Movies Worth Buying!

It’s Tuesday once again, and time for another list of stuff that’s out on DVD and Blu-Ray.  I’m running way behind this week because I’ve been finishing up re-writing a movie for a friend of mine.  It’s shooting this weekend, so we’re a little under the gun…but with any luck, I’ll have some fun “behind the scenes” stuff to share soon.  We’ll see how that shakes out.

But that’s not important now.  NOW, it’s time to talk about movies that are already out, and why or why not you might be interested in purchasing and viewing them.  Honestly, it’s not a huge week…but there are a few things worth noting.

Right, let’s move on.  I’m going to go straight into things and get this over with.  I think I may be putting too much work into this, and I’m not sure anybody’s really paying attention.  I mean, I like talking to myself, but why type it all out?  As always, I’m including links to Amazon…but feel free to buy your movies anywhere.

As always, I’ll put the actual list after the jump.

Movies Worth Buying!

Hi, everybody!  Did you miss me?  I missed you.  No, really!  Okay, enough of that.  I’m sorry I didn’t post anything last week.  I could lie and say that it was only because there was just one thing that came out last week that was worth mentioning…but it would be mostly a lie.  There were really TWO things.  Also, the holidays caught up with me, and I didn’t realize what day it was until after it was over.  Because my sense of the passage of time has always been funky.

So, just to pass the time before I cut to the jump, did you get any cool movies over the holidays?  Did you SEE any cool movies over the holidays?  Personally, I’ve been making a concerted effort to actually watch all the movies I’ve bought over the years…and then never gotten around to actually putting into the DVD player.  So, I’ve watched a LOT of stuff over the last couple of weeks.  I should do a thing about it, maybe.  Give everyone a peek into my movie collection and see if they can figure out why I’m still single.

Anyway, let’s get into it.  There really were only two titles released last week that I thought were worth mentioning, so I’m going to go ahead and do them first.  As always, I’m including links to the movies on Amazon, but feel free to buy your movies anywhere.

The list begins after the jump:

Movies Worth Buying!

So.  It’s three weeks in, and I’m still putting these out.  I’m not sure how many people are actually reading, but I’m putting them out.  But this week, there’s a problem.  You see, This is a really crappy week for new releases.  And next week isn’t great either.  I get it.  Everybody wants to release their stuff ahead of Christmas so it can be bought as presents, or after Christmas so people can use the money they got…nobody wants to release stuff when nobody’s paying attention.  Still, it doesn’t exactly make for a very interesting article.

And so, I decided to do something I’m very good at: pad the hell out of what I’m writing.  In addition to the normal stuff I pull from Amazon’s new release list, I’ve decided to add a few movies that I think are almost “required viewing” for the geek set.  They are all in desperate need of a really super-keen cleanup and release as a badass Blu-Ray, and one of them I don’t think has had legitimate release in the US at all, yet.

Join me after the break, and we’ll go over the stuff I DID find.  As usual, I’ve linked each to Amazon, where they can be bought…but that’s just because it’s convenient.  Feel free to support your local store.

Ready?

Movies Worth Buying!

Hi, everybody!

So I did one of these last week, and here we are, on week two.  Will there be a week three?  Only time will tell.  I have to admit, I kinda dig writing these so far.  Even if it is just me looking at the list of new releases on Amazon.com and pointing out the stuff that I think is cool, and maybe why people should buy them.  It also helps me get some of it out of my system so that I don’t have to make quite so many purchases myself.  Because I have a problem…

Recently, I’ve actually been working on a project related to the massive amount of movies I own…the act of actually watching them.  One of the bad habits I have is buying a movie that I want, even if I’ve never actually seen it, and then never actually getting around to watching the movie once I’ve bought it.  Granted, many of the ones that I still need to watch are ones that I owned on DVD, and have replaced with a Blu-Ray…but still.  I still have about a dozen to go before I can move on to the Star Wars/Star Trek Blu-Rays, and then I’m going to sit down and once and for all watch ALL of my MST3K DVDs.  Like I said, I have a problem.

And now I feel like I’ve killed enough space to warrant putting the actual list behind the jump.  As always, there will be Amazon links with each listing, but that’s just because it’s easy and I’m lazy.  You should always feel free to buy stuff anyplace you see fit.  Ready?  Then hit the jump and follow along!

Movies Worth Buying!

Howdy!

Anyone who has ever been to my apartment knows that I buy entirely too many movies. Every Tuesday, I find myself scouring Amazon's list of new releases, looking to see what new gems are available for me to spend my hard-earned dollar on...and more often than not, I find stuff! So, in my rethinking and trying to come up with posts I could do on a more regular basis, it occurred to me that maybe it would be cool to do a list of stuff that I think is cool that is coming out "this week". I figure we'll give it a shot and see how it goes. I know lots of sites do this kind of "what's out"-type lists, Ive's even been doing a comic book one for us, but I think it's worth a shot. Obviously, I can't list everything that's coming out, but I'll try to hit what I think are the highlights. I'll give you my reasons, and then you can tell me why I'm wrong at the end. Amazon links for each title will be in the title for the movie, but feel free to buy stuff anywhere...it's just convenient.  Because I talk a lot, I'm going to put the list behind the jump.

Sound like a plan? Here we go!

It's a Cabin! In the Woods!!

To start, an apology.  I haven't been around to post much of late.  It's been busy.  But I'm back now, and one of the things I've been doing in my time away is re-thinking slightly how I go about making posts on here.  With any luck that means you'll be seeing more of me around here now...we'll see if that actually happens.

Now to business.  If you've somehow found your way to the wonder that is Fruitless Pursuits, you're likely at least a little geeky.  If you're even a little geeky, there's a pretty good chance you've heard of Joss Whedon.  He's the creator of things like Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Angel, Dollhouse, and Firefly. He's also directing what may just be the biggest nerd-thing of 2012, The Avengers.  But that's not the only thing coming out in 2012 with Whedon's name on it.

Meet Cabin in the Woods.  Co-written by Whedon and Cloverfield's Drew Goddard, and directed by Goddard, it promises to be a different take on...well...the old trope of the "cabin in the woods".  The MAKING of the movie has its own sordid details.  It was actually filmed in 2009 but was delayed when MGM, who produced the movie, ran into financial ruin.  Okay, that's not really sordid so much as it is sad.  Bright side, it also delayed the Red Dawn remake (Wolverines!), which according to rumor was actually pretty awful.  The point is that the movie is now, finally, set to come out on April 13th, 2012 (in the US at least, not sure about elsewhere) and one of the bigger pieces of news on the internet today was that they've released the first trailer!!

That trailer, the poster, and maybe a little more discussion after the jump...

Friday Night Movie Review: Cronos

Now that we’re doing our own individual Friday reviews, I’m going to try and be a little more thorough than I have been before. This could either be a good thing or a bad thing, depending on how much you like to hear me talk. Apparently, I think it’s great because I never can shut the hell up.

Anyway, movie…Today I thought I’d get into some “culture” and do a review of a Criterion release Blu-Ray I picked up recently. For anyone who doesn’t know, Criterion is all about making “important films” available. They put a lot of effort into preserving the quality of the appearance and the quality of the content of movies, and their catalog is really pretty amazing in both its depth and sheer amount of awesome. They also tend to be pricier than most releases. Needless to say, when Barnes and Noble started running all their Criterion DVD and Blu-Rays at half off, it was bad for my bank account.

More after the jump...

Mars is SO COOL!!!

Ever since my very first post, I've been wanting to talk more about science and how badass it truly is. I'm still trying to find a good way to do it more regularly, but this is something I didn't feel could wait. Look at this:



What you're looking at, originally sourced from NASA, and lovingly ripped off directly from Io9 (sorry), is a picture of the SURFACE OF MARS!!!

It's from the camera on the Opportunity rover. This is a thing that is millions of miles away, on the surface of another planet. And no, it did not line up those rocks itself. The real crux of the story is that the rocks are theorized to contain phyllosilicates. I'll forego the giant explanation that I don't even completely understand myself but the point is that if it's true, then it really points to the idea that Mars really did have water...and water that was closer to what we have here on Earth than we formerly thought. This is a big deal. The formation is being referred to as "Homestake" or "The Vein". I would suppose the fact that it's in a straight line would be due to movement of water? Still, I looked at that picture, and I could only think of ONE possible explanation for why it would look like that. So I did a little digging (get it?) and uncovered the REAL image that NASA doesn't want you to see. The exclusive to Fruitless Pursuits REAL reason is after the jump:

Give Stuff, Get Stuff! It's Just That Easy!

Hey there folks! The holidays are barreling towards us, and the end of the year approaches...shopping season is here! The world being what it is right now, I know we're all a little squeezed for cash right now, but at this time of year, it's especially important to remember that there are those that have even less than you or I do. And some of those people are kids. I know that growing up, my family didn't exactly have a lot, and while my parents wouldn't ever admit it, I'm pretty sure we benefited from the kindness of others more than once at Christmas time. As a result, I always try to pass that kind of joy along. Having said all that, a friend of the site, known on Twitter only as @RobotsPJs would like to give you stuff for donating to charity. We mentioned it on the last Fruitless Pursuitscast, but I've finally gotten a chance to put up the details. I'll let him explain after the break:

Fruitless Pursuitscast - Episode Seven

Hello friends! In this weeks episode of the Fruitless Pursuitscast, Luke Milton, J. Tagmire and Mike Wickliff revisited/recapped/previewed and bullshitted about all the current events in our geeky little world.

This week we discussed:
Movember
Batman Arkham City and boring videogame sequences
Upcoming video game releases
Playmobile Minifigure Series 1
DC issues #3
Atomic Robo and Typeface
Nanowrimo and our own previous failed/successful efforts
Geeks for Tots
and much more!

You can subscribe on iTunes or just use the link below:

Click to stream. Right click to download.

Fruitless Pursuitscast Episode 7

Friday Night Movie Review 9: Batman Week Edition!

Holy smokes, you guys! Not only do the Fruitless Pursuits team have three new mini movie reviews for you, but all of them are Batman films in honour of our impromptu Batcelebration Week! Why that's almost as shocking as Christopher Walken promising the Penguin "unlimited poontang!" in Batman Returns!

Which three Batfilms do our Batcritics bring to justice? Join us after the Batjump and we'll find out!

Prepare for an Attack! Wanna Know From Where?

If you're a comic book fan, and on Twitter, then you should really be following Chris Ryall (@chris_ryall). He's the editor-in-chief of IDW Comics, who in the past few years have become a force to be reckoned with in the comics world. They're well known for bringing properties from other media in to comics: Transformers, GI Joe, Star Trek, Doctor Who, True Blood; ALL are licenses held by IDW and selling very well on the stands. They've just recently launched very excellent Ghostbusters and TMNT ongoings, and have announced a Voltron comic coming soon!

And on Twitter today, Ryall announced another property they're re-launching with a sole image. That image is after the jump...because I feel like it.

Because Joss Whedon Didn't Have Enough Geek Love Already...

In theaters now is a movie called Anonymous. Directed by Roland Emmerich, it's a movie that tries to lend credence to idea that the plays of William Shakespeare were actually written by Edward De Vere, the Earl of Oxford. Other people say Shakespeare's plays were written by Sir Francis Bacon (mmm...bacon...) But it seems that the real truth can now be told. It looks like the author of at least one of Shakespeare's plays is in fact: Joss Whedon?!

Let me explain. Last night on Twitter, I started seeing posts containing the following URL:

http://muchadothemovie.com/

I thought for sure it was a joke. I mean Whedon's in the middle of doing Avengers, and that cast! Amy Acker! Sean Maher! Clark Gregg! NATHAN FILLION! And it's one of my favorite Shakespeare plays to boot. Odds are that Acker and Alexis Denisof are Hero and Claudio, based on the way that URL has everyone billed, and the fact that Fillion almost has to be Benedick. Nothing has been said about the setting, but based on the image on the site, I would lay odds that it's been "modernized", but who knows for sure. Also no word on when this is coming out yet, but you can bet I'll be paying close attention.

Agent Coulson: Showing the Superheroes How It's Done!

As I write this, there's just about 8 hours left until I can officially purchase my copy of Batman: Arkham City! Because unlike other countries, WE stick to street dates. I ALSO happen to have spent last night watching people kill zombies on the truly awesome Walking Dead premiere!

The problem, however, is that all day I've been in "superhero mode". And stuff like this isn't helping:


This is the new Marvel "One-Shot" movie that serves as a branch between Iron Man 2 and Thor and stars the incredibly cool Agent Phil Coulson (played by the equally cool Clark Gregg). I'm not going to give away the details, but I will say I don't think you'll be disappointed. I mentioned this on the podcast this weekend, but I have a theory about Coulson. I think he's actually Captain Marvel in disguise. The rumor is that the Avengers movie is going to involve Skrulls, and I think it would be a good way to make the character a major player, while also setting off the next movement in the Marvel movies, which sounds like it's supposed to be moving towards the cosmic side...easy peasy! Now if you'll excuse me, I'm going to go rock back and forth for a few hours while I wait for my video game.

"A Funny Thing Happened On The Way To Thor's Hammer" will be available Oct. 25th on the Captain America DVD and Blu-Ray release.

Fruitless Pursuitscast - Episode Five

Our weekly podcast is back! This week we're ALL AMERICAN. It's Mike Taylor, Mike Wickliff, and J. Tagmire representing the good old USA. Yee-haw.

So what did we nerd out about this week?

Topics
The New Muppet Movie trailer
Darth Maul's return
William Shatner sings the (space) hits
Lego Minigures revealed
Angry Birds board game makes gamers bored and angry
Tanto Cuore?
This weeks Batman - Arkham City release
Avengers trailer and supporting films

You can subscribe on iTunes or just use the link below:

Click to stream. Right click to download.

Fruitless Pursuitscast Episode 5

Awesome New Muppets Trailer Is Awesome!

There's less than six weeks to go before The Muppets finally return to theaters, and I for one CANNOT wait. I've seriously considered having myself frozen for the next few weeks so I can come out and have the movie already in theaters...but my research shows this doesn't usually work out as well as I'd like.

So instead, I'll just have to watch the new trailer a couple hundred more times to get me through. Join me, won't you?

Live Action Voltron!! Sort Of...

I can see where some folks might not like this video, but personally, I love it!

It may have something to do with the fact that the actor is Timothy Omundson AKA "Detective Carlton Lassiter" from the TV show Psych, and I'm very much a fan. Obviously, you're free to come up with your own opinion.



I got this in an email from Geek Chic Daily

ROCKtober: William Freakin' Shatner!

If you're like me, you follow William Shatner (@williamshatner) on the Twitter...because why wouldn't you? He's William Shatner!! Yes, okay, it is well established that I am a Trek fanboy, but...Shatner!

Anyway, Mister Shatner has been on Twitter today talking about the release of his new CD: Seeking Major Tom. It's a 20 track, 2-disk album of covers ranging from the aforementioned "Major Tom" to Black Sabbath's "Iron Man", to Queen's "Bohemian Rhapsody", and several points in-between! All done in Shatner's trademark style and ready for you to love!

Personally, I still like owning physical copies of things, so I'll be buying mine in a store today (assuming Best Buy has copies), but you can get it from iTunes, Rhapsody, Spotify, and Amazon...and those are just the ones he mentioned in his Twitter feed. It seems to be a very different animal than the underrated and very awesome Has Been album from a few years ago, but from what I've been hearing so far, I'm going to love it just as much.

Avengers Assemble!

Yeah, it's not a creative title. Sorry

Let me make it up to you. Click on the pic of Captain America below, and you can see the brand new trailer released this morning for the upcoming Avengers movie. Sadly, I couldn't just embed it on the page.

It is very awesome. That is all. Enjoy.

Signs You're Giving Superheroes A Bad Name

A) Your name is Dan Didio. (That's a joke. Mostly.)

B) You're this guy:




That, in an image I pulled from the Huffington Post, is Phoenix Jones; one of the real-life "superhero" protectors of Seattle, Washington. This past weekend, he was arrested for assault outside of a nightclub. More details after the jump.