It’s the most, wonderful time.. of the year! December is upon us, and with that comes my birthday, Christmas, and unfortunately school finals. So, while I didn’t get into Tomb of Dracula like I had planned to this week, I did want to share my experience with the latest volume of Batman by Scott Snyder. Let me just say, WOW! Endgame sees the return of Gotham’s most famous villain, The Joker. Now, we all remember the Death of the Family arc earlier on in the third volume of this series. Joker wreaked havoc upon the Bat-family, and ultimately took a lot a way from him. Endgame returns the fear of the Joker to Bruce Wayne, as Joker almost sort of haunts him much like he did in the new Arkham Knight game. As Batman is faced with his worst fear and his worst enemy, he has to find a way to struggle through the fight. What is crazy about this volume of Batman is that Joker has complete control for once. Joker has pretty much decided that there has to be an Endgame (Aha!) to their little battles, and it’s time that Joker wins. It’s basically a story where Joker takes everything to the next level, where Batman is basically faced with the choice of needing to kill him. It’s no longer do I want to or not, Joker is attacking Batman at his core. Joker is back and without his skin-stretched face from the previous volumes, and now looks a little bit more like his old self. The whole thing is rather creepy and unsettling, and holy shit is this a Joker story that will go down for the ages. I don’t want to divulge too much else, because it really is that great of a volume of Batman. I highly recommend this volume to read, and it can be done on its own I suppose. I would recommend reading all leading up to it, but it’s not necessary. We all know The Killing Joke as the Joker classic, but Endgame could very well be your kids’ Killing Joke, and I’m not joking! Until next time Binge readers, may your holidays be festive and full of awesome!
The trifecta is once again complete as the Freak makes his return to the Game Cast. As usual he is joined by Kupka and Batch and this week they discuss some AC: Syndicate, RB6 Siege, what Black Friday deals were grabbed, and some other random shit. Watch and/or listen below. Also, stay tuned for details regarding an all-day(?) gaming event to kick off the new year.
It’s here people. Starting today, you have 24 days to get all your shopping done. Here you will find ten great gifts from all different prices for the special people on your list. Hell, maybe you’ll even ask the fat man to deliver these to you come Christmas morning! Check em out below:
Playing cards are something that any worldly individual needs. Nothing says “I’ve seen some shit” than a cadre of well-worn playing cards. Personally, I have a poker set that houses cards ranging from Showgirls to Texas Chainsaw Massacre to Star Wars and I’d love to add this deck to the collection. What sets this apart from other collections is the art style for the cards is particularly cool with a painted-flair that really sells the set well. As a stocking stuffer you can do a lot worse.
When you talk about great movie poster artists there are a few names that should come to mind immediately. Right up there with Drew Struzan is Saul Bass, known mostly for his work on Vertigo, The Man With The Golden Arm and West Wide Story. Bass’ minimalism created a genre of poster art unto itself that is still being imitated to this day. This coffee table book is a must have for the more seasoned movie buffs.
Movie art is big in my house. I have a small collection of Mondo originals as well as some autographs and classic movie posters hanging all around the apartment. They help define my living space and let anyone who enters know exactly what I’m about. I usually like to add the stranger stuff and pepper it throughout the place, and I can totally see this weird Wheel of Fortune/Edward Scissorhands/Pee Wee/Goonies print being right at home here. For the more eclectic looking for a half-gag gift, this could be the best available this season for the price.
Sideshow Collectibles always knocks it out of the park with their figurines but the Predator seen here is a step above their usual level of talent. Predator is one of the absolute great movie monsters of all time, and the detail in this figure justifies (almost) the $150 price tag. If you’re in the market to expand your collection with a showcase piece, this may be just the thing.
This is easily the toy of the century. This toy represents the possibility of Star Wars actually bleeding over into the real world. Do you think that 40 years ago George Lucas ever thought we would have a computer in our pocket that could control our own personal droid? The jury is out on whether or not The Force Awakens will be better than the prequels, but this droid is truly something special. With the hefty price tag being the only deterrent, this toy will be in my future.
One unforeseen aspect of the smartphone is the decline of the wristwatch. In what has become a cultural shift, the ability to see what time it is on your phone has made many to ignore the classic piece of gear. With tan lines being the only downside, it’s a shame that the wristwatch is moving towards obsolescence, but the CUCOL Bamboo Wooden Watch is an inexpensive talkpiece that makes telling the time an event. Any machinery created utilizing wood rather than metal or plastic is already impressive, but add the bamboo finish and this watch is a fantastic buy.
With a film version on the way courtesy of James Franco and Seth Rogen, now is the time to catch Greg Sestero’s infamous behind the scenes tell-all detailing his experience filming The Room. Something tells me the Franco/Rogen version is going to take some liberties, so it is probably best to digest this now, fresh, without any influence. At just under ten bucks this is another fine steal.
In my family, my Grandad started a tradition when I was young of gifting everyone with a new Pez dispenser each Christmas as a little bonus stocking stuffer. The quality of the dispensers has been pretty wide, ranging from 5 different Santa Claus dispensers to Wolverine and Batman. As such, I have a collection now and this Star Trek set is definitely one of the nicer ones. Granted, Pez candy sucks, but I have a nostalgic connection to the things so this is definitely something I’ll want to add to the collection some day.
Another book being adapted by Seth Rogen (what a weird coincidence), Preacher is coming to AMC soon. Now is the time to check it out and see what all the fuss is about. In all honesty, I have yet to read this so I can’t tell you much about it other than it’s one of the most highly regarded comic book series of the past thirty years and may be the hottest thing since The Walking Dead come next year. Get ahead of the hype and give this a shot.
Keeping with the idea of a monthly subscription service, Moviepass is here to make the Summer movie season even crazier. Here’s the concept: pay Moviepass $30 a month and go to the theater as much as you want (limit once per day). Granted, some months are slower than others, but buying a subscription at the start of the summer may actually save you money in the long run. A great gift for anyone who loves movies.
So what do you think, Binge readers? Anything else I missed that you’re looking forward to? Comment below with your wishlist items and, as always, Binge On!
Come celebrate Moreno’s birthday with us as Ammon, Law, and Pete MC try heir hardest to make Moreno stick around for his own party. Pete has an incredible new sounder to kick off the Christmas season. Moreno drunk dials a STAR WARS hotline. Google voice turns into a knighting of one of our favorite callers. And we watch a bunch of movies and shit. Including THE GOOD DINOSAUR, THE 33, THE FINAL GIRLS, EX MACHINA, JURASSIC WORLD, HOME ALONE, PLANES, TRAINS, AND AUTOMOBILES, Fargo, South Park, Ash vs. Evil Dead, The Affair, and Jessica Jones.
One thing I have noticed around Binge Media is the lack of Star Wars coverage. So what did I do? After being away from each other’s microphonic paths (eww) for more than a year, the head of my former internet home Adventure Amigos himself, Dave Mayne, has brought his Star Wars (and beer oriented) knowledge and fandom with him for this series of three Binge Movie Aftertastes. Just like Luke Norris and I did with Rocky, Dave is joining myself and the lovely Jason Morris on an epic journey through the Star Wars franchise. all ending with an epic review of The Force Awakens, coming your way December 19th from Walt Disney Pictures.
For this first show, we will look at Star Wars and The Empire Strikes Back. Setting the stage for the next thirty five plus years, the first two films of the franchise are generally looked at as the best of the series. But do we think so?
Some things we cover:
Why does Obi Wan Kenobi sacrifice himself while in battle with Darth Vader on the Death Star?
What was Han doing before joining the rebels?
Why is Yoda so high when we first meet him in Empire?
Why is Luke so damn whiny?
Colt .45, anyone?
Why does Jason’s son know more about this franchise than all three of us?
Why doesn’t Chewbacca get a fucking medal at the end of Star Wars?!
What in one of our opinions is the best performance of the entire series?
Who does Jason consider to be the stupidest characters in the whole saga (hint: it’s NOT the stormtroopers).
Why did Jason watch the saga out of order?
So strap yourselves in and get ready for another ride down Star Wars lane. Don’t forget to check out all of Dave’s douchebaggery on the Adventure Amigos and myriad of podcasts onDark Barn Radio.
Around this time every year good manners dictate that we look at things and be thankful for them. Family, friends and good health are amongst the most immediate and important ones but these days we have a lot to be thankful for. For instance, I am thankful for Facebook allowing you to see when a recipient reads a message you have sent them, just so later when they try to lie about having seen it you can catch them with their pants down. I am thankful for places like Binge Media where all us cool kids can go to bitch about pop culture with one another. Here, I present to you, a list of ten movies that I am thankful for, all for different and unique reasons. Keep in mind, much like my 10 Movies That Should Be Remade article, is presented in alphabetical order, not in order of importance.
The Jist: As far as comedy goes Monty Python are, to me, the absolute kings. I love the Pythons and a lot of their individual projects as well so it really is not much of a stretch to say I have a lot of love for A Fish Called Wanda. Combining the writing/directing/acting talents of John Cleese with Kevin Kline’s insane Otto character is a comedic match made in heaven. Add to that Michael Palin playing the brilliantly stuttering Ken as well as Jamie Lee Curtis hamming up every scene she is part of and you get a really brilliant comedy that gets overlooked far too often.
The Jist: Believe it or not there was a time, not so long ago, when Batman was an irrelevant mess. While the 66’ television show was a big, flash-in-the-pan hit, it drove Batman as a character into pop-art positivity, a far cry from the current iterations of the character. All that being said, Adam West played a great Bruce Wayne/Batman and the show, while omitting Two-Face, introduces most of the Rogue’s Gallery pretty well. This all culminates with Batman! The Movie, essentially an extended episode where Batman and Robin square off against Catwoman, The Penguin, The Riddler and The Joker trying to take over the United Nations and the world. The movie is kitchy and insane, but it is so much fun to watch and enjoy when you are of a certain frame of mind.
The Jist: Some concepts are so perfect they just need to happen. Eventually, Tarantino was going to make a World War II film, it was just a matter of what his angle would be. I love this movie, and it is actually one of the few films on this list that also sits on my favorite all-time movie list. Everything that makes a Tarantino movie a unique experience is present here. You have fantastic dialogue, kinetic direction, unique wordplay and a great deal of suspense on top of the usual Tarantino comic relief that punctuates all of his work. I would even go so far as to say that if every director has one film that best illustrates their style then Inglourious Basterds wholly encompasses Quentin’s style.
The Jist: A genuine surprise for me when I first saw it, Red State is about as far as Kevin Smith could conceivably get away from Jay and Silent Bob’s shenanigans. The film, uniquely I find, follows not a main character but takes more of a documentary style following a situation as it unfolds. What beings as an innocuous sexual encounter via Craigslist evolves into a disturbing and intense modern terrorist encounter. Red State doesn’t feel like many other films and has few fans but I count myself amongst them for doing things differently. It also helps that Michael Parks steals the film with his magnetic performance.
The Jist: Star Trek has always been known for taking the genre in new and interesting directions. I think most Trekkies would agree that some of the films are miles ahead of the others. In my opinion, Star Trek First Contact is the most interesting and innovative of the Picard films. Where the main story deals with time travel and Picard’s run-in with the Borg collective the far more interesting plot takes place with the man who invented warp drive, Zefram Cochran. The idea of examining history and the difference between how it is perceived versus how it actually is makes this film a great sci-fi movie, even outside of the franchise. It is also really great to see the most important event in the entire Star Trek mythos happen in this film, and while the film does not shove the idea down our throat it does a good job conveying the importance and gravity of that moment.
Scene I’m Thankful For: The aforementioned moment of First Contact.
The Jist: A woman is struggling with being a single parent as a creature known as the Babadook seems to be terrorizing her son. The film, an Australian independent, made a pretty big splash last year as one of the great horror films of 2014. While I am not a big fan of the film, there is something to appreciate from it, seen below.
The Jist: Maybe the most controversial film in American history, most of us remember last year when North Korea threatened to end all American life if Sony released this film. Luckily, they couldn’t keep the movie down, with anonymous movie guy and VOD delivering the film straight to our homes. You have to appreciate this film for having the cojones to call out a current world leader while also illuminating the problems inherent in that society. I thought the facade storefront scene in particular was surprisingly powerful for a movie full of dick jokes.
The Jist: As far as documentaries go this is probably my all-time favorite. The flick concerns the world-record holders in classic arcade gaming and all the nerdy quirky-ness that comes along with it. Centered around Steve Wiebe and Billy Mitchell as your classic rivalry story, this flick is a perfect example of why documentaries are great; they can illuminate an aspect of the human condition that we mere mortals know nothing about. While the records in this film have already been surpassed at this point, this is still a nice snapshot of a time when men where men, and boys played Ladybug.
The Jist: Cross-dressing and old-school horror films collide in what is easily the ultimate midnight movie. Tim Curry is at his best here and sets the standard by which all other flamboyant musical performances will be judged. A role for Meatloaf, Susan Sarandon and Barry Bostwick playing the straight couple and the oddity of the entire thing is what makes Rocky Horror such an insane movie, but one that continues to entertain to this day.
The Jist: A hard-boiled 70’s thriller, Pelham 1 2 3 is a real classic when it comes to gritty genre flicks. The flick lives in a very realistic New York where a group of armed men board a commuter subway train and hijack it, demanding a ransom for the hostages now on board. The great casting from top to bottom starts with Walter Mathau and goes right on down the line to Robert Shaw in what I believe to be his most underrated performance. While this film was remade recently it does not hold a candle to the original by any means.
Scene I’m Thankful For: ***FINALE SPOILERS*** Gesundheit!
We’d love to hear from you and know what movies you’re thankful for by commenting below! Have a Happy Thanksgiving everyone (except for you Canadians) and Binge On!
There’s no time to mess around this week as we get to the good straight away. Garrett is in house to review CREED and CRIMINAL ACTIVITIES. One of these is better than the other.
TV Round-Up overflows with talk of Fargo, Ash vs. Evil Dead, W/ Bob & David, The Knick, and more.
Google Voice sees the return of the G.O.A.T in the midst of everybody yelling at us. We love it.
What Did You Watch is blurry at best so we talk about SATURDAY NIGHT, MURDER RAP, THE BLAIR WITCH PROJECT, SCOUTS GUIDE TO THE ZOMBIE APOCALYPSE, GLENGARRY GLEN ROSS, CALL ME LUCKY, DRACULA and lots more.
Stupid Comments is played and Garrett is way too good at the game. So we stop playing.
Movie Homework shines a new light upon NAPOLEON DYNAMITE.
Welcome to the last Aftertaste exclusively featuring everyone’s favorite short on brains underdog named Rocky Balboa. Once again joined by Binge Sports’ own Luke Norris, we go over the last two Rocky films that have been released, and even give a little preview on what we expect from Creed, releasing November 25th from Warner Brothers.
Some of the questions Luke and I contemplate and sometimes answer:
What was the state of boxing at the time of both these releases?
How bad were Union Kane’s line deliveries?
What exactly did Paulie do to lose the Balboa estate?
Just how long was Rocky in Russia?
How many f’n Dukes are in Rocky V?!
Why is the Rocky franchise’s continuity more messed up than Friday the 13th‘s?
How much do we hate Larry Merchant?
How much do we love Duke?
What’s the guy from Heroes doing here, and how did he get the role of Rocky’s son in Rocky Balboa?
Can Stallone possibly win Best Supporting Actor for his role in Creed?
Where can you hear our final views on Creed?
Was Sage Stallone a bad case of Coppola style nepotism or did he come through as Rocky’s son?
What former franchise cast member eventually sued Sly?
Want more? As they say, this just scratches the surface of what we talk about in this once again epic podcast. I have to say, I have had a blast discussing these movies with Luke. The guy has such an interesting perspective on what state the sport was in at the time of each film’s release, and the parallelism associated with Stallone’s life. Please be sure to check outSports Mockery, Sportster,The Luke Norris Experience, and every other corner of the internet to check out Norris’ stuff. This may be Luke’s final appearance for Rocky. But never fear. Not to sound too Terminator-ish, he will be back.
Starring: Michael Pitt, Dan Stevens, Edi Gathegi, Christopher Abbot, Rob Brown, John Travolta, and Jackie Earle Haley
The late 90s saw a flourish of knockoffs that were meant to surf the wave of Pulp Fiction‘s success. The work of Quentin Tarantino inspired filmmakers like Guy Ritchie (Lock Stock & Two Smoking Barrels) and John Herzfeld (2 Days In The Valley) to look upon crime, specifically crime bosses, as more than foreboding cigar smoking headhunters. Tarantino’s film gave crime lords personalities, progressively pulling back the curtain on mobster life, which was becoming less kitsch and more hip with each passing knock off. This run of films lasted into the early 2000s, which leads me to Criminal Activities, specifically how the film is not as broad-minded than it in all actuality thinks it is.
The first few frames of Criminal Activities shines a huge spotlight on the fact that the movie would have fit like a glove into the previously established 90s run of mobster flicks. That’s not to say there is anything overwhelmingly wrong with the film. There are plenty of moments of hearty laughter and disquieting action throughout. But the syncronicity of timelines where the film would have fit the most hurts its overall entertainment value, and makes the possibility of any fun to be had from here on out almost an after thought. As a result, Criminal Activities fits more like a square peg than a circular one.
The first couple acts of Criminal Activities plays almost like a complete remake of 1997’s Suicide Kings. Its eventual twisted road starts off as a straight one, as a set of college friends are sent to kidnap Marques (Gethegi), who supposedly is holding Eddie’s (Travolta) niece hostage. The storyline of a group of profanity slewing losers unknowingly borrowing a massive sum of money from a big mobster has been done in many of the films whose group I have outlined above. But Eddie is not the cigar chewing ‘kill them all’ mofiaso Brando was in the 70s. Instead, he spends a few minutes lecturing the guys in sharply written and overly layered economics-filled dialogue, which tries its best to come off as smart, but in the end more or less results in looking like yet another knock off of Pulp‘s ‘Royale with Cheese’ conversation. It doesn’t help that with his combed back slick (fake) hair and scarily plastic looking face, Travolta is appearing more like the head of today’s Duracell Robot Family than the Vincent Vega of yesteryear.
A veteran of mostly dramatic tear jerkers like Little Children as opposed to the off beat mobster quirkiness of Criminal Activities, Haley directs his debut from behind the camera with a steady enough hand to make me hope he does it again again. Between all his dolly shots following characters through multiple rooms at a time to deftly directed car chases and shoot outs, Haley does a nice job of showing how his thirty-five year plus acting career has made him a sturdy learner of the directing craft.
But Criminal Activities has more scenes with character establishing dialogue between round set pieces containing the actors spewing dialogue than well crafted chase scenes. This is a fine approach to take. But the thing that allowed Tarantino to craft stories of such massive fanfare is that the dialogue is well written by the writer and at least equally executed by the actors. The studio knew what they were doing when they cast Travolta, as his prior mentioned ‘threatening’ of the film’s main protagonists would more or less remind people of his work in the oft mentioned 1994 film which people are so familiar with. The clunky speech comes off exactly as it is though, and I found myself wanting the story to move along instead of bad attempts like this at character development. Same can be said for an exchange with Eddie and his head henchman Gerry (Haley), which assuredly makes us realize where the scar on Gerry’s ear came from. If written correctly, this type of scene can be a nice form of character development. But the conversation more or less comes off as the work of a screenwriter trying his best to convince us how clever he is.
Still, Criminal Activities is not a bad time. Haley does a nice job of keeping some admittedly clever plot twists close to the vest until the film’s final act, and Gethegi is an all around delight as the group’s foul mouthed hostage. Standing out in the crowd is not something Criminal Activities does very well. But you can’t accuse everyone making it of not trying.