Game of Thrones Could Use a Little More Chuck Barris, I Say…

Posted on May 20, 2013 by geelw

Around an hour or so after last night’s episode, I had a really good laugh when out of the blue, I thought up a weird hybrid of GoT and that great old Chuck Barris game show (and one of the beginnings of what became modern “reality” TV, The Newlywed Game. Given the marriage fever going around this season, I think it would be hilarious to see all the couples (and potential couples) pop up in a video that pokes fun at both shows for what they’ve brought to pop culture. Of course, the chances of this happening are slim to none unless someone animates it or does some other cleverly creative interpretation (break out that old Renaissance Fair costume from the mothballs and do some quick refitting!). But I’ll leave that to those of you who have time and money to play around with.

As for questions on that fake game show, well… geez, there are PLENTY you can think up if you’re a GoT fan or know the Newlywed Game inside and out. So get on it and get back to me at some point. Hey, if you become world famous because I’ve inspired you, I only take 6% of the profits (it’s in that contract you signed the other week at the bar)…

Game of Thrones 3:9 Preview: A Week’s Extra Wait Adds More Suspense…

Posted on May 19, 2013 by geelw

OK, Episode 8 made my annoying (and productivity killing) low-level flu kick some of itself out of a lung. Say, there… did you all yell “TAKE THE DAMN KNIFE, STUPID!” or variations thereof at the end of that last episode? I most certainly did and I think I heard someone next door do the same. Well, at least the hive mind thing is working. Of course, between the Westeros version of a shotgun wedding to that creative use of leeches to yes, the ending that initially made me laugh because I thought of Hitchcock’s The Birds as soon as the first crow landed on that tree, yeah, this was one of those that will get viewed a few times for chuckles. Anyway, next week we get Michael Douglas as Liberace in Behind the Candalabra taking up that prime time real estate (I’m probably going to watch for the comedy value, although I’ve heard the movie is actually well done), so I guess that’s a vacation from the madness going on as well as a way for HBO to prolong the agony and keep us fans waiting. Sus-pense!

Man of Steel TV Spot #5: He’s Earning That Merit Badge, That’s For Sure…

Posted on May 13, 2013 by geelw

Well, the nice thing about these Man of Steel trailers and now, TV spots as they go on is you can see the quality in them from the very beginning. That initially vague first reveal is slowly but surely giving way to a film that’s looking to be a bit more mature than the previous Superman flicks and will hopefully be remembered for taking its subject matter outside the borders of the comics and making the character one people remember as less of a caricature and more of an actual person. Hey, as long as the comic relief is minimal and restricted to a handful of tossed off lines of dialogue (and not all from the lead). As usual, we shall see, but on their merits so far, the film is looking to do for Supes what Chris Nolan’s films did for the Batman (which is a good thing at the end of the day)…

Game of Thrones 3:7 Recap/3: Preview: Grim And Bear It…

Posted on May 13, 2013 by geelw

Well, now… episode 7 was certainly interesting and packed to the rafters with too much going on all over the place. At least it was a lot more clear that the last episode in settling a few things (temporarily) while also adding more questions into the mix. That bear fight had me cracking up, though – I guess the only way to get rid of one of the strongest female characters this season is to take her out of her armor, put her into a dress and drop her into a pit with a wooden sword to fight a really big and really pissed off ursine.

Well, it’s a good thing that didn’t quite work out, but those claw marks looked pretty nasty (and remember, at least one major character did drop dead as the results of wounds received during battle). Eh, let’s not get too ahead of ourselves here – only three more episodes to go and the questions I need answers to haven’t even been touched on (gah!)…

I should be a little worried by now, but I’m not at all because I know those last three shows will knock me around the room with a few revelations and probably a bunch of demises I wasn’t expecting to see (or not see)…

AMC’s The Killing Season 3: Getting Your Attention With Intention To Keep It Held…

Posted on May 13, 2013 by geelw

Let’s see now: a serial killer on the loose (meaning a higher body count this season) with the series’ focus on this one case and how it affects everyone on all sides should make for an intriguing story arc provided the show sticks to what made it work in the first place and doesn’t fall into the trap other crime shows have become victims of (changing too much to appeal to a certain base of short attention span viewers for rating’s sake). As with the first two seasons, I’ll be going in expecting nothing so I can actually be surprised when the writers and cast hit me over the head and toss me in a trunk…

Well, you know what I mean, right? I actually don’t advocate hitting anyone over the head and tossing them into a trunk unless they’re trying to do that to you and you manage to beat them to it…

Man of Steel TV Spot #4: Space Pilgrim vs. The World…

Posted on May 12, 2013 by geelw

So far, Warner Bros. has been considerably tame with these super-looking Man of Steel clips and trailers, but it looks as if that bubbling enthusiasm is slowing but surely going to be ramping up significantly as the weeks go by. As far as the film goes to some initially skeptical fans (yours truly included), we’re now at the color coded “This had better be REALLY good… or else, grrrr!” stage, but I think Snyder can handle any criticism at this point, as can the cast.

Hmmm.. Let’s see now, there’s going to be something like what, fifteen to twenty TV spots to go? Well, as long as the “less is more” approach is taken, I think we’ll see just enough to tempt us into theaters…

Random Music Battle Time: Blur vs. Liberace (Well, They Both Kind Of Win)…

Posted on May 10, 2013 by geelw

While waiting for a game to download the other day, I randomly Googled something and got something else entirely, and with a little brain work and rewriting here’s one result of that mistake: Song 2 by Blur, meet Song 2 as performed by Liberace. Yeah, it was a tough battle, folks… but believe it (or else), the results were a dead tie at the end of the voting. Well, actually, one half of my brain was bouncing up and down and the other was laughing, so that’s how that all worked out.

Liberace DVD Of course, Liberace gets the last laugh (and probably wins the bigger prize) because hell, he was a lot more talented (and funnier) throughout his long career than Blur will most likely ever be (or have been… hey, are they still even around?). That and you won’t lose your hearing from listening to too much of his music with the volume way up (well, depending on your age, you probably have some hearing loss if you’re a Liberace fan, ha ha).

Anyway, the fine folks at Shout Factory and Timeless Media Group have actually just released Libreace: The Ultimate Entertainer on DVD this week, so you can go see for yourself (c’mon, be brave! Expand those musical horizons! I won’t tell…) for a mere $13.98, which is a bargain considering what’s on the disc. Hey, get it as a Mother’s Day gift for someone old enough to appreciate that man’s work and you’ll get a few cheeks pinched afterward (make sure you’re sitting sown when you hand over that package)…

And hey, I’m betting Michael Douglas will make me fall of the couch laughing in a few with that HBO biopic coming up… we shall see, I suppose…

Humor: Another Trip To Bedrock’s Music Scene…

Posted on May 9, 2013 by geelw

Cow belly, pot of beans
Tie a rope around your jeans
Tell your ma not to wait
You ain’t getting home till late…

Hmmm… based on those first four lines from the Bedrock Twitch, you’ll either be apologizing to some blind date for insulting her size or you’re on the way to a nice shotgun wedding for what happened afterwards. Or both, knowing some of you out there who can’t keep a secret or stay out of trouble at the same time. Thankfully, for the rest of you who know what’s what with this kooky tune, it’s all about bouncing around the room and keeping the tune going with a funny wig on your head and two-string guitar (made of stone, at that!) so it’s all good. Yeah, you KNOW you’re up and doing that one-foot hop, too. I won’t tell… but your dog may bite you for waking it up if you bounce by too loudly… or because you have the cat on your head thanks to not having a wig handy. “Twitch, twitch!”

Game of Thrones 3:6 Recap/Inside The Episode: It’s Torture (But We’re Almost There)…

Posted on May 7, 2013 by geelw

So, after by brain tanked out on me on Sunday thanks to my over-thinking stuff while I should have been just watching the show, I watched the episode again last night and it still did seem a bit oddly paced thanks to a few too many surprises dropping out of nowhere and the continuing torture scenes that need a KNOCKOUT resolution for all the build up going on. That’s not a bad thing at all, though. In retrospect, some things just happening the way they did shows how random and unpredictable life is in that crazy world where everyone’s scheming to get over on someone else (with often drastic consequences) and the slower-moving ones get crushed by the juggernaut of fate, which is mighty tall and indeed, heavy as you’d think (times ten). Well, the next few episodes should make for some eye-popping (or finger and other body part mangling) moments as everything comes to a head. Suspense is highly underrated as a commodity on TV these days.

(Well, at least I think so, as someone who hates all this second screen nonsense and trolling the Internet for clues as to what’s going to happen. I say treat the show like a surprise party and yes, you’ll actually BE surprised…)

AMC’s The Killing Returns (And Those Who Hate Thinking Will Hate It. Again.)…

Posted on May 7, 2013 by geelw

I really liked AMC’s The Killing because it wasn’t yet another a cut and dried 47-minute police procedural show where everything got wrapped up nicely at the end of each episode with the killer getting his or hers with witty catch-phrases from some overpaid superstars. In fact, having its single case last not one, but TWO gloomy seasons practically doomed the show with the CSI and other sillier crime shows crowd, but for people like me who like complexity in their stories and characters, I found the show quite enjoyable even when it made a few mistakes. That said, I thought it was dead forever after the critical and viewer drubbing it got during the last season by some writers and viewers, but thankfully AMC is getting it together with an all-new case and some intriguing-looking teasers.

Granted, it’s the “Oooh, the big baaad serial killer” thing that’s the trend now in some other new and old crime shows,, so there’s the risk of (wait for it…, waaaait for it…) overkill (ba-dum-bum!), but I think the writers here can pull it off quite well. As usual, we shall see, right?