Reasons to Survive This Week 9/19/11
It’s Monday, which means if you’re reading this that you’ve survived to another week! Awesome! We’re your biggest supporters here at Geekscape, which is why we’ve retitled this feature series and used it as a way to inspire you to keep on kicking ass! We can’t do anything about your student loan, your love life or the fact that the Russian mafia wants you dead (maybe that’s just Gilmore), but we CAN give you a few more reasons to stay vigilant and survive this week like a Japanese kid stuck with a frying pan in Battle Royale!
Here are the top Reasons to Survive This Week!
Monday
Russell Sherman – Resident Nice Guy
Castle (Season Premiere, ABC, 10 pm EST) Will Kate survive being shot? Will this episode finally be a Firefly reunion that Nathan Fillion alluded to at the Comic Con Panel? There’s only one way to find out…
Tuesday
Josh Jackson – Geekscape Games Writer (May Own a Kirby Hat)
Eh, I hear there’s some little game coming out called Gears of War 3. I’m sure that’ll be pretty swell. Also, Yu-Gi-Oh Generation Force Special Edition is coming out, so I’ll be outside my local hobby shop hoping to finally get my hands on Elemental Hero Absolute Zero.
Who am I kidding? All of that is to hold me over until later that night. That’s right! Glee (Fox, 8 pm EST) is back, bitches! Season three is premiering and I can’t wait. I can’t wait to see Lea Michele and Dianna Agron on my TV again. I can’t wait to hear the new covers, (contradictory as that sounds). I can’t wait to see who’s dating who! Is it Finnchel? Or Puckelberry? It’s gonna be awesome!
Monstar – We Like Him Even When He’s Angry
Tuesday one of my favorite Disney movies makes it Blu-ray debut: the 70th Anniversary Edition of Dumbo. Dumbo is an underdog tale. Jumbo Jr. is picked on for having huge ears, made to be the circus’ clown, this kid is having issues. He’ll have to believe in himself as much as his friend Timothy the mouse does if he wants to turn things around. A rather simple movie, the message of believing in yourself is clear but not hammered in your face. This was the fourth Disney animated film and probably one of the most underrated. (Ed. Note: GREAT MOUSE DETECTIVE FOREVER.) I’ve always been a huge fan of Disney and love this flick. I actually own the 60th Anniversary DVD, and while I would have done the upgrade to Blu anyway, the new special features make this an easier pill to swallow. A deleted scene, deleted song, a featurette, and making of Dumbo are some of those features that are part of this new collection. Dumbo flies on to blu-ray, without the magic feather, Tuesday.
Shane O’Hare – Would Like to Invite You to a Little Tea Party
This is a GREAT week for video games. I mean this is an AMAZING LIST. We got the Fallout New Vegas: Lonesome Road expansion. Gears of War 3. Resident Evil 4 HD. F1 2011. Looks like the little bit of productivity I had left will be LOST at work while I POUND through this stack of great titles.
This Tuesday is the premiere of Big Hair Alaska (TLC, 10 pm EST), a new reality TV show filmed in MY little town of Wasilla. It ACTUALLY takes place in a hair salon where my ACTUAL real life girlfriend works. Tune in to see what Tea Party members do while they’re at work!
Matt Kelly – Purveyor of All That Is Shit
The Stuff, one of Larry Cohen’s greatest horror films, is coming to DVD. It’s the chilling story of an ice cream like substance found in cave. It’s produced under the name ‘The Stuff’ and becomes a huge hit countrywide. It’s overly addicting flavor turns the desert world into a monopoly and puts such people as Chocolate Chip Charlie out of business. A former FBI agent Mo Rutherford goes undercover to find out more about the product. What he discovers is that the product can be deadly. It works as a great double feature with Street Trash (another classic gore-fest from the same time period).
The TV show Raising Hope is coming to DVD this week as well. It follows the story of a man and his baby (born of a serial killer one night stand he had shortly before her execution) and the crazy people in his life (including his mom, dad and grandmother brilliantly played by Cloris Leachman). The show also features former Geekscape guest Kate Micucci as a ukulele playing dog, baby, and elderly person – sitter. Highly recommended for fans of shows like Scrubs and Arrested Development.
Noel Nocciolo – Classier Than Any of You
One of my favorite pop bands currently making music, fun. (all lower case letters, period at the end of the name) is dropping the first single off their new album on Tuesday. The song is called “We Are Young” and it features my soul sister, The Archandroid, Janelle Monae on background vocals. Their yet-to-be-titled second album, (their first release was independent; this is their debut album for Fueled By Ramen) is expected in early 2012. They will be playing college shows with Ms. Monae throughout October and a random smattering of dates after that, as they sew up final mixes on the album with veteran hip hop producer, Jeff Bhasker. (Bhasker has written and produced tracks for Beyonce & Alicia Keys and we can thank him, as well, for “Run This Town,” “All Of The Lights” and “Runaway” among other top charting jams for ‘Ye & Jay) The single will be available on iTunes and should whet appetites in preparation for the full-length album.
Tori Amos’ latest album, Night Of A Thousand Hunters will also be released on Tuesday. Tori’s legions of hardcore fans worldwide make those queuing up at Comic Con in full costume look completely normal (I MEAN THIS WITH ALL THE LOVE IN THE WORLD, YOU GUYS) and this album might be one that is for fans only. Look, I love Tori. Have since high school. Seen her live thirteen times in five states. Seen her give a Q&A at a music conference. I’m juuust crazy enough to find what she creates to be accessible to my ears about 95% of the time.
I had the opportunity to stream the album for the last few weeks, and I have to say, I need to digest it in headphones over time and space before I jump to any conclusions of whether I like it or not. Tori was a child classical piano prodigy who was booted from her prestigious music school at 11 and then began playing clubs in D.C. She loved (and I imagine still does love) Led Zeppelin, the hair metal bands of the 80s, and creating left of center compositions. “Night Of A Thousand Hunters” is a throwback to her classical roots. It’s a modern take on a song cycle, released by Deutshe Grammophon; a classical label. Regardless of it resonating with me, or other fans, it is definitely a bold leap for an artist who has eleven other full-length studio albums under her glittery belt. Oh, and her daughter sings on a few tracks and sounds like a child-version of Adele. An American piano genius Mom and a British brilliant sound engineer Dad. Makes sense.
Dave Biscella – Doesn’t Care About Your Problems
Demi Lovato is definitely not along the lines of what I usually listen to, but I was actually a pretty big fan of her last album. She returns with Skyscraper, which will be much more mature and personal. The lead single and title track showcase just how powerful her voice is and proves she’s capable of more than just Disney bubblegum pop. Who wouldn’t be interested in hearing personal songs from somebody who earlier this year went to rehab for cutting? But above all, I think she’s really hot.
This season of Teen Mom (10 PM, MTV) has been pretty uneventful, but it should still be a solid finale. Will Maci finally get Ryan out of her life? Will that cunt Farrah move away and leave her daughter with her drugged up mom? Will Tyler’s dad end up moving in with them or going back to prison? If step-siblings have a baby, does it still count as incest? Will Gary eat Amber and their daughter? Tune in!!
Wednesday
Joe Starr – Believe In Higher Education (But Only At Xavier’s)
X-Men: Schism #4 (Marvel Comics) keeps the Cyclops/Wolverine break up hurtling forward! Will their bromance ever be mended? Who is going to be Cyclop’s best man with no Logan? And who will go with Wolverine to see Rush if Scott Summers isn’t around to slappadabass? Jason Aaron has been one of my favorite Marvel writers since Get Mystique, and it’s been awesome seeing what he does with the keys to the car.
Frank Angones – Geekscape House Mother
Ultimate Comics X-Men #1 (Marvel Comics) relaunches…again. It’s been a goodly long time since I’ve given a damn about the ultimate version of the X-Clan, but if anyone can pull this off, it’s Nick Spencer. Seriously, check out his work on “Morning Glories,” “Spider Island: Cloak and Dagger,” and his Jimmy Olson one-shot if you need proof that Spencer knows how to write fun, tense, and most importantly, believable relationships between teens and young adults. The Ultimate X-Men have been stuck in a story-telling morass for so long- since Ultimatum at least- even Spencer’s going to have to do some heavy lifting to remove some of the confusion around an X-men team featuring Wolverine’s kid, the Human Torch, and the Artist Formerly Known as Jean Grey. Here’s hoping he sticks the landing.
Even though I’ve been digging a surprising number of the New 52, and with Azarello’s Wonder Woman and Snyder’s Batman coming up this week, Teen Titans: Games (DC Comics) is definitely the highlight of DC’s output this week. The much delayed lost tale from Marv Wolfman and George Perez’s seminal run on the team, this Hardcover features “a mysterious villain playing a deadly game with New York City as the gameboard – and the Teen Titans as the pieces!” This looks to be just the thing to cure that reboot malaise going around lately.
Thursday
Dave Biscella – Drinks Massive Amounts of Faygo
There are plenty of reasons why Community (Season Premiere, NBC, 8 pm EST) could possibly be my favorite
show on television. Is it because of my gigantic man crushes on Joel McHale and Donald Glover? Or the fact that Chevy Chase is a comedy god? Or that Alison Brie and Gillian Jacobs are too much adorable for one half hour? It’s probably a combination of all those, mixed in with the fact that this is one of the best written, smartest comedies on the air today.
Russell Sherman – Still Nice… But We’re Working on Him
Who will replace Michael Scott on The Office (Season Premiere, NBC, 8 pm EST)? Will it be James Spader, Ray Romano, Jim Carey, Will Arnet, Ed Helms, or Craig Robinson? (Ed. Note: It’s James Spader’s Robert California, at least for a couple of episodes. Then all bets are OFF.) I know some of you reading this are thinking who cares but little do you know these are the things that matter in life. Who needs a wife, husband, girlfriend, or boyfriend when you can have these people coming into you house every week?
Frank Angones – Makes Jonathan Look Better By Association
This may be a cheat, as the release date has been bouncing around all over the place, but according to Amazon, I’m gonna finally get my hands on The Autobiography of Mark Twain 1910-2010 by Michael Kupperman on Thursday. From the brilliant mind of Michael Kupperman (Tales Designed to Thrizzle) we get a part-prose, part comics parody biography of Mark Twain…OR IS IT THE TRUTH? I hope so, because this version has Twain and his near-identical best pal Albert Einstein fighting ghosts, flying to space, and taking giant ant brides. I missed out on the early release of this book at Comic-Con, and I’ve been counting the days since.
Friday
Molly Mahan – Is a Purple Wearing Web Celeb
When I first heard the title of Machine Gun Preacher, I was pumped, in much the same way I was excited to hear about a movie called Hobo with a Shotgun. Reading that Gerard Butler was attached, I was even more enthused (as I am still holding out for a return to his 300 glory). After I read the description and watched the trailer, I couldn’t decide if I was more or less excited about the film. As suddenly it sounded like it had a legitimate story that might make you feel something at the end of it, and feelings are for wimps. Nevertheless, the title is still awesome and I’m a sucker for anything with a righteous title like this one. Based on a true story, former drug dealer Sam Childers (Gerard Butler) finds God and begins a personal crusade in Africa to save hundreds of kidnapped and orphaned Sudanese children.
Dave Biscella – Practices MMA Alone In His Room Against a Hat Rack
Killer Elite!! Statham!! Owen!! DeNiro!! Explosions!! Kicking!! Punches!! I mean, I guess this looks alright. I just had to throw this on there to balance out the unmanliness that was Tuesday.
Russell Sherman – Can Balance Out Dave’s Unmanliness Alright…
They may not have known where they were going with Supernatural (Season Premiere, The CW, 9 pm EST) at the start of last season but by the end they had a direction. This is one of the most talked about shows on the forums and if you have that pill in your hand because you have no friends then you need to log into the forums and gain some instant friends who notice when you go missing.
Saturday
Tanya Tate – The Definition of Girl Power
I am looking forward to Power-con/Thundercon this upcoming weekend. It’s a celebration of all things He-man/She-ra and Thundercats. Melendy Britt, the actual voice of She-ra is going to be there along with several other of the creators and people involved with She-ra, He-man and Thundercats. I’ve be a big fan of She-ra since I was a little girl running around in Liverpool. So to be able to meet some of these people and take part of an event of this kind is going to be awesome. I’m going all out for this, I’ve already ordered my sexy She-ra costume and will be cosplaying as the Princess of Power. The Power-con/Thundercon takes place next weekend, September 24 – 25, at the Four Points By Sheraton Los Angeles International Airport, 9750 Airport Blvd in Los Angeles. More info can be found on the website: http://www.thepower-con.com
Sunday
Jonathan London – His Best Friends Are Dogs
This Sunday I’m volunteering for my lovely wife at Responsible Dog Ownership Day at The Zoom Room on LaBrea just north of Melrose. Why am I looking forward to it? Because by Sunday I’ll have played as much Gears of War 3 as I’m probably ever going to play and will be ready to spend 5 hours with Man’s Best Friend. The event is from 11 – 4pm and offers adoptions, low cost microchipping, education and free ice cream. If you’re in Los Angeles and need a new friend, this is a great place to find one!
And that’s that! We’ll see you next week… we hope!
