Geek of Oz

You miss us? Yep. I'll be the first to admit it's been far too long since we put out an instalment of the stitched-together pop culture ramblings we generously call a podcast. Unfortunately 'real life' (otherwise known as the collection of tasks we perform in order to fool others into believing that we are actually adults)  gets busy and as much as we try and make getting the podcast out in a timely fashion a priority, occasionally our other responsibilities get the better of us. The last month and a half has been one such time. ... But fear not. We are back with what I can proudly boast is a 100% organic, grass fed, preservative free episode of Read, Watch, Play! coming to you live (at the time) from Oz Comic-Con Sydney. As well as chatting about or thoughts on the con we managed to score some interviews with some of the con's guests: Sam Lloyd (Ted from Scrubs) and Robert Maschio (The Todd from Scrubs)- Interview at the 3 minute mark  ...

Before there was Batman… there was Gotham , and now thanks to Roadshow Home Entertainment you can be in the running to win a copy of season 1 on DVD or Blu-Ray! Everyone knows the name Commissioner Gordon. He is one of the crime world’s greatest foes, a man whose reputation is synonymous with law and order. But what is known of Gordon’s story and his rise from rookie detective to Police Commissioner? What did it take to navigate the multiple layers of corruption that secretly ruled Gotham City, the spawning ground of the world’s most iconic villains? And what circumstances created them – the larger-than-life personas who would become Catwoman, The Penguin, The Riddler, Two-Face and The Joker? GOTHAM is the origin story of the great DC Comics Super-Villains and vigilantes, revealing an entirely new chapter that has never been told. From executive producer/writer Bruno Heller (The Mentalist, Rome), GOTHAM follows one cop’s rise through a dangerously corrupt ...

Arrow is a fan favourite of the Geek of Oz crew for being a hard hitting action series which  grabs years of the source material from decades of comics and creating an amazing new TV comic universe. N ow thanks to Roadshow Home Entertainment you can be in the running to win a copy of Season 3 on DVD or Blu-Ray! If you haven't seen the series at all or are only familiar with the DC Comics here is a quick recap: After being lost for five years on a remote island, billionaire Oliver Queen (Stephen Amell) returned home and secretly created the persona of the  ARROW to right the wrongs of his family, fight the ills of society and restore Starling City to its former glory. The end of Season 1 saw Oliver/Arrow suffer a massive defeat, while Season 2 saw him determined to fight his battles without causing bloodshed. His sworn enemy, Slade Wilson (Manu Bennett), returned to Starling City hell bent on destroying Oliver's life and caused challeng...

Most of our readers will know now that The Flash TV series has been a smash hit with us, and now thanks to Roadshow Home Entertainment you can be in the running to win a copy of season 1 on DVD or Blu-Ray! If you haven't seen the series at all or are only familiar with the DC Comics here is a quick recap: After being struck by lightning, CSI investigator Barry Allen awakens from a nine-month coma to discover he has been granted the gift of super speed.  Teaming up with S.T.A.R. Labs, Barry takes on the persona of The Flash, the Fastest Man Alive, to protect his city. The series stars Grant Gustin (Glee, Arrow), Candice Patton (The Game), Rick Cosnett (The Vampire Diaries), Danielle Panabaker (Justified, Necessary Roughness) and Carlos Valdes (Once) with Tom Cavanagh (Ed, Eli Stone, The Following) and Jesse L. Martin (Law & Order) The TV series has been recognised for grabbing lots of the source material from decades of comics and creating an amazing fun fille...

THE SHORT VERSION While I loved the last two Disney Infinity games, there were parts that felt a little empty. The lack of matchmaking and absence of substance in some of the Playsets made the games, while fun, feel a little cold over time. There's only so much one can build replicas of famous Disney locales in the Toy Box before it becomes a little tedious. Fortunately, Disney Infinity 3.0 has filled the emptiness of its predecessors, and added some more stuff on top of it. It's a damn good game, and most importantly it's fun - which, given what the game's mechanics and aesthetic are themed around, is kind of a prerequisite. Those who felt that the straightforward and rather empty Playsets of the previous game in particular will be pleased to know those problems have been fixed. There's much more to do here, and pretty much everything added to the Infinity experience is an improvement. Plus, now you can have Yoda fight Thor, or team up Iron Man and Bo...

Given there’s not too much out at the cinema worth shouting about at the moment, I suggest you check out Kill Me Three Times.  It's a darkly comedic film about hitman Charlie Wolfe (Simon Pegg) who’s having one of those classic bad days. Death and destruction is the order of the day, as a relatively simple contract killing quickly spins out of control, with poor Charlie continuously in the wrong place at the wrong time. Directed by Kriv Stenders ( Red Dog ) who delivers an entertaining little film which flaunts the picturesque Western Australian shooting locations. Kill Me Three Times will appeal to anyone who got a kick out of films like You’re Next , Seven Psychopaths and Getting Square; the David Wenham/Sam Worthington film from a few years back. Kill Me Three Times is available on Blu Ray, DVD and digital platforms from the 9th of September. Make sure you check out the Kill Me Three Times experience here. - Stu

  DISCLAIMER: While there don't appear to be any explicit references to future events, it is possible that aspects of Aftermath are intended to foreshadow developments in Episode VII: The Force Awakens this December. Also, given the lack of pictures from the book (since this is, y'know, a novel), the in-text images will be stills released for The Force Awakens instead.  The short version, for those not wishing anything in-depth, is that I liked Aftermath. Quite a bit. However, those wishing to remain clean of any possible spoilerage should tread lightly in this review with a POSSIBLE MILD SPOILER WARNING . ____________________________________________________________________________ When it comes to Star Wars , I'm a massive fan of the books. In addition to all the Old Republic and Prequel Trilogy stories like Outbound Flight and The Rise of Darth Vader , I bought a lot of the old post- Return of the Jedi Expanded Universe novels back in the day. More tha...

Welcome to BINGE-READ MANGA , a new monthly feature where I look at a manga series that's been running for a while and has a good back catalogue built up. Just as Netflix exists well for cramming seasons of TV into a sitting, so too do these manga exist for tearing through six or seven volumes back-to-back. To start us off, we're headed deep into the culinary craziness territory of Yuto Tsukada and Shun Saeki's Food Wars . . THE STORY AND CHARACTERS The way I've pitched this to the uninitiated is it's Harry Potter by way of Iron Chef - you know, that really awesome old Japanese cooking show where a flamboyant man who owns a Kitchen Stadium gets chefs from around the world to compete with his own masters of specialty cooking, which had a really, really goofy (and excellent) English dub? Yeah, that Iron Chef . That's the tone Food Wars sets right from the off. Culinary prodigy Soma Yukihira helps run a self-titled family restaurant with his father, J...