Geek of Oz

Thanks to the good people at Beyond Home Entertainment , we have 5 copies of Pokémon the Movie: Black and White on Blu Ray to give away. All you have to do is follow the details after the jump and you could get your hands on one! "A Hero Must Choose: The Power of Ideals…or the Courage of Truth? When Ash wins the annual battle competition in Eindoak Town with the help of the Mythical Pokémon Victini, he and his friends Iris and Cilan begin an exciting adventure that could follow two different paths - but you can follow both of them! In Pokémon the Movie: Black - Victini and Reshiram and Pokémon the Movie: White - Victini and Zekrom, Ash must make different choices if he is to earn the help of Reshiram - or Zekrom - to rescue Victini from the clutches of the misguided Damon and save Eindoak Town from disaster! It’s twice the Pokémon adventure!"

With only a week to rest your ear holes, Emmet from The Momus Report and I, the Geek, return for another episode of Beardy and the Geek. This week we have a chat to Darren Close, father of Rufus, a murderous anthropomorphic kangaroo (Killeroo) and creator of Oz Comics which is a place for comic book fans and creators to show off their skills through weekly challengers. Check out our interview and details on how you could have YOUR work published in a major upcoming Australian comic!

With Finding Nemo returning to cinemas in 3D it’s a good opportunity to look at the recent spike in 3D films. It was a pleasure to see Finding Nemo back up on the big screen, whilst it was only released in 2003, somehow it feels like a classic. I thoroughly enjoyed revisiting the world of Nemo, Marlin, Dot and their many friends. Do we need further films in 3D or is it just a cheeky way to raise ticket prices? 3D films have been popular with studios ever since James Cameron’s Avatar demolished box office records in 2009 grossing $740 million in America and $2.7 billion world wide. It’s hard to say how big an impact 3D had on Avatar’s success however it did allow higher ticket prices which directly effected the box office. The 3D effects in Avatar are effective because they immersed the audience in the world that Cameron has created, being Pandora. This world had various life forms which were constantly on show; this means that there is always movement and activity on screen which...

Every Trekkie (or Trekker) and many a garden variety geek have a story about how they fell in love with Star Trek. For some of us, it was watching the smooth as silk Captain Kirk go hand-to-hand with a deadly Gorn while for others it was the great big family aboard Voyager, lead by mother hen Captain Janeway. For myself, my initiation into the world of Star Trek came in the guise of 1987's Star Trek: The Next Generation. Before I give you the sweet, sweet details on the Blu Ray release of Star Trek: TNG season 1, let me regale you with my origin story and the reason that this release has me so excited. While I remember watching TNG in the late 80's, I never really fell in love with the characters and stories until a particularly difficult time in my life which for quite some time left me emotionally and physically scarred. Click to enlarge Star Trek has always had a chequered history here in Australia in relation the consistency of screening times. For some reason, it would a...

The Expendables 2 is a wank, a 103 minute long masturbatory session. The first Expendables film was a ludicrous testosterone filled gun fest and apparently, The Expendables have been on the juice since. The second outing in what is undoubtedly a burgeoning franchise is full of so much ham and cheese that it completely destroys any possible chance of being kosher on any level.

Gosick (-ゴシック-) is the latest in a string of mysterious European gothic inspired anime series. A handful of series such as Black Butler and to a lesser extent D.Gray Man have previously burst onto the scene to great fanfare while Gosick slinked under the radar amid a smattering of controversy.  Set to be released in the United States by Bandai Entertainment, Gosick's Western release was cancelled when Bandai pulled out of the American market at the beginning of this year.  Much to the surprise of anime geeks everywhere, Aussie anime company Madman  are the only company outside of Japan to official license and release Gosick! To put it another way, Gosick has only been officially released in its country of origin and Australia. So, was it worth the effort?

Danny Choo is a little bit of a hero of mine. He is much like myself, a massive anime and manga geek who is desperately in love with all things Japanese. The difference between us is that Mr Choo busted his butt and eventually became the man that he is today, a cultural advisor to the Japanese government, pop culture companies and a celebrity in his own right. Well, his very own creation and Culture Japan mascot and Mirai Millenium main character, Mirai Suenaga , is getting the Nendoroid treatment and we have all of the details on what you can look forward to and where to get it.

Well, it's that time again. The incomparable Emmet and I delve back into the world of Aussie comics and this time we talk about The List by Paul Bedford and Winter City by the brothers Purcell.  Both of these books have a touch of the mental so before you jump in, make sure that you have somewhere for a lay down and maybe even a safe word. Also, I give YOU details on how to WIN a trip to New York Comic-Con. Check out the podcast after the jump!

Not long ago we reviewed the brilliant Ready Player One before speaking to it's equally brilliant author, Ernest Cline.  He was incredibly giving with his time in speaking to us and just cemented his title of "The Master of Magnanimity" by giving away a 1981 DeLorean featuring its very own flux capacitor.  Check out the full details after the jump!

Good grief Charlie Brown! The off-broadway hit Dog Sees God: Confessions of a Teenage Blockhead has come to Newtown’s King Street Theatre, to show us what happens when the kids from Charles M Shultz’s Peanuts comic strip grow up and face the challenges of adolescence. It’s the characters we know and love, but with lashings of sex, drugs, violence and teenage angst, resulting in a mixed but competent production. Dog Sees God: Confessions of a Teenage Blockhead uses visual clues and memory-testing references to identify the audience with the grown-up incarnations of the Peanuts characters. The play opens, fittingly, with Charlie Brown, re-titled “CB”, in his signature zig-zagged t-shirt giving an emotional address about the recent death of his rabid dog, that we know to be the ubiquitous Snoopy. It’s a sad way for Snoopy to throw off his canine coil and sets the tone for the rest of the play. CB gives us a guided tour of his world and introduces us to each of the other characters ...

Pop culture has been awash with horror tropes in recent years. Whether it be zombie infestations or sparkly vampire families, horror sells. So it should be no surprise that it has found its way to the anime industry. Realistically, however, this is nothing new and horror has been a prevalent part of Japanese  culture dating back as far as the Heian period.  Siren Visual are doing their part to bring j-horror to our shores giving us, Shiki , a kaidan for todays generation. "From the studio that brought you Black Butler and Fullmetal Alchemist emerges the psychological thriller that will send you to bed with a cross in hand. When citizens of a secluded village begin dying off in alarming numbers, the sole hospital's head doctor tries desperately to save his patients-but his efforts are in vain. Entire families are wiped out while others desert their homes. All hell breaks loose as the villagers discover their loved ones' corpses are rising from the gra...

For those who are unaware, Curicon is a new social network which, like Geek of Oz, has been created by geeks, for geeks and today we have the pleasure of speaking to CEO Matt Byrne. The best thing about Curicon is that it truly has been created by geeks. Sure, being a millionaire/billionaire would be great but the feeling that you get from Curicon is that it was originally intended as a way of giving geeks a place to come together and indulge in each others passions (mind out of the gutter!) and if they end up ridiculously wealthy I'll be sure to crash at their pad and/or crib. I'm quite sure that Zuckerberg didn't create Facebook because he liked people so in that respect, Curicon > Facebook. Follow on after the jump for our interview with Matt Byrne and details on how YOU could win a trip to New York Comic-Con!

An extension of the TV series, Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood OVA Collection  recounts four previously untold tales of the brothers Elric. Totalling a paltry 60 minutes, don't expect a massive amount of depth from this release. What FMA fans DO get is a glimpse at the stories behind the stories and some answers to previously unexplored areas. "Amazing secrets and startling facts are exposed for the first time in the Full Metal Alchemist: Brotherhood OVA Collection, a new assortment of stories set in never-before-seen corners of the FMA universe. Join Ed and Al as they chase rumors of successful human transmutation into a web of shocking family drama and lies. Sneak a glance at hidden sides of Winry and Hawkeye’s personalities. Survive the frigid north with a young Izumi Curtis as she fights to gain a deeper understanding of alchemy. Explore the legendary friendship shared by Mustang and Hughes and watch them grow from military school rivals into hardened brothers ...

It’s been ten years since The Bourne Identity and it still stands as a fascinating piece of action film making. It achieved a marriage of compelling character drama with truly thrilling action. Think back to some of the more iconic scenes such as the Mini Cooper chase sequence through the narrow streets of Paris, Jason Bourne evading soldiers in the American embassy or the rooftop fight scene in Morocco. The signature features of the trilogy were the lightning quick editing, brutal hand-to-hand combat scenes and the aforementioned “on location” settings around the world. Add to that the immediate like-ability of Matt Damon as the lethal but affable protagonist and you have a winning combination. Jason Bourne wasn’t the bulky action hero of the 80s or the gun-toting cowboy of the 90s – he was the new and improved special agent, a man who uses his head more often than his fists. In a post 9/11 world he was the character the western world wanted, the result of which is a very entertai...

Injustice: Gods Among Us looks insane! It has exactly what every superhero game needs, scale. Instead of punching on like mere mortals, the folks at NetherRealm Studios and Warner Bros. Interactive are creating a game that is every bit as epic as a superhero beat em' up should be.  The big question is, how will the less powerful characters fare? Characters like, I don't know, Catwoman for instance? Well, check out the all new reveal trailer below to find out!

October 2011 was probably the biggest month of releases for the entire year and this year October looks even bigger. It seems as though October is the month that Madman release big box sets and by big, I mean HUMONGOUS!  This year we see some of our favourites, old and new, collected into tidy packages which would make a perfect Christmas gift idea. That said, don't dilly dally because last years Fullmetal Alchemist Complete Collection sold out in no time! Check out some of the choice releases after the jump!

Although best known in anime circles for supplying the voice of Sakura Kinomoto in Cardcaptor Sakura and Kozue Izumi in Infinite Ryvius , Sakura Tange (丹下 桜) is also a prolific musician with a whole swag of albums under her belt, many of which are now available to Australian fans on iTunes!  At the recent Sydney Manga and Anime Show (SMASH!), I had the chance to speak to Tange-san about her career as a voice actress, a musician and her reaction to Australian anime fans.  Check out the full, translated and transcribed interview after the jump! 

Welcome back and thanks for checking out episode 3 of Beardy and the Geek. In this episode, Emmet and I cover Tom Taylor and Bruno Redondo's latest Star Wars mini, Darth Maul: Death Sentence , and the satanic slice-of-life comedy The Sixsmiths by Jason Franks and J. Marc Schmidt. Check it out after the jump!

At last months SMASH Eric Cherry, the president of Hanabee - Australia's newest anime company and his trusty sidekick Zi Yi Xie held Hanabee's very first industry panel where they announced the release of Toradora, Dream Eater Merry and Red vs Blue season 10. Since then they have been bus working on future acquisitions and hinting at their next release.  Today I had the chance to chat with Eric about his upcoming releases, his feeling for the Aussie anime industry and where he plans to take Hanabee.

Sure, I didn't interview him myself but this very special Q&A from the upcoming Blu Ray & DVD release of Marvel's The Avengers was supplied to myself and only 3 other Aussie sites!  So on the back of confirmation that Joss Whedon will return to write and direct Avengers 2, enjoy our exclusive-ish Q&A with Mr Whedon himself.

Sure, we're generally not known for our coverage of off-Broadway work but in this instance, we make an exception. Dog Sees God: Confessions of a Teenage Blockhead is an award winning off-Broadway work which is not only based upon Charles M. Schultz' much loved comic Peanuts but it is also the brainchild of Bert V. Royal, the man behind the very funny film, Easy A .  Be sure and check back soon for Stu's review of the opening night performance but in the meantime, c heck out all of the details and a teaser trailer after the jump!

Pop culture works based on the exploits of hired killers are nothing new, anime titles such as Madlax and to a lesser extent Gunslinger Girl spring to mind. But one franchise has been around for much longer and is probably one of the first pieces of Japanese animation that us Aussie geeks were introduced to through TV station SBS. Back in the 90's, in between the airing of Neon Genesis Evangelion, Castle of Cagliostro and Space Adventure Cobra we would get Golgo: The Professional or Golgo: Queen Bee - both heavy on the violence and sex. Golgo 13, the animated series, embraces the same ethic of the previous films and original manga series by creator Takao Saito to provide an insight into the solitary world of a hired gun, Golgo 13. "His targets never see it coming and he's never caught. If there is a witness to the kill, that poor SOB winds up dead too. People say he's a ghost. A machine. A monster. He's Golgo 13, the most feared assassin...

Marwencol, what the hell is Marwencol. Well in all honesty, I had no idea until I received an email in my inbox explaining what it is all about. In short, it is all about an American man who rebuilds his life after a horrific, life-changing incident. This story is all to familiar to me. One of my good friends had his life changed through a motorcycle accident which left him in a coma and subsequent brain damage. He too has rebuilt his life through unconventional means. Though personal experience may be somewhat of an influence, the premise itself has me incredibly intrigued.  The multiple award winning Marwencol is due to be released locally by Bonsai Films through iTunes, Bigpond Movies, Google Play and Foxtel On Demand on September 15th. Check out the full synopsis after the jump!

The manga series D. Gray Man (ディー・グレイマン) by Katsura Hoshino has rated very highly among fans and critics alike  but does the animated series live up to its manga forebear which has found itself on best seller lists in both Japan and America? "Darkness is moving in, and young exorcist Allen Walker is humanity's greatest hope against the wicked forces conspiring to bring civilization to its knees. Akuma - cruel spirits born of tragedy and lost souls - lurk in every shadow, willing and eager to do the bidding of their leader, the dread Millennium Earl.  With an eye cursed to see evil in its truest form and blessed with an arm to slay soul-devouring demons, Allen stands ready to confront the gathering evil. Should he fail, Innocence will be lost forever. The war to decide the fate of mankind has begun - and the carnage will be endless."

REEL ANIME is a film festival unlike any other. While showcasing some of the biggest and best new release anime films, it isn't just for us geeks! Sure, me and my geeky kinfolk are guaranteed to squee but this years line up has something for everyone.  In previous years we have seen smash hits REDLINE and Evangelion 2.0 but this years line up is even better. Check out the full press release after the jump!