Geek of Oz

Episode 25! Stu and Billy communicate with Alien Life this week as they watch Arrival ! Arrival  is a science fiction mystery/thriller film directed by Denis Villeneuve ( Prisoners,   Enemy, Sicario, and currently filming Blade Runner 2049), and is based on the short story "Story of Your Life" by author Ted Chiang. The film stars Amy Adams as Linguistics professor Louise Banks, who is tasked with leading a team of investigators when 12 gigantic spaceships land at various locations around the world. As nations around the world teeter on the verge of global war, Banks and her crew, which include theoretical physicist Ian Donnelly (Jeremy Renner) and US Army Colonel Weber (Forest Whitaker), must race against time to find away to communicate with their extraterrestrial visitors. This week discussion of the film is spoiler heavy so be warned.  As well as the film, Stu and I discuss what else we've been watching this week. As always it would make our day if y...

BEFORE YOU READ ANY FURTHER, PLEASE NOTE THE FOLLOWING. I cannot stress enough that it's important, if possible, to see this movie with as little foreknowledge as you can. Don't Google a trailer. Don't look at a poster. Don't even scan your eyes over the press photos used in this review. If you can, just avoid anything to do with this film's marketing, and go see it unmolested. Words cannot describe how much I loved Your Name , but a lot of that love comes from knowing as scant as possible about it; its premise, its characters, its plot turns. Although most of the current media surrounding the film has been fairly good with keeping the major stuff hidden from view, there are some things you could still infer. Therefore, if there is any Faustian bargain you can strike to completely block out anything resembling anything to do with Your Name before you see it, go do that. For those who are after a hot take or a nice shiny review score before you determine if yo...

Episode 24! Stu and Billy get a little mystical this week as they watch Doctor Strange ! Doctor Strange  is the latest superhero film from the Marvel Cinematic Universe, and is the fourteenth film in said universe. The film is directed by Scott Derrickson ( The Exorcism of Emily Rose, The Day the Earth Stood Still) Benedict Cumberbatch ( Sherlock, Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy, Star Trek Into Darkness ) stars as Dr Stephen Strange, a world renowned surgeon whose career ends after a tragic car accident. When traditional medicine fails him, he looks for healing and hope in a mysterious enclave run by the Ancient One. Before long, Strange has to make a choice between his life of fame and fortune, or defending the world with his new abilities. It also stars Chiwetel Ejiofor as Karl Mordo, Rachel McAdams as Christine Palmer, Benedict Wong as Master Wong, Mads Mikkelsen as Kaecilius, and Tilda Swinton as the Ancient One. This week discussion of the film is spoiler heavy so be w...

Over the weekend we had a chance to interview Curt Pires about his new series, The Forevers , which sees it's second issue released today from Black Mask Studios. We talked about the creation of series, the team involved and little about what's to come next. Enjoy. Geek Of Oz: Hi Curt, thanks for taking the time out for this interview. In The Forevers we have a group of individuals struggling on the brink of stardom, who then take up a black magic pact to achieve everything they wanted. Now stories about selling your soul or making a pact with the devil in exchange for fame and fortune are fairly well trodden ground, what inspired your unique take on the trope with The Forevers?  Curt Pires: I think what started everything for me was that first scene in the book. It just came to me. The imagery of them all getting ready to participate in this ritual, to just sort of cut in on it in a really obtuse way where not much is explained, and then jump forward in ti...

THE SHORT VERSION It’s Skyrim. It’s on current-gen consoles. It’s much prettier (to an extent). What more do you want? STORY Ok, in all seriousness. You are the last of the Dragonborn, with dragon’s blood in your veins and the ability to shout enemies off of mountaintops with nothing but your Voice. Dragons have started returning to the icy realm of Skyrim, and it falls to you to figure out how, why and what you can do to stop them tearing the world apart. While you’re doing that, you might want to consider joining a Thieves Guild, becoming an assassin, allying with a bunch of werewolf mercenaries, studying powerful magics to uncover an ancient mystery, looting a few tombs, fighting some ice trolls, falling in love with a huntress, adopting some random kids, building a house, fighting against a vampire insurgency, and stopping for a rest if there’s time left in the day. The classic, five-year-old story mode of Skyrim still holds up, largely because o...

Here at Geek of Oz we like to support local Aussie talent; so check out this new Web Series Girt By Fear , A six-part comedy/horror series about the strange and supernatural terrors lurking in the suburbs of Sydney. Feel free to leave your thoughts in the comments below or follow Girt By Fear on Facebook - Stu Girt by Fear part 1: Nightmare On Australia Street Girt by Fear part 2: It Came From Outer Suburbia Girt by Fear part 3: Only Wankers Left Alive Girt by Fear part 4: Little Sharehouse of Horrors Girt by Fear part 5: I Was a Teenage Chogmog Girt by Fear part 6: Terror Australis

Read, Watch, Play! is back this week with another one of our special episodes! Who doesn't love special extra content? With the Sydney Opera House's annual GRAPHIC festival on last weekend, Christof and I managed to grab an interview with the comic creator behind Multiple Warheads,   King City and Prophet , Brandon Graham. The phrase 'nicest guy in comics' gets thrown around a lot, but you really would be hard pressed to find a creator more generous, open and personable than Brandon. He kindly gave up a few hours of his short stay in Sydney to chat about his time as a graffiti artist, his art and of course his comics. For those of you not familiar with his work, Brandon is known for his intricate urban environments, love of puns and drawing some of the roundest butts in comics. Recently he has been responsible for writing (and sometimes drawing) the reboot of Rob Liefeld's Prophet as well as   editing and curating Island Magazine   both   from Image C...

Like every other child raised on a steady diet of television, I love The Simpsons. I watched it as kid, devoured it as a teenager and continually reference it as an ‘adult’ (a term I use very loosely). At times it's questionable as to whether I am a person at all or just a countless mess of Simpsons quotes which has been granted sentience. What started out as 15 second animated shorts on the Tracy Ullman show has become a cultural touchstone, with over 600 episodes in the can, hundreds of millions of fans and countless Simpsons tattoos on bodies all around the globe. Lines like ‘That’s a paddlin’, ‘My cat’s breath smells like cat food’ or ‘Everything's coming up Milhouse’ have burned themselves into the cultural consciousness, never to be erased. This, in my opinion, is the true genius of T he Simpsons : its ability to make anyone laugh whilst simultaneously feeling like the jokes were written just for you. It’s niche humour for the mass market. Not surprisingly, the ...