Geek of Oz

Beardy and the Geek are back and this time we talk to one of the men behind the phenomenal Winter City.  Patrick Purcell and his brother Carl have scripted a neo-noir detective story that revolves around a mysterious, masked and murderous man who makes his mark through meticulously mapped moments of mayhem... or similar. Back in June I reviewed the first few books and loved it so it was great to have a chat to one of it's main men, Patrick Purcell. Check out the full podcast after the jump!

Films with a focus on time travel are notoriously difficult to pull off. Geeks the world over who have a basic knowledge of the inherent paradoxical nature of time travel through little more than Star Trek, Quantum Leap and everyone's favourite kid next door, Mr Michael J. Fox. While the subject matter itself can cause automatic concern for some, rest assured that in the hands of otherwise "indie" writer and director Rian Johnson (Brick, The Brothers Bloom), you need not fear time travel. In 2072, time travel exists, albeit illegally, and is used to transport targets 30 years in the past to be disposed by willing employees of the mob. The only catch is that you must always dispose of your target, even if the target is you.

Loud electric guitar, disconcerting puppets and a rather impressive pants bulge can only mean one thing – the 80's classic film Labyrinth , which returned to the big screen last night as part of Cremorne Hayden Orpheum Theatre’s ‘I Love Retro’ series. It’s hard to beat watching a film so steeped in nostalgia when you’re in a cinema with six hundred fans all eagerly waiting to applaud each iconic moment.

Geek of Oz were privileged to attend a preview of this year’s upcoming Graphic festival – a highly anticipated weekend of graphic storytelling, animation, music and gaming to be held at the Sydney Opera House on November 10th and 11th. Graphic festival showcases and celebrates innovative and creative new forms of story-telling, and although only in its third year, has already racked up some fairly impressive feathers in its cap, having featured the likes of Gotye, Neil Gaiman and Regurgitator in previous years. This year’s lineup is no less impressive. The highlights include: Pixar: Behind-the-Screens , hosted by Lee Unkrich, director of Toy Story 3 , who will allow audiences a rare glimpse into the animation masters’ workshop; an illustrated musical collaboration between celebrated New Zealand soul outfit Fat Freddy’s Drop and street artist Otis Frizzell; a design-your-own-game workshop with Qantm College; an exciting homage to Dr Seuss’s work, put to the music of over 25 onstage p...

When Madman first announced the line up for REEL ANIME at Sydney Supanova, I remember watching the trailers for each movie and being most impressed with Wolf Children. A reasonably basic, albeit fantastic storyline made me feel as though this could be a simple delight. I could not have been more wrong. "When Hana falls in love, it feels like a fairy tale. She starts a family and produces two beautiful children – Yuki (Snow), a girl, and Ame (Rain), a boy. But the family harbours a secret – their father is a 'Wolf-Man', half human and half wolf, and has passed his affliction on to his children. The family try to reside discreetly in a quiet corner of the city, but their joyful life is shattered when their father passes away. To live peacefully, Hana must make the difficult decision to move Yuki and Ame to a small town and surround them with nature."

Based upon the manga series by Kentaro Miura, Berserk: The Egg of the King is the first of three films which retell the original 1990 manga series and 1997 anime series . Much like REEL ANIME alumni Rebuild of Evangelion, Berserk compresses the anime series into a series of films that often mirror sequences from the TV series frame to frame.  "An epic action-adventure tale set against a dark, European-inspired medieval fantasy world, Berserk - The Egg of the King follows the story of Guts, a lone mercenary renowned for his ferocity and unmatched in a fight especially when armed with his imposing sword, a towering blade as tall as he. His destiny is to eventually become 'The Black Swordsman' and he will face untold horrors in battle."

If you know absolutely anything about Japanese animation you will surely have heard of Studio Ghibli. Purveyors of such fine films as Spirited Away , My Neighbour Totoro and Princess Mononoke , Studio Ghibli are often described as "Disney of the East" which is in my opinion an understatement. "Set in Yokohama, From Up On Poppy Hill is a high school love story that take place in the year before the 1964 Tokyo Summer Olympics. As the country begins to pick itself up from the devastation of the Second World War, the new generation struggles to move towards a prosperous future whilst trying not to lose the essence of their past. The film's rich and vibrant animation captures the entrancing beauty of Yokohama's harbour and lush surrounding hillsides and, with a soundtrack that draws inspiration from the finest music of the time, perfectly captures the thrills of young romance and the hope of a new dawn." The release of any new Studio Ghibli film is ca...

As you should know by now, we here at Geek of Oz love us some Aussie comics. So we feel it only fair that we spread the word on an upcoming comic book event that should not be missed!  Melbourne based publishing house  FEC COMICS  is holding a massive extravaganza to launch 3 of their newest titles. So, for all the details on a comic event that shouldn't be missed follow on after the jump!

In 1987 the world was introduced to RoboCop, a one man army and the future of law enforcement. As with many fantastic properties from the 1980's, RoboCop will return to the screen in an all new film directed by Brazilian José Padilha. Not much has been announced regarding the film although a handful of images from the "official" OmniCorp website show designs for the XT-908 aerial vehicle and bipedal badass ED-209 so we can at least expect round 2 between RC and ED. Today, Colombia Pictures and MGM announce that production on the star-studded sic-fi action blockbuster is set to officially commence on the 15th of September in Toronto, Canada. Check out the full press release after the jump!

DC Universe Animated Original Movies are without a doubt the more polished and enjoyable of "the big 2" comic companies, so what happens when they take on one of the greatest superhero graphic novels of all time?  Legendary creator Frank Miller is one of many well known writers to give his own spin on the caped crusader but not many have created something so unique yet still instantly recognisable as Batman. Batman: The Dark Knight Returns tells the story of a retired Batman. Worn out and middle aged he had hung up his cape and cowl only to be called again off the bench to fight an all new foe. Hitting shelves (digital and physical) throughout Australia on October 3, Batman: The Dark Knight Returns Part 1 is sure to thrill Batfans old and new. Check out all the details, special features, competition details and trailer after the jump!

Some things make you proud to be Australian and some things make you proud to be a geek, but today I have the distinct pleasure of being an Australian geek. Being an anime/Japan/gaming geek, to say that I'm looking forward to Tekken Tag Tournamnet Two would be an understatement and for the Australian arm of Namco Bandai Partners to break a WORLD RECORD on the day of its release makes me a very proud Geek of Oz! Check out the press release after the jump for what went down!

Reel Anime is a nation-wide anime specific film festival which is organised by  Australia's foremost anime distributor, Madman . In previous years crowds have been floored by films such as Summer Wars , Redline and Evangelion 2.0  and while these are certainly some impressive titles, Reel Anime 2012 is set to blow the roof off. This years line up includes  Berserk: The Egg of the King , Wolf Children , Studio Ghibli's latest From Up on Poppy Hill and the newest offering from Makoto Shinkai Children Who Chase Lost Voices. Reel Anime is running in all capital cities (except NT) between the 13th and the 26th of September 2012 so there's plenty of time to catch each session, especially the wonderful Children Who Chase Lost Voices. Be forewarned, although this film looks like a great family film, it contains a fair amount of violence and deals with some rather emotional themes.

Paul Bedford is a man's man, not in the sense that he belongs to another man, but in the sense that he is 100% bad arse dude. Big, strong and rough as guts he's not your stereotypical comic book creator. A modern day barbarian with a heart of gold, Bedford is the creator of The List. Previously reviewed on Beardy and The Geek, I found The List to be every bit as gritty and harrowing as the brilliant recent UK horror film The Kill List and every bit the "mind-f***" that it claims to be. Unfortunately, I wasn't present for this interview but Emmet performed admirably in my stead. In fact, I may have been dragging him down all this time. Check out the newest episode after the jump!

On Wednesday the 5th of September 2012, the official Twitter account of Bioware's latest anime outing, Mass Effect: Paragon Lost, reported that there is going to be a 6 week delay in the DVD and Blu Ray release in the US. The newly revised release date, 28th December 2012, is well outside of the current Australian release date and while no confirmation is yet available from Madman we can only speculate that this revised release date in the US will see a local release possibly pushed back to early 2013.

Thanks to our friends at Icon Film Distribution and Wu Xing Films , we've got a handful of double passes to see the upcoming Chinese steampunk epic, TAI CHI 0! Get ready to experience a new breed of Chinese action movie as steampunk collides with kung-fu in the epic TAI CHI saga from Huayi Brothers, producer JET LI, the creators of DETECTIVE DEE and legendary martial arts choreographer SAMMO HUNG. As told in TAI CHI 0 (opening 27th September 2012), TAI CHI HERO (opening 25th October 2012) and the upcoming final chapter of the trilogy (coming in 2013), this saga tells the story of Yang Luchan, a young genius who, tired of being picked on, travels to Chen Village to learn the art of Tai Chi. Luchan finds out the hard way that it is forbidden for a villager to teach an outsider when the villagers, from strong men to old women to little children, repeatedly challenge him to a series of fights, all of which he loses quite badly. But when a frightening army of steampunk soldier...

The cool kids of the Aussie film festival family return this year with an impressive line up to say the least. The Sydney Underground Film Festival (SUFF) are bringing us a handful of films that are so underground that even the cast and crew haven't heard of them. Check out some further details and special discount codes after the jump!

It must be difficult to organise an impressive line up of November releases following the TONNE of great releases in October, but Madman have taken a damn good stab at it. Sure, there may not the gigantic box sets that we're getting in October but what we do get is a handful of new series, old series and a couple of fan favourite Ghibli films on Blu Ray. So, no, November isn't as big as October but there's still plenty of goodness on the horizon. Check out all of the releases after the jump!