Holy Moses, I'm really getting my money's worth with the on-line movie rental club!

Another week done, another cigar smoked and another blog posted.

Even though I'm filled with meat, cheese and beer from the night before (Thanks, Iris and Roberto!), let's get right on into more of my mindless movie reviews, shall we? There's a bunch of 'em. Here goes....

Seraphim Falls - This was a real treat that I wasn't expecting. Though not as fast paced as most Western thrillers, this little beauty delivered on a few levels. First the performances by leads Pierce Brosnan and Liam Neeson are top notch. Though, there is not all that much dialog in the film, they both exude the trials, anger, frustration and desperation of the situation that their characters have put themselves in. What action there is in the movie is pretty cool and brutal. Another plus is that it's always great to see actor, Michael Wincott perform. I've loved watching him since he played main baddie, Top Dollar in The Crow. This is a very decent post Civil War, cat and mouse, Western thriller where themes of guilt, revenge, retribution and forgiveness really shine through. Definitely a DVD to pick up at the store.

The Hitcher (2007 remake) - One cannot help but compare and contrast with the original 1980's road thriller that stared the always spooky Rutger Hauer as the vile and dangerous psychopath who stalks two youths on the barren highways of the west. In the current version Sean Bean portrays the whack job who makes the lives of a college couple a living hell. Now, I love Sean Bean. I find him great in everything he does. And he does and darn good job in this! But, I found Hauer's serial killer slightly more disturbing than Bean's. Bean's killer is certifiably nutters. But, Hauer's killer was balls-out scarier. He really scared the cheese outta me! Bean's character just pissed me off. I really cheered at the end when he got What he got coming! The original was slightly ahead of it's time and led the way for more cat and mouse horror thrillers to plop out onto the screens for the last 20 years. This newer version just follows the trend with slightly more 21st century trappings. But, definitely worth the rental.

Eragon - Have you seen Star Wars? Good. Have you see The Lord of the Rings movies? Good. Have you seen Harry Potter? Good. Guess what, you've seen Eragon. The sword and sorcery fantasy movie revolving around a boy and his dragon delivers nothing new to the genre AT ALL! Everything in this movie has been said and done before. Young farm boy finds that he is destined to be a heroic savior, and with the tutelage of an older, forgotten warrior, he will save the beautiful princess as well as the land from an evil king and his diabolical mage sidekick . It should be mentioned that I did enjoy Robert Carlyle and Jeremy Iron's performances, but its... Been there before-seen it-done it-got the T-shirt-enjoyed Joss Stone's guest appearance. That's about it. Rent it for the kids.

Ok, a couple of horror movies to boot....

House of Wax (2007 remake) - This movie took on the theme of Vincent Price's original, but the story was much more like Texas Chainsaw Massacre. The town of wax and wax townsfolk that the killer(s) built was all pretty creepy, but it just dumbed itself down as a typical teenage slasher flick. And as for the teenagers, you'll hate them all for being such a shallow bunch of dolts that you'll feel no remorse when most of them come to violent ends. The best part of this movie is watching Paris Hilton's character get a lead pipe through her head. Otherwise... feh. Not much to write home about. Rent it if you're a die hard horror/slasher movie fanatic. Otherwise, let it lie lifeless as a wax statue.

May - This odd little indie horror movie didn't exactly deliver what I look for in a good horror movie, but it will fill a niche with independent film lovers that have a very high tolerance for lots of character development and dialogue. May is a socially inept young woman with a lazy eye who's only true friend is a spooky doll her overprotective mother gave her as a child. Suffice it to say, she doesn't really deal too well in social situations. Once she starts to get out there in the world and develops a crush on a guy is when things start to go haywire. Even though actress Agela Bettis does an excellent job portraying the odd and awkward May, the movie waits until the very end to bring on the horror and darkness of the story. As viewers, we see small hints of things to come, but we have to wait until the end of the movie for the real frightening stuff. In some horror circles this movie has a decent sized cult following. I guess if you like really dark comedies this might be up your alley. If you're a die hard horror fan, you'll be a bit disappointed. Rent it and decide for yourselves.

Slither - Now this one is the best of the bunch (w/ Seraphim coming a very close second!). What happens to a town of hicks when an alien meteor lands nearby and "bonds" with the local rich A-hole? I'll tell you what happens. A wonderful bunch of sloppy, fleshy, inflated, tentacled, zombiefied, wormy goodness ensues!!! This flick stars fan-boy fave Nathon Fillion (Firefly!) as their local sheriff of a town plagued with alien worms and zombies! Lots of goofy fun gore is present constantly. A good, fun horror comedy! Definitely make time to rent it!


Not too much else going on lately. I'll be seeing Stardust tonight. So, I'll probably have a review of that next time as well as a some more flicks I'm seeing this weekend. So there's that you can wait for with baited breath until next week some time.

I'm off to watch more movies and have some grub.

Zangz.

A Good Stogie Amongst the Dead!

Guess what I did last night. I did something that touched upon nearly every pleasure zone I have (Nope. Sadly, not that one.)


Me and my brother-in-law went to a very old Gothic graveyard during the blood red moon and smoked a couple of Gurkha's. So, not only was I amongst a very creepy and quite peaceful atmosphere, I was also enjoying a smooth toke on a very nice cigar! All was right with the world.

Watching the blood red moon rise up over the Gothic chapel and mausoleums was a spectacularly spooky treat!

Sadly, there were no strange glowing mists, no odd shadow movements and no odd voices moaning out into the night. No undead buffoonery what so ever. Oh well. We have a couple more months before October. Maybe they're saving up!

It's gunna blow dead goat nards if the nasty law makers hit us cigar smokers with a huge increase in tobaco tax just to get at the cigarette smokers.

Speaking of good, relaxing pastimes under fire. There seems to be an evil plot brewing by beaurauecratic law makers involving a hefty beer tax. My friend Spanky goes at it in his blog here.

Why must everything fun and joyfull be crushed by self-rightous do-gooders?!?!

In other news, I promised you a review of Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix which I finally got to see with my sister, Dizzy Lizzie, on Monday night. If you need any preliminary info on my feelings toward the Harry Potter movement, check out my last post. Otherwise, Here we go.....

• Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix - I'm finding that with each new movie of the Harry Potter series, we tend to fall ever so slightly into the abyss of darkness. Order of the Phoenix follows this wonderful trend. We used to see Harry arrive at Hogwarts and get filled up with tons of free cookies, candies and cakes while silly wizardry surrounded the teachings of the school for young magic users ("Look Harry, here comes Professor Dinkledork with his magic Teddy Bear that gives out special hugs." .....that didn't actually happen in any of the movies/books. I was just trying to be a wise-a$$. So settle the frack down, Harry Potter fans!). But, now we're at a point where Harry is old enough to forgo the treats and wonderful child-like surprises and be enveloped in a world of evil and loss. The scene that made the movie for me was the wizard battle at the climax. It was very reminiscent to the Jedi going to battle on Geonosis against the Trade Federation armies. It also hearkened back for me visions to Gandolf and Sauramon going at it in LOTR: TFOTR (I really don't want to write that all out). It could have lasted quite a bit longer. I also immensely enjoyed the role of Sirius Black, played masterfully by god-like thespian (and personal fave) Gary Oldman. Two small gripes. Why is it that EVERY Harry Potter book/movie always has the plot "twist" of some new teacher coming to Hogwarts who either has an evil agenda or is in cahoots with the bad guys. It's getting old, stale and since we're into the 5th movie, quite predictable. C'mon, J.K. Let's try something new (like bathing nude in a hot tub filled with money). Then there's the even smaller gripe that, according to my Harry Potter friends, quite a lot of the book is taken out of the movie. I suppose they have to make these movies far more cohesive for the short attention span of a movie audience. But, I worry that those of us who haven't read the books are missing out on some important pieces in the Potter Mythose. All in all. I did really enjoy Order of the Phoenix. And maybe one of these days I'll start collecting the movies on DVD.

Speaking of DVDs! Guess what I got today. The movie 300!!!! Now before those of you cursed with the ideology that this movie about ancient Spartans fighting off the Persian army is some sort of diabolical plot by the Bush administration to brainwash us into believing that the war in Iraq is justified. Just rent the thing and watch it for what it is... an excellent adaptation of Frank Miller's wonderful, and violent graphic novel (which was released years before the war in Iraq).

I'm not saying the war is justified, I'm just saying that sometimes we need to take off our socio-politically biased glasses and just enjoy things and forgo our chosen tunnel vision. Get yourselves out of your Rosie O'Donnel / Bill O' Reiley modes, won't you?

One more quickie thing. You want to view and read about something most disturbing? This was found by my good freind Roberto DelAmorte. Enjoy. Click HERE!

I think that's all for now. We'll talk soon.

Zangz.

The Unseelie Incursion of 1994... I WAS THERE!

There's a lot of magic flowing through the genres as of late. This past month saw the release of Harry Potter and the Order of the Pheonix to the movie theaters. On top of that there was the release of the 7th and final Harry Potter book, "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows".

Though, I cherish all things geekesqe and fantastical, I never really fell head over heels for the whole Harry Potter craziness. I'm more of a Star Wars kind of guy. However, I do praise what it has done to bring the realms of the fantastic to young readers while also getting kids interested in reading again. But, I also felt it was a little too geared to much younger fans than myself. Believe it or not, I've only read the first book and found it to be... cute. I've seen all the movies, with the exception the most current, ...Order of the Phoenix. Apparently everybody went to go see it without me (hurumph, hurumph). I find I've liked each movie a little more than the last. The previous one, Goblet of Fire, seemed to edge it's way closer to being my kind of movie - dark and spooky. I've heard that Order is even more on track with what I dig. But, again, everybody saw it without me (hurumph, hurumph).

Harry Potter is now as much a part of modern pop culture as Micky Mouse, Darth Vader and The Fonz (please, younger readers, please tell me you know who The Fonz is, as to not let me feel that I'm grown much older every second of the day!). The release of the latest book summoned many a Potter geek to bookstores in the late evening of it's release in hopes they would walk away with the final answers to all of the Potter questions. My friends Roberto, Iris and Peej stood outside of a Target all night to get their mits on "The Deathly Hallows". Would I tease them in jest for doing so? Frack NO! After all, I stood outside for 6 hours prior to a midnight showing of Episode III! God bless the geeks of this world!!!!

J.K. Rowling must bathe naked in a bath filled with nothing but money (come to think of it, I'd like to see that!)

If I get to see Phoenix this week, I'll give you the blow by blow in the space below.......

Actually, I decided to do the review in the most recent blog since I have other things to yammer about. So, check there for my review of the movie.

Also spooging forth from the realms of Magic and fantasy comes Neil Gaiman's "Stardust" to the big screen. I believe it is the first of one of my favorite author's works to be adapted into film. I got into Gaiman through the phenomenal comics he has written. His most popular being "The Sandman". He is also the author of one of my favorite dark fantasy novels, "Neverwhere". I believe I've blogged about one of his best known novels, "American Gods" before.

I've never read "Stardust", but the fact that the always unimaginably beautiful Michelle Pfeiffer is in this film will make me make it a point to try and catch it in the theater. Oh yeah, De Nero's in it too. He's got some acting chops, doesn't he?

Gaimen, Pfeiffer and De Nero! This has boatloads of potential!

In other magical news, I've discovered the literary world of detective / mage, Harry Dresden from author Jim Butcher's "The Dreseden Files" series. I've always heard that these were really fun reads but could never find the first one of the series. Luckily, last weekend, I found "Storm Front" and, though I'm just starting it, I'm enjoying the frack out of the story.

The SciFi Channel actually made the Dreseden files into a TV series. I've caught parts of a couple episodes of it. Not bad. But, so far I'm enjoying the first novel more so than the TV series. Note: The vampire chick in the TV series is quite fetching, according to my friend, Bruce.

Anyway, Since the character fo Harry Dresden resides in Chicago, I found it quite amusing he notes a fictional even that occurred here in Milwaukee, the Unseelie Incursion of 1994.

"...when the entire city of Milwaukee had simply vanished for two hours. Gone. Government satellite photos showed the river valley covered with trees and empty of life or human habitation. All communications ceased. Then, a few hours later, there it was, back again, and no one in the city itself the wiser."

Oddly enough, I do remember a couple of hours that I blanked out in '94. I was in my tub reading Haunted Attraction Magazine when... ZAPPO... lights out. Then I awoke still in the tub a few hours later all moist and wrinkly. Could this have been the Unseelie Incursion of 1994? Or was it the 6 pack of Samuel Adams' Octoberfest I consumed beforehand? One may never know.

You're asking me for more movie reviews? Allow me to oblige....

• Miami Vice - This falls into the "90+ minutes of my life I'll never get back" file. This was the most boring action thriller I've ever seen! I thought I was bored by the TV series? Well, the movie certainly passes that torch. Not only is there no chemistry between the main characters of Crocket and Tubbs, all of the villains are completely generic. On top of that crap heap, viewers will have to wait until the last 45 minutes of the movie to see any action. Up until then it's a lot of cheesy, machismo cop lingo and bravado between the main characters. The only character you give a flying whooey about is Tubb's girlfriend / co-worker, played by Naomi Harris (The voo-doo queen from the Pirates movies). And I'm not just saying that 'cause she has a brief nude scene..... well, maybe a little. Wait until this one ends up in rotation between the USA, FX and TBS cable channels.
• Snakes on a Plane - This one got a hell of a lot of pre-Internet hype before it's release. Naming it Snakes on a Plane helped a bit as it hints at the goofy action movie that it is. Even though it's far from being set with the Die Hards and Leathal Weapons in our action genre DVDs, it's still a good silly implausible romp. And Samuel Jackson does his usual share of bad-ass-madre-frackin' a$$ kickin'. Even though the script is pretty horrible, the shear silliness of it is worth taking a peek at. Who knew that snakes could be trained by drug dealers to bite people directly in their private parts?
• Blood and Chocolate - This is the Werewolf version of Lost Boys. A group of trendy youths, including the sultry (did I actually use the word sultry?... god, I need a date) Agnes Bruckner roam about modern day Budapest as a clan of werewolves. She falls in love with a human and all hell breaks loose. Though it's visually interesting and there's some good characterization, it doesn't exactly measure up as a revitalization of modern horror mythos the way Lost Boys did. The script plods along and the story slows to a bit of a crawl at times. I should mention that if you liked The Lost Boys or have played Vampire: The Masquerade or Werewolf: The Apocalypse, you may want to check this one out. It's far from being a disappointment. I know I enjoyed it, though Roberto and Iris, who I saw it with, fell asleep at times while watching it.

Well, I've finally finished watching the Deadwood series and will comment on that at a later time. I'm also full into Gears of War and am at a horribly difficult part involving a huge monster that is protected by a legion of man eating bats... while we're on a moving train. Perhaps Roberto may have some clues as to how to get out of this mess?

Anyway, until next time, if you find that you've inexplicably lost some hours in the day, blame the Unseelie Incursion.

Zangz.

(Please note: I do appologize for some problems that Blogger is having with separating paragraphs and spacing issues. I've tried to edit and fix the problems to no avail. Sometimes I love Blogger, sometimes... not so much.)

Cigars, Skeezes, Stilettos and Stan's Dark Alliance....

It's been a few weeks so lets get ourselves seeped right into the fray, shall we?

Last time I left off I was going to go see the band Sevendust at a local outdoor music festival. The outcome was quite enjoyable. Picture if you will, your hero, Zangz, sitting on a bleacher with a sweet cigar in one hand and a nice dark brew in the other whilst listening to the power that is Sevendust. All was well with the world.

Honestly, the band is one of the more powerful and tight groups I've ever seen. The crowd was really into it as they sang along on many tunes.

Honorable mentions must go to the supporting acts who weren't half bad at all. Check out Point 1 and Diecast if you like your music with balls.

And yes, there was the sweet smell of skunk weed in the air. And I'm pretty frackin' sure it wasn't my cigar.


Hey! The new season of Dr. Who has finally reached American television and I'm once again enjoying it thoroughly as a good geek should. The Doctor's new side kick is wonderful and the stories are as fun as they were in the last two seasons. A friend who's already seen the entire season through BitTorrent capabilities says there's an unexpected surprise with the sidekick issue this season. I'll have to wait and see. In fact it's on in 45 minutes. So I gotta hustle.


So, there's news of a new James Bond author who's going to start writing more adult oriented James Bond novels as they had been previously written, before they tried to give the character the whole Harry Potter treatment.

Sadly, they didn't ask my personal favorite Bond author back, Raymond Benson. The new guy is named Sabastian Faulks. Frell if I know what he's done before. The book will be called, "Devil May Care" and is due in May of 2008. I'm hoping he's as good as Benson and not dry and boring like past authors. The book takes the Bond character back to the cold war of the late 60's. We'll see about this one. Personally I thought that Benson was doing a pretty darn good job at it. I wished he would have been given the chance to continue. I've heard rumors that he's on to more original mystery/suspense fiction. Kudos to him!


What cigars am I enjoying smoking presently? Well, I thought you'd never offer.

Right now I'm quite in enjoyment of the sweet and smooth Drew Estate brand cigar known as Acid's Kuba Kuba. Makes me smack my lips as I smoke it! Then there's the dark and smooth as love in the afternoon CAO MX2, a maduro that's filled with flavor, yet does not overpower. Then there's one that I just tried this past week that blew me away. Another maduro that is quite smooth and flavorful, the Gurkha: Doble Maduro.


You have another question for me? What movies have I caught up on lately? A few....

• Transformers - Though, it's your typical Michael Bay schlock-fest, it's fun as hell! If you were a fan of the toys or cartoon, you'll probably like it 10 times as much as I did. And if you weren't, there's some babe-age to gawk at also. Definitely a thumbs up for this one!
• Transporter II - Speaking of schlock-fests, this one is hard to beat. This is good if you're craving a quick, overpowered, implausible action feast. We've seen the plot before, we've seen the action before. We just haven't seen it all at this fast paced tempo. On top of all that, there's a skeezy female assassin who does everything in stiletto heels. What's not to love about that? Fun, yet ridiculous. Action fans must rent this!

I'm also almost done with watching the entire series of Deadwood and I've kind of gotten a liking to Carnivale. I've taken a peek at both Oz and Rome, but neither have really grabbed me like Deadwood has. I'll let you all know how I like the entire series once I'm done with it.

My good cohort, Roberto Del Amorte, has lent me the 360 game Gears of War to futz around with. So far, I really like what I've played. Non stop, heart pounding, shoot-em-up action, huge elaborate and spooky settings! Everything I love about good shooter video games. I'll give a review once I'm done with it.

Speaking of Roberto, the month of August creeps slowly closer, which means one thing.... The Fires of Robahain Shall Burn Brightly in the coming month. Simply speaking, Roberto is lucky enough to have a wife who throws him a sort of Rob-A-Palooza for his B-day every year. This celebration usually ends in bloodshed, tears and laughter. In that order. That's coming up this Labor Day weekend. So I'm looking forward to that.

Is it wrong for me to already be thinking about Halloween? I'm already mapping out Haunted Attractions I want to check out. Perhaps Blood City, The Burial Chamber and Morgan Manor may have to be visited this upcoming season of the dead. Hmmmmmm?

On an end notation, there's a horrific rumor that Stan "The Man" Lee, a comic book god who created some of the most famous of all superheroes, might be stooping down to a level that not even the Amazing Spider-Man could get him out of.

Apparently he is teaming up with Paris Hilton (the human embodiment of all that is evil and wrong about the socially elite, greed-filled and shallow of the world) and they're going to put together a superhero cartoon show featuring her. WTF?

That's one good way to lose the respect of thousands of comic book geeks, team up with someone who probably wouldn't give one of them a nanosecond of their time, let alone spit in their general direction. I mean servants at her masnion probably have to spend many an hour scrapping boogers off of the ceiling since her nose is so frackin' high in the air.

Has Stan gone the way of Dr. Doom or is he going senile?

For the luv 'o' Christ, Stan, say it ain't so!!!!

On that note, let's all cross our fingers and hope to the good lord that Stan comes to his senses.

I'm off for some Dr. Who and then some cigar smoking. Until the next bunch of useless ramblings, Stay Vertical!

Zangz.

A Pinnicale Geek Moment......

Once in a blue moon you come a cross a moment in time where you find yourself in a state of self realization and, seemingly, view yourself from the 3rd person. It's kind of like floating outside of your body and looking at yourself in judgement. It's not in some paranormal, spiritual, astral projection kind of way. Like I said, it's a self realization kind of vibe.

I had one of those moments a couple of days ago. I found myself at a local, outdoor, music festival standing and waiting in an hour long, pouring rain storm to see............................... Weird Al Yankovic.

WHO STANDS IN A FRIGGIN' RAIN STORM TO SEE WEIRD AL?!?!?!?!?!

............. a geek. That's who.

As I reach a milestone age that most of us want nothing to do with and stop counting birthdays once we reach it, I look around and I find my friends getting married/buying homes/having children and subscribing to the "normal" lifestyle. And there I was, as moist as can be waiting to see a guy who jams out on an accordion doing Star Wars music parodies.

There is no going back for me, gang. I'm committed. Though I may die alone at least I can lie on my death bed and tell the nurse, who will care less, that I saw Weird Al Yankovic perform "Yoda" in a Jedi robe while I was completely sopped. ............ (break for weeping and self loathing) .....................................

Ok, another interesting tid-bit that I found a little odd about the Weird Al show was that as he opened his set with a medley of popular tunes played in polka style, I caught the whiff of the herb. You know, ganja, doobies, weed.

WHO THE FRACK SMOKES WEED AT A WEIRD AL SHOW?!?!?!?!?!

This wasn't the Blue Oyster Cult show that played at that stage the week before, fer crissakes. I'm no tea-totaler, but I found it an odd juxtaposition listening to Weird Al crank it out on his accordian while the sweet stank of skunk weed passed under my nose. Hmm... odd.

Anyway, it was a fun show with lots of multimedia input as a lot of the show was Weird Al's old MTV comedy show projected on a big assed video screen hung behind the band. There were also a lot of costume changes for all, my favorite being the authentic Jedi robe for his Star Wars part of the show.

In the end, a good time was had by us all as my longtime friend, Goof ,and his lovely wife Gale are in town visiting and accompanied me to experience the whole moist, pot smelling, Weird Al experience.

I will have you know that I am attempting to boost up my "cool guy" cred tonight as I'm going back to said music festival to see the band Sevendust. Now there I'll smell some skunk weed for sure.


Hey! They're finally starting to shoot the 4th instalment in the Indiana Jones movies! We're going to see the results come next May. This is one I'm really looking forward to. Please, good, Lord, don't let them frell this one up. Pleaseohpleaseohpleaseohplease.


Movies I've gotten caught up with lately? Sure, I thought you'd never ask.

• Man on Fire - In this action / drama, Denzel Washington plays a body guard bent on retribution against a professional gang of kidnappers in Latin America. This movie kicked a bit of butt for me. I wasn't expecting it to be as good as I found it. There's a great cast and darn good action involved. Add to that, there's a good story being told. Expect a few decent twists and turns as well. Worth the rental!
• The Stepford Wives - I was hoping for a few scenes of the robotic wives of the upper class community of Stepford going haywire and tearing apart their husbands who have condemned them to life of subservient domestication. After all, that's the way made for TV sequel to the original 1975 film ended. But, instead of what could have been a really creepy, Sci-Fi story that ends in destruction and bloodshed ended up being a half-assed comedic farce. Despite the big name cast, it was very poorly acted. Kind of like an 8th grade talent show. I don't know if director Frank Oz (voice of Yoda) was going for a campy performance from his actors, but everyone, some of them academy award winners, were horribly over acting as though it was their first role ever. WTF? Pass on this one, unless you like man-bashing and poor acting.
• Night at the Museum - Ben Stiller played the new night watchman at a museum where, during his late shift, all the displays and statues come to life and wreck havoc. This wasn't a "laugh out loud" yuk fest, but it was a cute comedy and fun to watch. And Carla Gugino is always quite fetching.
• Layer Cake - Daniel Craig shows off his pre-James Bond acting chops in this cool as frell English crime thriller. I was incredibly impressed with Craig as a drug dealer who wants to get out of the biz, but finds himself being sucked deeper in. It may take a few viewings to understand how the plot works, but this was another good one. It's a damn fine rental and I may even buy it one day!

In closing, I hope you had a nice and safe Independence day! Mine, by the way, involved mass amounts of yuppies and their families, being surrounded by several firework displays (you gotta know where to go, folks), being eaten alive by squadron after squadron of mosquitoes and a good helping of meatloaf and corn. So I'd say it was a success. I'm taking a few days off to unwind. I'll let you know how Sevendust is.

Until next time...

Still moist and lovin' it.

Zangz.

Odd Day...

This has been a very odd day.

It started sunny with a slight fog coming inland from the lake that gave the drive into work a beautiful ominous. Then once I got into work, I learned that someone within the company had passed away over the weekend. I wasn't in this person's department, but I'd see him around. He was a bit of an introvert and very much kept to himself, rarely making a sound. Now he's gone and very few people really knew much about him.

Now I'm a pretty shy guy. I feel horrible when I first meet a new group of people. But as I get older, I realize that you gotta get out there and get to know people. There are quite a few groups of friends I'm very glad and proud to know! And I wouldn't have that joy in my life if I continued to be the introvert I was back in my grade school and high school years.

It's another example of life being way too short.

This blog is sounding like an obituary column as of late. On to the geek stuff!


This weekend was just awesome outside! My gaming group made the best of it as we played SpyCraft outside with a good amount of beers and burgers to boot. The game itself was a quick, yet fun introductory game that had an NPC character that was described as looking like Jessica Alba! What wasn't there to love about a game like that? Fun as heck, I tell you! Props to our game master, Mad Mario!


I've been getting a chance to catch up on some movies I've missed out on within the last year or so. Are you itching to know how I felt about them? You Aren't? Too bad, suckers! It's my Blog of Geekdom. Deal with it! Here we go....

• The Fantastic 4 - Speaking of Jessica Alba, this was my first introduction to her as Sue Storm (aka: The Invisible Girl), 1/4th of the superhero team of the movie's title. Many a comic book geek awaited this film with baited breath, but when it came out, many were disappointed with the result. This is why when I saw it a week ago, I decided to have absolutely no expectations for it. This strategy worked in my favor since instead of seeing what should have been another, balls-out, rockin' action flick based on a Marvel comic book (much like the Blade and Spider-man movies), I saw a cute, fun, quick action movie. Nothing out of the park, yet enjoyable enough to kill a couple of hours with. Though the effects and set pieces were pretty good, the plot and story could have easily have been a made for TV movie. They've just released the sequel in theaters a week or so back and fan-boys are getting into it fair better than its predecessor. I think I'll wait for rental.
• Ghost Rider - Another Marvel comic to feature film action thriller staring Nicolas Cage (a closeted comic geek himself) playing the role of Johnny Blaze, a stunt motorcycle rider who has sold his soul to the devil and thus obtained unholy and otherworldly powers. Unholy and otherworldly meaning his head turns to a flaming skull, he can shoot fire balls from his hands and he can whip a flaming chain around. Now, I remember reading the comic book from the 1970's and I loved it, however the movie follows a more recent, updated version of the comic book which I didn't really get into. Though Nicolas Cage was his fun, quirky self, the special effects were good and Eva Mendez was the love interest, I ended up feeling the same way about this film that I did for F4. There was also some truly cheesy and corny scenes that had me cringing a bit. A cute, fun afternoon viewing, but nothing more. A good rental if you're a fan-boy.
• Children of Men - This grim, post apocalyptic thriller left me both numb and thinking. This is not a fun filled sci-fi romp that is "the Blade Runner of the century" as the ads for it touted. This is a dark, foreboding warning to the human race about what could bring civilization to it's knees. Both right wing and left wing extremism is studied here as the women of the world have all become infertile for the last 17 years. A fascist police state rules England while leftist terrorists tear apart what little is left of the country. The end of humanity is in sight until one unsuspecting man finds himself in the middle of the whole mess as he winds up escorting the first pregnant woman in 17 years to safety. Visually this movie is dark, but the view of future technology is quite believable. I enjoyed this movie a lot, but I doubt I'd own it in my collection. Too grim to view in more than one viewing, but it certainly should be viewed!!!!
• Tenacious D and the Pick of Destiny - Any huge fan of comedic, acoustic, operatic Heavy Metal duo Kyle Gas and Jack Black were anticipating the release of this movie for a long time. This movie had loads of buzz about it within the geek community prior to its release. When it finally hit the big screens fans felt it didn't deliver anywhere as much as it should have, and after viewing it this weekend, I have to agree. There are a bunch of times that I found myself laughing out load throughout the movie, but not anywhere as much as I have in the past times I've seen them perform on television and video. There was something missing here and I can't put my figure on it. Maybe it's the lack on comedic spontaneity that they have in their live act. One disappointment was the fact that prior to the film coming out I heard that Ronnie James Dio had a role playing himself in the movie. I was stoked! But, he's only in the film for about 4.5 seconds sadly. Anyway, like most of the movies here, it was enjoyable, but not something I would have enjoyed as much had I plunked down the cash to see it in the theater or buy the DVD.

I'm also getting caught up on HBO's Deadwood. I just finished season 2 of this 3 season series. I'm hoping that sometime soon, after I view season 3, series creator, David Milch, gets his act together, and give us Deadwood fans the 2 two hour movies that are to tie up the series. This is one awesome show with a stand out ensemble cast and incredibly original writing that explores the many different aspects (both good and bad) of human nature... that and there's boobies.

I'll be quite busy in the weeks ahead. I'll try and stop on in here once during the 4th of July/Summerfest season. If I don't, have a good time with cook outs, beer, cigars and good friends! I know I will be!

See ya.

Zangz.

An evening of cigars, music reviews, movie reviews, notes on death and general bitterness against rich, French men....

The end of a work week comes a few hours earlier for me as I took off the afternoon. It's such a beautiful summer day that I just had to take advantage of the weather and head home for some beer and a cigar.

If you haven't yet, check out the latest Zangz's Pod of Geekdom as it's part 2 of our celebration of Star Wars reaching 30 years old.


I know you're wondering what I'm rocking out to lately. Well right now I have the latest Buckcherry album, "15" on the ol' media player. There's a song called "Everything" that's pretty frellin' good. Then there's the latest Sevendust album, "Alpha" that a co-worker lent me. It blew me across the room. It's sad that these guys don't get the recognition they deserve. I'm also looking into more Dream Theater music. These guys are just too frackin' talented and you're too frackin' lame if you haven't checked them out yet!!!!


The world needs more female bass players. Just thought I'd throw that one out there.


In geekier subjects, I did get a chance to see both The Illusionist and The Prestige. I enjoyed both of these movies that were both about Victorian era magicians. I have to say that I enjoyed The Illusionist a tad better. Even though I figured out the "plot twist" of the ending early on, I really enjoyed the actors' performances. The Prestige was quite good, but it was bit confusing. And I wasn't impressed with the whole reveal of the ending. I felt it was a bit of stretch that really didn't do the rest of the movie justice. But it was still good. Especially David Bowie as Nikola Tesla!

This week I'm going to check out the first Fantastic 4 movie and Children of Men. I'll let you know how they are... if you actually give a dren.


Hey. James "Scotty" Doohan's ashes were indeed shot into space. However, the rocket went off trajectory and ended up crash landing in some jungle that hasn't even been explored that much yet since it is incredibly hard to get to. So instead of his remains being laid to rest out into the galaxy, they're in some jungle were I can guess that there are species of bugs and plants hat have yet to be discovered. The remainder of his ashes were scattered over Puget Sound in Washington. Ain't life odd?


More death talk:

I'm no longer a huge Real World fan since it's deteriorated into a, shallow, booze ridden, whore-fest, but I did watch quite a bit of Real World: San Diego. That's why this announcement made me kind of bummed out in a weird way. Maybe because the passing took place near where my mom lives or just because I have a soft spot for rocker-punk-goth chicks. Anyway, it's one more reason to realize the good die young and greedy, French bajillionaires of the world get Salma Hayek . WTF?!?!?! There is no justice, is there? (Sheesh, I'm in a bitter mode here. Better start smokin' some cigars darn soon!!!)

And on that note, time to enjoy some puffs. See ya!

Zangzque. (I believe that's French for Zangz, Miss Hayek. Though I'm no bajillionaire, I have an awful lot of lovin' to give.)

SW30: Part DUECE!!!

Part two of the well received podcast we put together celebrating the 30th anniversary of the greatest movie known to both man and woman-kind can be downloaded and listened to right here!!!

Please feel free to leave us feedback, either here or at iTunes! We've only heard that people have thoroughly enjoyed Pt. 1 through word of mouth. Please, if you liked it, by all means stroke my ego! God frackin' knows it needs strokin'! .... among other things of mine (yes, that was a sad pathetic joke.)

In quickie other news, I went to go see this band, Heavy Nova, the other night at their CD release party that ushered in their new album, "Miles of Cock". Now before you flag this post, cock refers to roosters, as there are a bunch of them marching along a road on the CD cover. When it comes to harder edged rock getting the publicity it deserves, it usually gets lost in the shuffle nowadays. So please check out the band's website as the guitarist, Brian, is an awfully nice and talented fellow. (I have no idea who that babe is on their website, but sadly, she wasn't at there show the other night).

That's all for now. Check back with you at the end of the week.

Zangz.

And now for another uninspirational entry into the world of a geek.....

June is upon us already, fercrissakes! Just a short time ago I was bemoaning the snow and cold. I better lap this wonderful weather up while I can, 'cause in a very short time, we'll be back into the frozen tundra that is the upper Midwest.

Anyway, time to move on to more dorky subjects....


Well, Sean Connery finally made it official. He will not be popping out of his film retirement to reprise his role as Indiana Jones' father in Indy IV. You can read the story here. At least he seems to be good natured and good humored about turning down the role as he's quoted as saying....

"I love working with Steven and George, and it goes without saying that it is an honor to have Harrison as my son," he said. "But in the end, retirement is just too damned much fun."

"I do, however, have one bit of advice for Junior: Demand that the critters be digital, the cliffs be low, and for goodness sake keep that whip by your side at all times in case you need to escape from the stunt coordinator! This is a remarkable cast, and I can only say, 'Break a leg, everyone.'"

Class act, that Connery is. Sadly, it looks as though he's left films for good. This guy was one of my all time favorite actors. Certainly at the top of my list. You don't see a lot of today's actors quite as ballsy as Mr. Connery, that's for sure. Many of them are busy getting pedicures, manicures and collagen treatments. Connery has chunks of guys like that in his stool! Connery is THE MAN!


So I've joined this online DVD rental shindig, thingy. We'll see how this all goes. I got my first batch this week. The Prestige, The Illusionist (duelling Victorian magician movies!) and disc three of season 2 of Deadwood. Perhaps I may have some reviews on these here sometime soon.


Last weekend I had a chance to go to a historic reenactment of different wars. Though the event focused mainly on the Civil War, I had some friends there reenacting the English Civil War (mid 1600's). If you've listened to my podcasts you may know some of them. There was Mad Mario, his wife Hope and Bruce. They were all strutting around in wool and armour in 70 degree weather. Props to them! They also had huge 12 feet high pikes to deal with. I went with my mom and bro-in-law and they were both impressed with my historically gifted friends. Bruce especially loves to teach people about history. He explained in detail how the pikemen would take on opposing armies' calvary by placing themselves in a crouch position with the pike at an angle that would impale a charging horse and its rider. Isn't history cool!!!!


So on the suggestion of a co-worker I picked up the new Dream Theater album, Systematic Chaos, and I love it. These guys are usually lumped into the category of Prog-Metal. They're all Berklee School of Music grads and can put a hellova lot of successful recording artists to shame when it comes to musicianship and talent. Usually I'm not a huge fan of long, drawn out 15 minute songs, but their Ministry of Lost Souls is a heart wrenching, powerful epic tale that I'm a bit addicted to. If you're into hard rock for purely the music, check these guys out!!!!


So, everybody is anticipating the new Transformers movie based on the cartoon and toy line. Me? I'm more of a G.I. Joe kind of guy. I may wait until rental for this one.

The next Bond movie (Bond 22) will be filming at its traditional home of Pinewood Studios. Story here.


My group who is involved in my stagnant Call of Cthulhu game are now all harping me for a new one. We'll see, we'll see.


I'm jonesing for a cigar, so I'm wrap this up here.

Until next time, make sure you do something incredibly geeky to cheese off the socially elite!

Zangz.

HAPPY ANNIVERSARY STAR WARS!!!!

(Note: I added to this post since it was published. See below.)

Yep. Thirty years ago, this very day, THE greatest motion picture series known to mankind was birthed with the first of its kind to be released to the masses of humans as a grand gift from the gods! Many of us blessed with a geekesque nature lost our friggin' minds as that first scene with the Republic Blockade Runner being chased by the immense Imperial Star Destroyer played out on the large screen before our young, virgin eyes (insert you own "virgin / Star Wars geek" joke here... ya cold, heartless bastages.) forever implanting a huge boost in our collective imaginations. Science Fiction, Fantasy and pop culture would never be the same.

In tandem with the special occasion, we have put together a special podcast that has been posted at Zangz's Pod of Geekdom. It's the Zangz's Pod of Geekdom's Star Wars Special. Check it out! One reviewer says, "Great podcast Zangz! An excellent group and very entertaining discussion."

Ok, so that reviewer happens to be Roberto Del Amorte who's been on a few of my podcasts. Still, I didn't pay him to write that and it is very entertaining!

Right now thousands of lucky Star Wars fans are converging in LA for Celebration IV, a huge Star Wars convention. Lucky bastages. Leslie, from the podcast, is there having the time of her life. Maybe we'll have her give a report for a podcast.


My dad is visiting from Houston and staying with me. We've already enjoyed a cigar together so it's going good so far. It's not all arguing over politics. I don't know if I'll get a chance to see Pirates this weekend as hanging out with Dad takes precedence. I've read some decent reviews on it and really want to check it out. Perhaps soon.

Edited 5/27/07, 8:38am: Well, we did get a chance to pop in a viewing of Pirates of the Caribbean: At Worlds' End yesterday. I know all you faithful readers out there (Rob....sigh) are chomping at the bit to know what I thought of the movie, well wait not more!

The third installment to the Pirates trilogy is, much like the other two, a visual smorgasbord of fantastical delights! Like a ride at Disney, it takes you to odd and wonderfully dark places with some crazy swashbuckling action thrown into the mix.

Johnny Depp reprises his role as the rogue pirate, Jack Swallow and is just as good as he was in the first two films, yet his character is slightly less utilized in this one since there is sooooo much going on in this film. All of the other actors do a great job with their characters as well. I really liked the fact that they brought more out of the character of the Voodoo queen, Tai Dalma, played by the beautiful Naomie Harris. She's quite fetching in a rotting teeth kind of way.

Of course the visual effects and CG work are mind blowing and top notch, possibly attempting to gloss over some of the flaws in the storyline.

Speaking of which, one of the flaws of both this Pirate movie and the last (Dead Man's Chest) is that the plot is waterlogged and bogged down with waaaaay too much Pirate mythos and lore that the screen writers seemed to be constantly pulling out of thin air as the movie moved along. Were they making it up as they filmed? One moment there was some ancient pirate mystery to be solved, the next moment another pirate myth had to be addressed, then another, then another. The first film, The Curse of the Black Pearl, was the most cohesive as it had only one big storyline to follow, Jack Sparrow reclaiming his ship from the cursed undead pirates who had taken it. In this one we jump from one quest to another to another to another so quickly, we lose sight of who doing what to who and even who the antagonists truly are.

There's also a bit of corny, goofiness that takes a bit away from the coolness of the movie. A musical number at the beginning? Wedding vows during a massive swashbuckling sea battle? C'mon. A little less cheese, please.

All in all, I'll definitely get this one on DVD and it will sit right next to the other two to complete the trilogy. The first one, however, will probably be the one most watched.

'Nuff said. Read on......

Oddly, I was under the impression that it was set to be a trilogy and not a series of films. Well, here's a review from Harry at Ain't It Cool News where he hints that it's to be a whole series. Hmmmmm? That would be cool as frack, but I don't see Johnny Depp stuck to one character for too long. I think he'd be one to jump ship (pun intended... not a good pun, but still intended) and go do more bizarre, quirky characters he likes to do. Hopefully he will not be doing any type of sequel to the crap-fest that was The Libertine. I greatly enjoy Johnny Depp's work, but The Libertine.... not so much.

Both Lost and "24" have come to their season's end. "24" ended with a bit of a whimper and Lost ended with yet another mystery for us fans to try and ponder. I have to admit that I think I've fallen out of love with "24". Though I enjoy it, it hasn't brought anything new to the table in the last couple of seasons. I found myself switching over to Heroes every Monday night. And how about that ending? Ka-Boom! So much for the Bothers Pitrelli.

Taking a break from Star Wars RPGing, our gaming group has decided to play a little SpyCraft for a while. We'll return to Star Wars this fall/winter. SpyCraft is always fun for us James Bond fans.

Speaking of James Bond, Dad and I enjoyed the Casino Royale DVD last night. Though he slept through most of it, I enjoyed watching it for the umpteenth time since its theatrical release.

And speaking of "release", I believe now is the time to release you from my chronic and silly ramblings. At least for now. So give a nod to those who have served our country this coming Monday, and make sure you enjoy a brat, a brew and a good cigar as well!

Have a good Memorial Day and a great Star Wars 30th Anniversary day!!!

May the Force be with you!
Zangz.