonathan Downin — Tue, 20 Jul 2010 06:46:27 +0000

It’s another glorious episode of the podcast– and it’s a good one. DeathSpank’s debut and Limbo’s kick-off of the XBLA Summer of Arcade are up first. If you aren’t up on Limbo, as always, the Giant Bomb Quick Look is a good primer.

In tech, we spend a good amount of time on the state of iPhone 4 after the mini ‘Jobsnote‘ last Friday. Spoiler: None of us are too happy. We are happy about the overview of Windows Phone 7 that hit the tech sites recently though, and Erik is in a holding pattern for its release.

Jon quickly covers Inception because as it turns out, we recorded a 50 minute special(!) about the movie that will go up on Thursday. That’s right, our first podblast/castlight/castheavy/blastcast (name pending). Seriously, check it out on Thursday!

Covered topics and games: DeathSpank, Limbo, iPhone 4 antenna update, Windows Phone 7, Inception

Runtime – 35:53

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Filmspotting #308: Inception / The Apartment / Top 5 Dream Sequences

Jon Cole — Mon, 19 Jul 2010 22:15:35 +0000

After a slightly laborious lead-in from Matty, Adam starts off this week’s review of Inception with a couple of simple thoughts, namely that this film succeeded on many levels and definitely ranks among his best movies of the year so far. He goes on to say that the movies was so immersive and the mechanics were so well established that he found himself plunged into the film as though it was his own dream, ironically enough. Matty steers the conversation from there, praising the visuals as the most stylistically complete that Nolan has ever executed. He wasn’t nearly as submerged into the film, though, pointing to the continual explanation of the ever-changing rules as bogging down the pacing in the third act. Wrapping up the review, Adam notes that Kubrick and Lynch might make a film like this, which is high praise indeed.

The show continues with Massacre Theater and the Poll Question, as usual, before the continuation of the Billy Wilder marathon with “The Apartment”. With Jack Lemmon’s best performance yet, this is clearly a Wilder favorite. The show closes out with a top five as always, this week riding the Inception-train with best dream sequences. With the ranks of Wizard of Oz, Brazil, and Rosemary’s Baby populating the list, there’s definitely some great stuff to check out if you’re craving more after catching the midnight screening of Nolan’s latest.

:13-21:00 – Review: “Inception”
Music: Matthew Santos, “The Good Life”
21:55-27:41 – New DVDs / Notes
27:42-32:54 – Massacre Theatre (Winner: Mike Davidson)
32:55-36:47 – Poll Questions
36:48-55:57 – Wilder Marathon #4: “The Apartment”
Music: Matthew Santos, “Break Free”
56:57-1:11:10 – Thank You / Donations
1:11:11-1:26:47 – Top 5: Dream Sequences
1:26:48-1:29:57 – Close / Outtakes

Runtime – 1:29:57

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/Filmcast Ep. 108 – Predators

Jon Cole — Fri, 16 Jul 2010 15:00:13 +0000

This week’s /Filmcast starts out with a followup to last week’s review of The Last Airbender. Guest C. Robert Cargill talks a little bit about the animated series which Shyamalan adapted, giving a little bit more context to the severity of the film’s review and insisting that the show could be a sci-fi/fantasy touchstone for a future generation. The What We’ve Been Watching segment wraps up with Adam’s thoughts on Despicable Me, which he thought was surprisingly entertaining yet ultimately underwhelming.

News is short but sweet, covering the industry blowup over Edward Norton’s involvement (or lack thereof) in The Avengers and Marvel’s crass public announcement of their choice to step away from him. With Cargill on the show guiding this particular conversation, it delves a bit more into the business side than /Filmcasts normally would, though Adam tries to take it back to a personal level.

This week’s review covers Predators, the latest entry into the Predator series starring an ensemble cast including Adrien Brody, Alice Braga, Danny Trejo, Topher Grace, and Laurence Fishburne. Much of the segment is spent arguing the performance of director Nimrod Antal, who Dave thinks has a potential that rings of James Cameron. Otherwise, it’s fairly well agreed upon that the pacing and editing of the film is almost always great, though the introduction of Fishburne’s character disputably slows things down. In the end, all of the guys were entertained with the movie and feel good that this version of Predator might be the one that this generation of young people think back to wistfully.

Covered films and topics: Defending our Last Airbender review, I’m Here, The Kids Are Alright, Avatar: The Last Airbender, Despicable Me, Edward Norton will not be The Hulk (and Norton’s agent and Norton himself respond), Predators

This week, David Chen, Devindra Hardawar, and Adam Quigley discuss the dickishness of Kevin Feige, praise the sublime The Kids Are Alright, and try to figure out why Despicable Me isn’t as good as a Pixar film. . Special guest C. Robert Cargill (AKA Massawyrm) joins us from Ain’t It Cool News.

Runtime – 1:39:01

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The Totally Rad Show – Episode 173: Mandibles

Ross Adams — Wed, 14 Jul 2010 12:26:00 +0000

It’s a two movie episode this week, starting with the Robert Rodriguez produced Predators. Mixed feelings on this one, with Jeff being especially negative about it. He does say alot of it may be down to the fact he watched the original Predator film just before seeing Predators. As a result Predators seemed like a much lesser film to him and just didn’t impress him at all. Alex and Dan are both alot more positive about the film, both feeling it was alot of fun. Dan does think the first half of the movie was better than the latter half which he labels “run of the mill”.

The Sorcerer’s Apprentice is the other movie this week, based ( loosely) on a vignette from Fantasia. While the sentiment is that this isn’t a great movie by any means all 3 hosts agree it was alot of fun. Jeff laments the lack of a proper mythology behind the magic and characters, something he thinks would’ve made the movie far more interesting and unique had it been included.

Dan becomes a man returns as Jeff and Alex attempts, with moderate success, to teach Dan to juggle. After that it’s onto this weeks video game, Crackdown 2. Again it’s mixed feelings on this one, the guys don’t think it has changed enough from the first game and the additions are very hit and miss. With the announcement of Dragon Age 2 the guys discuss what they’d like to see in the sequel.

We prey on Predators, lay the smackdown on Crackdown 2, give a master class to the Sorcerer’s Apprentice, and learn a juggle!

Runtime – 59:47

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at1UP: 07/13/2010

Jonathan Downin — Wed, 14 Jul 2010 02:45:10 +0000

Mike and Alan kick things off with some complaints about people’s fashion choices. The crew then starts the regular show with a reader email about a poor comic shop experience that pushed him to start buying from DCBS, which Mike also endorses. The DeathSpank Game Night also gets a quick mention.

In the ‘Games Dammit” section Alan talks about his issue with NCAA 2011 and Jade talked about her frustration about Amazon’s sluggish delivery of Dragon Quest IX. The conversation then moves on to the topic of scary games and the difference between a game making feel tense and a game that actually makes you feel scared.

Mike goes on a tirade about the iPhone 4 antenna issue and the regular show closes on some movie talk. The aftershow features Greg Ford and Andrew Fitch with Mike Cruz and Scooter discussing pickup tactics.

Mike’s destiny has been carved out for him, to review gladiator-type games. The crew talk about Tournament of Legends, along with a bunch of other games. A discussion about Dead Space has Travis asking what makes a game scary, and Jade offers up a movie recommendation. Check out this episode’s show notes.

Runtime – 1:07:49

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CastMedium Podcast 043 – 07.13.10

Jonathan Downin — Tue, 13 Jul 2010 07:47:26 +0000

We start things off with a bit of discussion about the Mobcast since the most recent episode carried the torch from Irrational Interviews in featuring a bit of developer commentary.

As usual, Jon has been playing the new releases, and he shares his thoughts on Singularity and Crackdown 2. The onslaught of bad press surrounding the iPhone 4 continues with Consumer Reports retracting their recommendation of the handset, and we cover what this means. A few words about User Podcasts and submissions finish the show.

Covered topics and games: Mobcast, Singularity, Crackdown 2, iPhone 4 antenna issues, user podcasts

Runtime – 37:19

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Filmspotting #307: Twilight Saga: Eclipse / Winter’s Bone / Top 5 Vampire Movies

Jon Cole — Sun, 11 Jul 2010 23:20:24 +0000

Steve Prokopy (or Capone of Ain’t It Cool News) stands in for Adam this week for Filmspotting’s review of Twilight Saga: Eclipse. Right off the bat, Steve and Matty both agree that the film is technically sound in most aspects, except for the lackluster special effects. Outside of that concise criticism, Matty mostly tries to contemplate the place that Twilight films occupy in the film world with Steve noting that the movies are getting progressively better.

Afterwards, Louis Ozawa Chanchien joins Matty for an excellent edition of Massacre Theater and the guys give their brief impressions of Winter’s Bone. Then, Matty delivers a very emotional, heartbreaking word on the state of affairs that kept Adam away from the show for the past two weeks. In short, his father’s passing has taken him away from Filmspotting for the first time in five years of podcasting. It’s uncertain when Adam will return, but if you’re missing his presence on the show, make sure to send some warm thoughts his way.

The show wraps up with a top five list as always, this time highlight Capone and Matty’s favorite vampire films. Among the ranks include Dracula, Nosferatu, Let the Right One In, and Near Dark.

July 9: This week’s Filmspotting is comprised solely of a shirtless, lupine Matty and guest host, the gorgeous, sparkly Steve Prokopy (Capone, Ain’t It Cool News) taking turns screaming ‘Belllllllla’ into the microphone. Yes, that’s right, it’s Twilight time here on Filmspotting with a discussion of the latest from the saga, “Eclipse.” Then the boys will travel from the gloomy, sunless Pacific Northwest to the even more destitute and harrowing climes of the rural Ozarks for a discussion of the critically acclaimed thriller “Winter’s Bone.” Also, tying in with “Twilight’s” display of the lusty young undead, Steve and Matty relate their Top 5 Vampire Films. All this and “Predators’” Louis Ozawa Changchien joins the Filmspotting Acting Troupe for a special rendition of Massacre Theatre.

Runtime – 55:22

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/Filmcast Ep. 107 – The Last Airbender

Jon Cole — Fri, 09 Jul 2010 04:33:17 +0000

The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo has recently hit Blu-Ray, DVD, and Netflix Instant Streaming and everyone got a chance to check it out, with Adam opening things up by praising the strength of a believable female lead character. Dave comments on the length of the film, which admirably follows the story through a full plot arc. Devindra gets a chance to speak on the faithfulness of the conversion from writing to film, which he feels David Fincher may do better in his upcoming remake.

News that Andrew Garfield is going to play Spider-Man in the series reboot has some people scratching their heads, mostly because he’s relatively unknown. Dave is optimistic, as Garfield is breaking into the industry with his performance in The Social Network, which is reportedly good and may suggest that Spider-Man might succeed in parallel. The short news segment wraps up with the Let Me In trailer, which everyone agrees would do good if only it inspires people to check out the original, Let the Right One In.

The Last Airbender was easily one of the most anticipated films of the year for the guys on the /Filmcast. Unfortunately, it didn’t manage to meet their expectations, but guest Dan Trachtenberg tries to make the best of a bad situation by praising the special effects and fight scenes. Beyond that, however, there’s not many diamonds to find in the rough, with Devindra calling the whole thing an embarrassment. The review of M. Night Shymalan’s latest then goes on for an hour longer, with plenty of debate over the finer points.

Covered films and topics: The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, Collateral, Hot Tub Time Machine, Louie, Friday Night Lights, Se7en, Andrew Garfield is Spider-Man, Let Me In Trailer, The Last Airbender, Dan Trachtenberg from the Totally Rad Show

This week, David Chen, Devindra Hardawar, and Adam Quigley celebrate the selection of Andrew Garfield as Spider-Man, reflect on the brilliance of Louis CK, and delve into the mysteries of The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo. Special guest Dan Trachtenberg joins us from the Totally Rad Show.

Runtime – 2:00:16

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