Podcasting Gold

As some of you may know I hosted a podcast for a few years starting back in 2005. The show was called the On Hold podcast and was a topical, entertainment, and humor show that involved lots of drinking, a little drugs, some far too personal stories, and entertainment news of the day. Really it was a lot of fun and I miss it. However in 2008 I got a new job that kept me far too busy to podcast regularly, and I got married, had kids, etc etc... And it all just kind of slipped away.

But I've always been an avid fan of podcasting, and to this day spend much of my travel time listening to my favorite shows. Over the years the landscape has changed a lot, and I think my tastes have changed a bit too. While it used to be a online wild west audio free-for-all it seems like now the podcasting world is taming into something more polished and respectable. Not to lessen anything they've done for the medium but the days of Adam Curry and Dawn and Drew are past; for my money there are so many wonderful and truly professional podcasts out there now the stakes are raised to a whole new level. Sure there's still room for the little guy, sure there's still room for niche markets (that's the beauty of this kind of narrow-casting), and the medium is legitimately still evolving, but I think the big players are pretty much all on the field now. We'll just have to see where it goes from here.

I mention the changing landscape, and my history with podcasting because I've got a few recommendations that I wanted to throw out here and it might help to have some context. Over the past two years or so, a ton of professional comedians have gravitated into the podcasting world, and it seems like a natural fit. Frankly I'm surprised its taken so long, but as listeners we're really lucky to get access like never before to some great comedians. So here are some of my favorite comedy podcasts out there that I'd recommend to anyone.

Doug Loves Movies - Recorded live (usually at the UCB theater in LA), the show has a great hook in one of the most entertaining movie trivia games ever, and stoner comedian Doug Benson always has great comedy guests. This is my favorite podcast right now.

Comedy Bang Bang - Scott Aukerman hosts this great podcast with more of a radio show interview style. He brings on comedian guests to chat, and always keeps it funny, with good questions and fun games. Guests often come, and stay in character the entire episode. Very funny.

WTF - Despite some serious neurosis from comedian host Marc Maron, his comic interview show is so damn entertaining you can't help but listen. His guests include big name comedians and his interviews are simply put fantastic. He's a natural interviewer and manages to almost casually get great insights from some of the biggest comics of all time.

Hollywood Babble-On - Director Kevin Smith is no stranger to podcasting. I've been listening to his Smodcast for 5+ years now. But this, one of his newest podcasts (he has an entire network of them) is really the perfect one for me. Great comedy moments between Kevin and co-host Ralph Garman, generally covering geeky and fun entertainment news of the week, the show is constantly moving and always interesting.

There are so many more shows that I like but I find I just don't have time for them all. What's really nice though as a trend is that people who are professionally funny are finally picking up the podcasting microphone, producing some great content. There is treasure trove of information and comedy being chronicled right now in podcasting and its really very cool. I've discovered lots of comics that I might not have heard of before, especially since I have two young kids and can't get out that much. So now I know about people like Andy Daly, Jessica St Clair, and Paul F Tompkins and can look for them in the future.

So its not really about the technology or novelty of podcasting itself anymore, now its really about the content, and that's why I love it. I'd really recommend you check out any of the podcasts I mentioned above and let me know what you think.
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Earth's Mightiest Heroes

So I've been really getting into the Avenging spirit lately, have you?

Last week I saw Captain America: The First Avenger and it was one of my favorite superhero films of all time. Director Joe Johnston just nailed the tone and look. Everyone keeps referencing his work on The Rocketeer, which was great, but Don't forget he also made a few clunkers so I'll say I was really pleased to see he brought his A-game to this one. Minor nitpicks like the way they killed off Bucky aside the film delivered on all fronts especially the cast. The film has pitch perfect casting and really great performances all around. For anyone who hasn't seen it yet I'd obviously, highly recommend it.

So as we all should know by now, Caps story is dovetailing into next summer's big Avengers film, being directed by none other than Jon Favreau. The movie will bring together every geek's wildest comic to film dreams, with Captain America joining Thor, Iron Man, the Hulk, Hawkeye, and Black Widow on Marvel's premiere super team The Avengers. There's already a short teaser trailer up for the film, and if you missed it the first time, the ending and credit sequence to The First Avenger, give us a bit more teaser goodies on the upcoming film.

I'm pretty stoked about The Avengers movie, since I've been a Marvel fanboy for a very long time. While I was never a huge Avengers follower, preferring to stick mostly with Spider-Man and some of the cosmic guys like Silver Surfer, I always enjoyed seeing my favorites interact with the Avengers, and whenever there was a big company wide event storyline I was always excited. The trick as with any ensemble cast is to make sure everyone gets enough screen time, and that it all serves the story. With this creative team involved though I am heartily optimistic.

I also just recently finished watching the first season of the latest Marvel cartoon on Netflix, and it couldn't have gotten me more in the mood for some Avengers action. The cartoon, which launches into its second season this October on DisneyXD, is of course The Avengers: Earth's Mightiest Heroes.

The first season consists of twenty six 22 minutes episodes and will set you up really well with everything you'd want to know about the Avengers and more. All of the major players are introduced and explored, as well as most of the major villains, and even a few of the bigger storylines are tackled in this first season. As anyone who's read The Avengers comic even a little bit like me knows, the team has had a few different makeups over the years and Earth's Mightiest Heroes is no different. After the obligatory origin episodes, which I'm actually very glad they didn't rush through, the team lineup features: their team leader Iron Man, along with Captain America, Thor, Hulk, Ant Man, Wasp, Hawkeye, and Black Panther. Additionally a few other 'Avengers-to-be' make regular appearances, like Black Widow, and Wonder Man. What's great about these characters and the writing, headed up by Christopher Yost, is that everyone is given time to develop organically, we get a great balance of character moments where the players actually grow throughout the season and amazing battle sequences where the viewer is treated to just minute after minute of perfectly choreographed battle scenes.

If you think you're even remotely interested and you have Netflix streaming, I'd really recommend checking it out. The season is available for instant streaming right now, and if you only want to give one or two episodes a try, jump ahead to the two parter The Breakout, which kicks the season into high gear and gives a good sample of the action to come.

While I was on a Netflix streaming kick I realized that there are a lot of other Marvel superhero shows online. The 90s cartoons of X-Men, Spider-Man, Spider-Man Unlimited, Iron Man, The Incredible Hulk, and Silver Surfer are all available in their entirety right now; although Fantastic Four, and perhaps to be expected the pretty awful Avengers: United They Stand cartoons are not there. Other great Marvel cartoons are though, including the Spider-Man 1967 series, the first of the excellent two season Spectacular Spider-Man cartoon, X-Men: Evolution, Fantastic Four: World's Greatest Heroes, and the first season of the currently airing Iron Man: Armored Adventures (season 2 is in full swing now on Nicktoons). Unfortunately, none of the other more recent Marvel animated series (Wolverine and the X-Men or any of the Marvel anime projects) are available yet; nor are any of the other older Marvel animated series like the classic Spider-Man and his Amazing Friends. That said there is also one more cool new series that is available on instant Netflix streaming that should be checked out: Black Panther the animated series. While I understand why fans we're a bit disappointing to learn that this miniseries (its only 120-ish minutes long in its entirety) wasn't much more than a souped up motion comic, I'd still really urge you to have a look. If you like motion comics, then you're in luck, this is probably the best produced motion comic ever with voice talents that include the amazing Djimon Hounsou, Alfre Woodard, and Kerry Washington. Also it's got a pretty kick ass opening title sequence with a catchy song.

If from all my babbling you can't tell yet, I am a pretty huge fan of these Marvel superheros. I love seeing how they work solo, getting in depth on their backstory and rogues gallery; but I'm also a huge fan of when they meet, crossover, and have excellent adventures together. That's why I'm so looking forward to the Avengers movie. A great crossover crossover is in the making and I don't think anyone would have anticipated that it could be done on such a scale in a live action form. For us fanboys this is a dream come true, and for everyone else, we'll this is the best time ever to get into a hero or three. I'm sure we'll get into more Avengers goodness as the film approaches release next summer, but until then count me very excited!
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G.I. Joe Resolute

A few days ago I watched G.I. Joe Resolute, the newest G.I. Joe story in this post Valor vs Venom age, and I have to say it was really great! I am excited and kinda scared about the new live action movie set to come out this summer, but in the meantime the cartoon side of things look like they're on the right track. I hope we'll get to see more cartoons in the Joe universe like Resolute. And with the re-spawned interest, the 3 new comic books, and the movie this summer I think we're in for a pretty good ride. 

Resolute picks up with the Joe team in modern day, but keeps all of the same stuff we loved abut the classic series. That said, it actually works in a modern sense. This isn't any Sigma Six bullshit, this is seriously just a good time. Joes are bad asses, COBRA are really evil messed up terrorists, and finally people can die, as evidenced by the two surprising deaths in the very first part.

The entire 'film' is about an hour long, maybe an hour and change. It aired all together on Adult Swim a few weeks ago, but has also been split into webisodes for your convenience. No doubt a dvd will come out soon enough. But you might as well watch it here, because its awesome and I said so. Oh and if that doesn't convince you, it was written by comic genius Warren Ellis. Here is part one of eleven...

And here you go with the rest

G. I. Joe Resolute - part 02

G. I. Joe Resolute - part 03 and 04

G. I. Joe Resolute - part 05

G. I. Joe Resolute - part 06

G. I. Joe Resolute - part 07

G. I. Joe Resolute - part 08

G. I. Joe Resolute - part 09

G. I. Joe Resolute - part 10

G. I. Joe Resolute - part 11 

Pretty sweet stuff, and well worth the time. I hope our liked it as much as I did. Doesn't it make you want to see even more :)

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D9 trailer and more

So Neill Blomkamp, the man Peter Jackson had picked to direct the Halo movie now has this District 9 movie coming out. If you'll remember a few years ago, Neill had made a short film about this very same subject, called Alive in Joburg. Well I'm really happy to see this make it in the world of the feature. Check out this trailer for District 9.

Oh, and if you think the aliens are all bad, think again. Watch the end of this trailer, unblurred, and translated. Then hed over to MNU Spreads Lies and have your voice heard.

District 9 comes out Aug 14th, and I think it looks great. Here's hoping Blomkamp's next film is based on another of his shorts Tetra Vaal.

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Tidbits of movie news

Here are a few headlines that I missed lately. Some good stuff here.

Michael Cera to star as Scott Pilgrim.

A Dragonball sequel has already been written.

Filming on Kenneth Branagh's directed Thor movie begins this July. No word on casting yet... but rumors are speculating on this guy...

Battlestar Galactica to the big screen? hells yes. oh wait... the original BSG to the big screen?! wtf?!?!!

Jeffrey Dean Morgan set to star in The Losers.

Should we start getting our hopes up for a Ghostbusters 3 finally? oh and Judd Apatow is NOT involved.

Now that Stephen Chow is out it looks like Michael Gondry may be in to direct The Green Hornet.

Another comic book property Suicide Squad is coming to the big screen.

Gore Verbinski will direct a new Clue movie.

Despite the studio really wanting Ryan Gosling, it looks like Anton Yelchin is now in the running for Green Lantern. Expect the Green Lantern film in theaters Dec 17th, 2010.

The Voyage of the Dawn Treader is moving forward for a holiday 2010 release through FOX 2000 and Walden media.

Uber hottie Megan Fox in talks to play Aspen in the comic adaptation of Fathom, and the love interest in Jonah Hex.

the plot for Chris Nolan's next big film, Inception, a sci fi starring Leo DiCaporio is being kept under wraps.

oh the sorry state of Fury Road.... looks like Mad Max 4 may now ber coming to us as an animated film, and a video game :(

FOX is looking into a full reboot of the Fantastic Four franchise...

are we finally going to get another Riddick movie? I hope so.

ABC picked up rights to a 4 hour miniseries about a meteor hitting the moon causeing it to collide with the earth, called Impact. sweet.

Lots of great stuff there. I guess I miss alot when I'm so busy with work and family. Its really all worth it though. Oh and yes a lot of the links are from Latino Review. I love that site :) They have a kick ass archiving system for news stories. Check em out.

Until later all. Good hunting.
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TF: Revenge of the Fallen logo

I suppose it's not a huge thing but the Transformers official movie website has been updated with a new splash page intro, featuring the logo art for the new film, Transformers Revenge of the Fallen.

Too bad the rest of the website hasn't been updated yet, but its still a pretty cool film page, as those things go. I like it though. It reminds me that there's only a short 11 months to go before I get to see more robots in disguise. The film comes out June 26th, 2009.
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Watchmen animated comic

You know, I kind of go back and forth on the whole animated comics thing. The process of bringing comics to semi animated life, usually for an online audience, really works sometimes, see Broken Saints, or The Maxx tv series, and other times it just ends up looking like that horrible 70s style Thundarr the Barbarian, Xerox based technology animation. Most often you end up with something that kinda mostly works, like the Marvel dotcomics. And such is case with the new Watchmen animated comic, Chapter 1 of which has just launched on iTunes for FREE.

Despite not totally working at times for all the expected reasons. What I love about this, is that it makes The Watchmen comic book even more accessible to people who might not want to read the actual comic book. It doesn't short change the comic. I definitely recommend you check it out, whether you love the book, or have never read it, you'll definitely get a bit of a sense why this comic is so renowned. And it avoids all that messy and tiresome reading aspect of reading :) besides, the voice cast is excellent. Check it out HERE.

While you're downloading you comic, have a look at this very nice pinup artwork of Sally Jupiter, as seen in the recent Watchmen trailer, care of Comingsoon.net.

Very nice. The Live action Watchmen movie hits theaters March 6th, 2009.
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new Star Trek poster, is that all?

Here is the new poster for the J.J. Abrams epic, Star Trek. Personally I'm really not such a big fan...

The poster will reportedly be divided into four distinct one sheets and given out at SDCC next week. These 4 sections of the above poster can also now be found as Wallpaper, along with Icon sized representations too, at the slightly revamped official website. Just check out the Downloads section.

Meh... I'll wait to see what JJ says at the panel.
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Watch Dr. Horrible NOW

I know I just mentioned this a few short days ago, but now that the third and final act of Dr. Horrible's Sin-Along Blog has launched you only have a super limited time to watch the show before its gone.

Don't know about Dr Horrible? Well its a 3 act short film totaling about 40 minutes combined. It stars NPH as Dr Horrible, and Nathan Fillion as his arch nemesis the heroic Captain Hammer. It was written and directed on the cheap by Buffy creator Joss Whedon and it is a sweet, fun, pretty awesome little story. The entire thing will be officially taken offline at midnight on Sunday July 20th. Want to know why? read this. Watch it at www.drhorrible.com.

BTW, I really did not think it would end like that, did you?
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Dr. Horrible's day

Joss Whedon's online opus Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along-Blog has launched. But only for a limited time so you'd better act fast. Don't know what the heck I'm talking about?? Read this.

Act One of the three part story, entitled Wheee has dropped on the Dr. Horrible website, but has been poured over by so many fans that their servers crashed! Reportedly they will be back online later today. If you just can't wait though you can buy it on itunes for $1.99.

Each of the three acts will be launched online for free. Act One today, Two on the 17th, and Three on the 19th. But after 07/20 all three acts will disappear from the internets and we'll have to wait for the dvd.

Watch it while you can.
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Going Postal for Heroes

Heroes news is slowly going to start filtering our way, and I couldn't be happier. I'm really looking forward to season 3. I think the show will get back on the right track. And if the new 3 part webisodes are any indication I think we might just be glued to watching Heroes online for the rest of the summer too. Check out the trailer for the online only Heroes story, Going Postal. The first part of the web only exclusive will air on NBC.com this Monday 07/14, with the final two parts to air the following Mondays for the next two weeks respectively. Check out the trailer.



Seriously, it sent shivers down my back when I first saw it. I love it. Heroes the actual show, will kick off its 3rd season on September 22nd, beginning the volume entitled "Villains"...

UPDATE - The first of the Going Postal webisodes has dropped online. It's called "A Nifty Trick" and you can watch it here.
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Dr Horrible trailer

I know I talked about the Dr. Horrible web musical a while ago but just to refresh your memory, its a Joss Whedon written and produced 3 part web film starring none other than my personal hero Neil Partick Harris as the evil mastermind Dr. Horrible. Now the upcoming web film, has a trailer and a website!



It looks like its shaping up very well. As you'll notice the entire film name is Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog. While there's not much at the official website, you can read The Master Plan, which explains how we can expect the 3 parts to hit the web on July 15, 17th and 19th. But we'll have to act fast as they will only remain online until July 20th... probably a ploy for dvd glory.

I know I'll be paying attention this summer... will you?
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Death Race trailer

Well its finally here kids, the movie you've all been waiting for, the remake / update sure to break the mold. Death Race is back. and it looks pretty crazy. Check out the new trailer.



The rather extensive official website has also been launched. If you haven't seen the original film, Death Race 2000, starring David Carradine and Sylvester Stallone I'd highly recommend it. This new version, according to IESB will follow a fairly straightforward plot, as you can tell by the preview...

"Jason Statham leads the cast of an action-thriller set in the post-industrial wasteland of tomorrow, with the world's most brutal sporting event as its backdrop. A penitentiary full of felons has inspired the jailers to create a grisly pastime ripe for lucrative kickbacks. Now, adrenalized inmates, a global audience hungry for televised violence and a spectacular arena come together to form the "Death Race."

Three-time speedway champion Jensen Ames (Statham) is an expert at survival in the harsh landscape that has become our country. Just as he thinks he has turned his life around, the ex-con is framed for a gruesome murder he didn't commit. Forced to don the mask of the mythical driver Frankenstein -- a crowd favorite who seems impossible to kill -- Ames is given an easy choice by Terminal Island's warden (Joan Allen): suit up or rot away in a cell.

His face hidden by a metallic mask, one convict will be put through an insane three-day challenge. Ames must survive a gauntlet of the most vicious criminals in the country's toughest prison to claim the prize of freedom. Driving a monster car outfitted with machine guns, flamethrowers and grenade launchers, one desperate man will destroy anything in his path to win the most twisted spectator sport on Earth. "
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TF2: ROTF

So now that Transformers 2 has begun filming we are going to start to see little tidbits of info leaking out. Oh I know Michael Bay vowed to disseminate a lot of misinformation this time around, but I think we can rely on this as pretty good authority. Transformers 2 has a subtitle.

Film producer Don Murphy pointed to a blog post on Reserve Result where they announced the title, and then later it was confirmed by Hasbro on their movie blog. Transformers 2 will be subtitled Revenge of the Fallen! Which I think we can all agree is totally awesome.

The movie is filming now in Bethlehem, PA and you can see a few spy reports starting to come in via ComingSoon, where they've got pictures and video. But for my money the absolute best news you're going to get on the film is still to be found only over at Transformers World 2005. They are just great.

Anyhow, Revenge of the Fallen is fantastic, I am just getting more and more excited about this sequel. Next summer is going to be a lot of fun :)
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Witchblade treaser poster!

It was only a few days ago that I mentioned that a feature film was going to be made of the Witchblade comic. Well wasting no time at all, an official teaser website and poster have been launched. Sure the role hasn't been cast yet, but DAMN thats pretty effing sexy. Click to enlarge.

At the site you can sign up your email for more info as it comes out. We'll see how things develop, but if this is the angle they're going for I predict a alot of fan interest in this film :)
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Terminator 4 begins

Terminator Salvation: The Future Begins, apparently a name that's going to be stuck with for a while yet, has officially begun production and there is now an official website / blog to keep us up to date on all things Terminator film. Director McG posted a nice statement peaking about how he's really stoked and intends to honor the franchise and try his hardest not to screw up. Read it here. And he also posted some concept art from the film.

Very nice eh? Anyhow, the movie, starring Christian Bale, Sam Worthington, and Anton Yelchin is set for release May 22nd, 2009.
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new Joker poster

In what essentially amounts to a completion of the set. Batman on Film got a great poster this week of the Joker from The Dark Knight. Since I like and want to do what I can to support the BoF guys, click on the joker head for the full poster. It's pretty awesome.

The Dark Knight as we know comes out on July 18th here in North America.
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Mummy poster

Check out this great new poster for The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor. I love how its all decomposing, very creepy. Although seriously, that looks nothing like Jet Li :) Click to enlarge.

Also the films official website has launched, although its a bit barren at the moment. You'd still be better off just heading on over to director Rob Cohen's blog and reading his regular updates,. Apparently he's waist deep in editing and FX, hitting the 300 mark of a total 964 visual effects shots. He is also about to get the score recorded, and is starting to work with the marketing people on things just like this very poster.

I know I am definitely interested in this film. I like the Mummy films, and think this will be a solid addition to the franchise.

The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor comes out August 1st, '2008.
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Empire exclusives

Well it looks like they've done it again. With their exclusive scoops and crafty marketing Empire magazine has horn-swaggled us all into pretty much definitely buying their latest issue with not one but two sets of exclusive photos and a 3-D cover to boot!!!

First they've got a bunch of exclusive Incredible Hulk photos to share. Probably the most interesting one of which you'll see below. But the big greenie makes his appearance on the cover too, ripping his way out of the pages... and into our hearts, in MONSTROUS 3-D!

And next Empire manages to snag not one but 3 exclusive pics from the new Clone Wars cartoon show. The coolest of which features the character Asajj Ventress, seen below. Seems pretty sweet.

Anyhow, since there are no more American print magazines for film, this might be just what you're looking for. For me, I'm just excited to see these properties finally nearing their release dates. Good job Empire.
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New Spirit poster

As seen on Comingsoon.net here are some really cool new posters for The Spirit, designed for outdoor use. Its one of those 3 posters that form one larger image, and I think it looks great. Click to enlarge to a decent size.

Pretty cool. I really like what I'm seeing from this film. But since I've never read the comic I can honestly only get so excited. I'm sure coming from Frank Millar as his follow up to Sin City it will be something to behold. Also of note is the new website on the poster www.mycityscreams.com, which technically isn't online yet and will only take you to the main Spirit webpage. Still, you know more is going to be coming on this film soon.

As a reminder from the official site.

"Adapted from the legendary comic book series created by Will Eisner, The Spirit is a classic action-adventure-romance written for the screen and directed by genre-twister Frank Miller (creator of "300" and "Sin City"). It is the story of a former rookie cop who returns mysteriously from the dead as the Spirit (Gabriel Macht) to fight crime from the shadows of Central City. His arch-enemy, the Octopus (Samuel L. Jackson) has a different mission: he's going to wipe out Spirit's beloved city as he pursues his own version of immortality. The Spirit tracks this cold-hearted killer from Central City's rundown warehouses, to the damp catacombs, to the windswept waterfront... all the while facing a bevy of beautiful women who either want to seduce, love or kill our masked crusader. Surrounding him at every turn are Ellen Dolan (Sarah Paulson), the whip-smart girl-next-door; Silken Floss (Scarlett Johansson), a punk secretary and frigid vixen; Plaster of Paris (Paz Vega), a murderous French nightclub dancer; Lorelei (Jaime King), a phantom siren; and Morgenstern (Stana Katic), a sexy young cop. Then of course, there's Sand Saref (Eva Mendes), the jewel thief with dangerous curves. She's the love of his life turned bad. Will he save her or will she kill him? In the vein of Batman Begins and Sin City, The Spirit takes us on a sinister, gut-wrenching ride with a hero who is born, murdered and born again."

The film comes out Jan 16th, 2009.
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