Geek of Oz

What's a vlog I hear you ask. I dunno, what's a vlog with you? (Thank you Timon and Pumbaa) Basically a VLOG is a video log, a video journal or in this case a behind the scenes chat with some very important people associated with a very important upcoming film, The Amazing Spider-Man. Important to who you may ask, important to me I reply. As a lifelong web-head, I am doing proverbial backflips in anticipation. Check out an insiders look at the upcoming film from Emma Stone (Gwen Stacey) and Stan Lee (STAN LEE!) after the jump!

The new incarnation of Total Recall is looking incredibly stylish, perhaps a little too stylish. Hopefully all of that dynamic camera work and multi-tiered set pieces are supported by an equally impressive and tightly cut film. Phone call for Mr Wiseman, JJ Abrams called... he wants his lens flair back. Before hearing the following, you may want to get a cup of tea. Len Wiseman is the director responsible for Underworld, Underworld: Evolution, Die Hard 4.0 and the pilot episode for the new Hawaii Five-0 TV series. Sure, it may seem as though he is a director of mindless "boy movies"... but... you know... this might be good. You just never know... Dear lord... please be good. All snark aside, this is looking like a fun blockbuster film! Check out the all new international trailer after the jump!

Snow White and the Huntsmen by first time director Rupert Sanders is an ambitious and visually pleasing film which ultimately isn’t compelling or satisfying. Although roughly based upon the timeless classic Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, the film attempts to put a darker edge on the traditional tale by adding violence and disturbing imagery. Whilst this does in fact work in favour of the film, it is far outweighed by other issues. Fairy tales are very simple stories to tell. They usually consist of an evil king or queen who rules over a land until our hero defies the odds to defeat them in an epic duel. Whenever story tellers stray too far from this tried and tested formula the results can vary. In this case, the film was bogged down by needless tracking shots and paper thin characters. Snow White is played by Kristen Stewart who proves yet again that she strains to truly emote on screen, which begs the question, how does she keep getting these big projects? Charlize Theron does a...

Ted is the heartwarming story of young John (Mark Wahlberg) and his childhood friend, Ted (voiced by Seth MacFarlane). Ted just so happens to be a stuffed teddy bear who is given life through a magical Christmas wish. Sounds lovely, doesn't it? Well, that's where the niceties end because from here on in it's all dicks, balls and fart jokes. This basic story isn't a unique one in itself and is at times reminiscent of Short Circuit or Howard the Duck albeit with bongs, cocaine and a tonne of pop culture references. The story of a boy and his childhood friend, especially a magical friend, is nothing entirely new but it is well utilised as a vessel to showcase a buddy comedy that breaks every law of good taste and decency. Sounds awesome, don't it?!? Check out the rest of our review after the jump.

Madman are at it again but this time, they're in Perth. Earlier today at Supanova in WA they announced another 4 acquisitions which are as big as can be!  Anime News Network AU  have announced all of the big announcements including Infinite Stratos, Is This a Zombie?, Majokoi - Oh! Samurai Girls! and Panty and Stocking with Garterbelt! Check out the full announcement from Anime News Network or from Madman!

The second part to Madman's Supanova Sydney panel covered comic books and manga! While there weren't a great deal of acquisition or release announcements, Madman brought along a bunch of special guests to sweeten the deal. Check out more details after the jump!

It seems as though Cosplayers are upping the ante each and every year. Costumes are getting more professional and the characters more obscure. No longer can you turn up in a store bought Superman costume and think that you'll fit the bill. Sure, you could whack on a curly wig and a colourful scarf and play Dr Who ala Baker, but there is so much effort going into modern day costumes that you'd better bring your A-game. It was impossible to grab snaps of all the cosplayers but here are a bunch that caught our eye. A very special thank you goes out to our official photographer for the day, Ken. Make sure you click on the images to enlarge them. Check out a quick run down after the jump!

Based upon a manga series of the same name, Broken Blade (ブレイク ブレイド) by Yunosuke Yoshinaga is a rich and thrilling mecha series which is certainly not one for the kiddies. A series of six 50 minute features films should almost ensure a better standard of quality than the typical TV release and adding Production I.G to the mix can only spell success. In its most basic form, Broken Blade is Gundam 00. That is to say that if you liked Gundam 00, you'll love Broken Blade for its politically motivated story line, top notch art work and over the top mecha action that actually puts most Gundam series to shame. Actually, it puts ALL Gundam series to shame! "In Cruzon, children are born with the ability to control quartz. This power allows them to levitate simple objects - or control enormous and complex mobile battle suits called Golems. But when an ancient Golem is discovered during the height of a brutal war, a young king and his beautiful queen turn to Rygart Arrow. Though an...

As we reported from Supanova Sydney, Yunyu and Queenie Chan's collaboration is soon to be available from Madman and Yunyu.com.au . The best way to get involved in this marriage of music, manga and (ani)mation is to grab yourself a QUIRTZ ! Just like with Twisted Tales and its artist mish-mash, a QUIRTZ is a CD, a stylish Tee and a QR code billboard to share the love with all of your friends. In my case, that's 2 whole people!!! TWISTED TALES and QUIRTZ are available now and so are tickets to Yunyu's live shows which will be held in Sydney and Melbourne! Check out all of the details, and a look at TWISTED TALES episode 1 (Dorothy), after the jump!

Do you live in or around Sydney? Are you available the evening of Monday July 2nd 2012? Are you a big ol' web-head? If you answered yes to all of the above, this is the super powered prize of 2012! Have I got your Spider senses tingling yet? Geek Of Oz and Sony Pictures Australia are giving you the chance to attend an EXCLUSIVE preview screening of The Amazing Spider-Man! This opportunity is ONLY available in Sydney and ONLY on the evening of Monday July 2nd. So if you fit the bill, check out the entry details after the jump!

After Madman's anime panel at Sydney Supanova on Sunday, we reported on plans for the return of Reel Anime. Now, many people out there wouldn't believe me, and rightfully so. After all, I was the guy who said that Green Lantern was going to be AWESOME!  However, in this case, I was on the money! REEL ANIME is back in 2012 and it looks better than ever! The great thing about REEL ANIME, particularly this years line up, is that it has the potential to introduce an all new audience to anime which breaks those vicious stereotypes that claim that Japanese animation is full of giant robots, yellow electric rats and all things perverse. This year will show that anime can be something beautiful, both visually and in terms of substance.  Check out the official press release after the jump!

As one of Supanova's major sponsors, Madman always turns up with the goods and a handful of announcements but this year they turned it up to 11. Sure, they had their obligatory announcements but they also announced the films that we can expect to see at this years Reel Anime and let me give you a hot tip, this years will be even bigger, and better, than 2010! Check out all of the details after the jump!

Hey there web-heads! As any good geek knows, The Amazing Spider-Man is due to swing into Australian theatres on July 4th and to celebrate, we have 10 in-season double passes to give away! "The Amazing Spider-Man is the story of Peter Parker (Garfield), an outcast high schooler who was abandoned by his parents as a boy, leaving him to be raised by his Uncle Ben (Sheen) and Aunt May (Field). Like most teenagers, Peter is trying to figure out who he is and how he got to be the person he is today. Peter is also finding his way with his first high school crush, Gwen Stacy (Stone), and together, they struggle with love, commitment, and secrets. As Peter discovers a mysterious briefcase that belonged to his father, he begins a quest to understand his parents’ disappearance – leading him directly to Oscorp and the lab of Dr. Curt Connors (Ifans), his father’s former partner. As Spider-Man is set on a collision course with Connors’ alter-ego, The Lizard, Peter will make life-al...

I'm about to make your Friday even better! I don't think I've ever heard a single person say that they don't like Quentin Tarantino's films, no a one! So it please me immensely to present to you an all new international trailer for his upcoming film, Django Unchained. Set to be released on January 24th 2013, Django Unchained stars a line up of Tarantino's go-to actors including Christoph Waltz, Samuel L, Zoe Bell and Tom Savini (what, no Michael Madsen?). Follow on after the jump to check out the brand new international trailer for Django Unchained! Don't forget, the "D" is silent.

Transformers have been reinvented countless times since their inception in 1984. It all started with the classic series, best known as Generation 1, back when Bumblebee was a bug and Soundwave a cassette player (ask your parents, kids). Since then we've seen the futuristic Gen 2, Beast Wars and Michael Bay's much maligned movie trilogy and aside from this we've seen numerous animated spin offs and a tonne of comic books.  The Autobots and Decepticons have now returned in an all new animated series of unquestionable pedigree both in terms of production and voice work. One thing is for certain Transformers: Prime - Darkness Rising has this little Transformers fan is excited. 

Everybody knows Pokémon (ポケモン), right? You know, the anime series about a young kid who catches cute animals before making them fight each other? Although this makes the series sound like the inner workings of a Vietnamese cockfighting den, Pokémon is the second most successful video game franchise of all time which, since its release in 1996, has gone on to spawn 14 seasons of anime, numerous films, games, manga and merchandise aplenty! Welcome to Pokémon: Black and White (aka season 14). Ash Ketchum is back to his old antics with his ever faithful pal, Pikachu. They head over to the completely unexplored Unova region, battling other Pokémon trainers, wild Pokémon and of course, the ubiquitous Team Rocket.

Recently released on paperback and reviewed by us here at Geek of Oz, Ready Player One by Ernest Cline and, suffice it to say, this is the kind of novel that only a true geek could write. In my own words, Ernest Cline is the Gandalf to my Frodo, the Merlin to my Arthur or the Doc Brown to my McFly. What I'm trying to say is that through his debut novel, it is immediately evident that he is some kind of magical pop-culture warlock who presumably has an eidetic memory. Thankfully for me, Mr Cline pulled over his DeLorean mid road trip for just long enough to answer a few questions!

.hack//Quantum is the latest in the .hack (Dot Hack) series which is officially in its 10th year of release. While Quantum is closely aligned with the .hack series of games, anyone who knows anything about MMORPGs (or savvy geeks in general) will be across its virtual reality online world in no time.  "Tobias, Mary, and Sakuya are way into the The World. Together, they form an inseparable group, grinding toward the break of day and running dungeons in search of the artifacts of adventure. But when the trio becomes lost in this virtual labyrinth, a chance encounter with the mysterious entity known only as Hermit will change their lives forever. Welcome back to the world players!"

If you are looking at this blog, chances are, you're some kind of pop culture devotee. If you're not looking at this blog, you'll have no idea that this is being written so please, disregard and carry on with your cross stitch and wood whittling. Ready Player One is written by who I can only describe as being the Gandalf to my Frodo, the Merlin to my Arthur or the Doc Brown to my McFly. What I'm trying to say is that through his debut novel, it is immediately evident that he is some kind of magical pop-culture warlock who presumably has an eidetic memory. The perfect mix of World of Warcraft, The Wizard and Tron - Ready Player One is the ultimate read for geeks the world over.

Winter City is great, really great. This is the kind of indie comic book that leaves you wondering "why the hell isn't this being published by the big guys?". Initially I wondered if the quality would slip after the first issue where first impressions can make or break a series, especially an indie one. Thankfully, it actually goes from strength to strength.

Ben 10 is one of the most successful animated series of all time! The multi-BILLION dollar franchise is a hit with kids and big kids alike. But even with all of its success, Ben 10: Destroy all Aliens is the first time that the Tennyson kids are animated in CGI! So follow on after the jump to find out how to get your hands on your very own copy! "Ten-year-old BEN TENNYSON is back from his summer vacation… and his life is a mess! Harassed by his teacher as well as bullies, grounded by his parents, and cursed with a malfunctioning Omnitrix that’s vaporising his homework, Ben jumps at a chance to get away from it all by exploring the galaxy with his alien buddy TETRAX. However, he quickly finds himself crashing back to Earth in alien form and unable to become human again! To make matters worse, Ben soon encounters a deadly MECHAMORPH WARRIOR – just like Ben’s UPGRADE alien, but armed with explosive high-tech armour and a single-minded goal to DESTROY ALL ALIENS! As GRANDPA MA...