Originally posted at PrimeTimeGeek.com.

PTG Episode 127 is brought to you by The Talk Nerdy Show. We’ll be having the guys from Talk Nerdy Show live in studio this Saturday night, so don’t miss our live broadcast starting at 8PM. The guys are also teaming with our friends over at Heroes Landing to host a BBQ on Friday, July 2nd right in the Heroes Landing parking lot! They’ll be there all day, and so will we AND Slacker and the Man, so come out for burgers and beer, have your head sketched by uber-awesome Talk Nerdy artist Joe Carbonell, and hang out with the hosts of the best geek podcasts in Central Florida (well, we think we are, anyway.)!

In this hour, our second recorded down in Miami in the aftermath of Florida SuperCon, we focus our attention on that OTHER mega-geek event that went on all of last week in L.A., the Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3), which featured Sony and Microsoft unveiling their new motion controllers and Nintendo showing off the forthcoming Nintendo 3DS. We focus on what we thought were the top 10 stories coming out of E3, or rather, what IGN thought were the top 10 stories coming out of E3, and if you’d like to know more about any of these topics, head over to games.ign.com and check out the various stories for yourself. Speaking just for myself, I’m not big on the whole motion controller thing, but then again, I’ve only ever tried it on the Wii, and I have yet to see it applied to a game I would really want to play. I reserve the right to do an “about face” with my opinion if that should change and either the Sony Playstation Move or the Microsoft Kinect completely blows me away.

In addition, we bring you our review of Jonah Hex, the new DC Comics-inspired film starring Josh Brolin, Megan Fox, and John Malkovich. E-yeah, this one really bombed at the box office last weekend, and it serves them right for opening against Toy Story 3, which I saw last Tuesday and which I daresay is a better, more satisfying sequel than Toy Story 2 and a wonderful conclusion to the series. It’s safe to say that in the battle of cinema cowboys, Woody left Jonah Hex dead and in the dust. But one thing I do want to say about Hex that I didn’t mention during the podcast: This movie has far too many similarities to 2007’s Ghost Rider : both films feature similar visual effects and actor Wes Bentley, albeit in a far smaller role in Hex. Both films also truly misfire in terms of their interpretations of the character and overall tone: Ghost Rider tried to frame Johnny Blaze’s story as a monster movie, while Jonah Hex plays up a supernatural angle to Hex’s story while utter failing to create any sense of authenticity in terms of depicting a post-Civil War “western” story. I’ll say this for Ghost Rider, though–it has far more laughable moments to move it into true “guilty pleasure” territory, while Hex is simply a dull bore that feels a whole HELLUVA lot longer than its meager 80 minute running time.

We wrap up this hour by spotlighting two comic book releases from last week, Birds of Prey #2 (Simone, Benes) from DC Comics and New Avengers #1 (Bendis, Immomen) from Marvel. Enjoy!

Originally posted at PrimeTimeGeek.com.

PTG Episode 119 is brought to you by Night of the Nightwolf. The Orlando-based sketch comedy group, who we’ve had on PTG on a number of occasions, is putting on performances of their latest collaborative effort, “The Greatest Story Ever Sold,” as part of the annual Orlando International Fringe Theatre Festival, this upcoming weekend, May 28th-30th. If you’re local to Orlando and you haven’t experienced the Fringe Festival yet, you’re really missing out on something special: many of Central Florida’s most talented actors and playwrights celebrating their art and inviting the masses to enjoy it with them. For tickets to NoNW’s shows this weekend, or any other Fringe Festival performances this week, click HERE.

In this episode we cover last week’s announcements of Megan Fox and Allison Mack’s departures from Transformers 3 and Smallville, respectively–one of these we’re truly saddened about, the other, not NEARLY as much, and we’ll leave it to you to listen and find out which is which. Also, we break down the season finales of Fringe and V, two shows we’ve covered this season that are actually coming back next year! Our discussion of V actually covers the previous five episodes, since it’s worth mentioning that the quality of its storytelling and character development over those five episodes markedly improved, and is partly responsible for earning them a reprieve from ABC’s cancellation axe. We finish the hour by spotlighting two Marvel Comics “Heroic Age” releases from last week: Avengers #1 and Invincible Iron Man #26. Enjoy!

Originally posted at PrimeTimeGeek.com.

PTG Episode 116 is brought to you by Uncle John’s Bathroom Reader: The World’s Gone Crazy. Among the group of writers responsible for this latest volume in the esteemed throne-sitting entertainment series is our friend James Greene Jr., the author of the JGTwo blog and most recently our intrepid “Eat More Geek” correspondent. Though I can’t say I’ve had the opportunity to pick up this book, I can still recommend it based on what I’ve read of James’ writing–if you find yourself often needing a good, hearty laugh when perched upon your home’s porcelain throne for long or even short periods, I have no doubt you’ll find what you need within these pages. James joins us during this hour to review Mountain Dew’s tri-fecta of fan-created flavors (White Out, Typhoon, and Distortion), and since once again he’s putting his health on the line, this time in the face of sugar and caffeine overdose, for the sake of reporting on this matter of tremendous geek importance, the least we can do is pimp some of his writing in print. Buy the book using the link to Amazon above and you’ll be helping PTG out, as well.

Also in this episode, featuring in-studio guests Ryan Macdonald and Mark Brown of The Talk Nerdy Show, we begin with a rundown of the goings-on at Heroes Landing’s latest “Geek’s Night Out” event, which I think anyone who was there would agree was a smashing success. Huge turnout, lots of laughs and smiles all around as people sat down to play card games, play Rock Band, watch Clermont’s own Moonlight Players put on an improv performance, or simply just hang out and enjoy pizza and drinks. We’ve posted our pictures from the event over on PTG’s Facebook Fan Page, but there’s one in particular I want to highlight below, as it features PTG, Slacker and the Man, and The Talk Nerdy Show hosts all together (or mostly all together) for the first time!

That night also featured “Straight Up GEEK”, presented by Dr. Vern & Company, over at Club 57 West in downtown Orlando, and our pictures from that event can also be found on our Facebook Fan Page. Though I arrived at that event too late to catch Krondor Krew, I did get my first opportunity to listen to the song stylings of Erin Pyne, the creative force behind the wrock band The House of Black, as well as the headlining act of the evening, the always-entertaining Marc with a C. It was a great night of music all around, and I can say that in all seriousness this time simply because unlike New Year’s Geek, the last event I attended at Club 57 West, I refrained from allowing my old friend Jack Daniels to take over my evening. I didn’t get to talk about the event or the acts nearly enough during the broadcast, so I wanted to say here in the blog that we at PTG highly recommend you check both of them out, if you haven’t already. If you’re a Harry Potter fan and you enjoy well-crafted electronica/techno, it’s a virtual guarantee you’ll enjoy The House of Black. If you like your guitar rock highlighted by clever lyrics and self-effacing humor, Marc with a C will win you over easily.

We wrap up the hour by talking about the end and aftermath of Marvel’s Siege as well as the latest installment of DC’s War of the Supermen. Enjoy!

Originally posted at PrimeTimeGeek.com.

PTG Episode 91 is brought to you by Talk Nerdy Show. If you haven’t yet, PLEASE head over to www.talknerdyshow.com and check out Episode 1 of Talk Nerdy Show, which features among other bits yours truly in an interview which truly displays my lifelong geekdom. I do have to say also that it’s the first time anyone has ever referred to me as a “local stud.” As unexpected and flattering as that was to hear, I think it’s contradicted ENTIRELY by the contents of the interview. You cannot openly talk about AD&D 2nd Edition and be considered ANY kind of stud. I’m sorry, but that’s just simple, irrefutable fact. Don’t forget, I’ll have both Carin and Ryan from Talk Nerdy Show in the SomaCow studio for the February 20th show–don’t miss it!

In this episode we at last review Caprica, the prequel series to Battlestar Galactica that has BSG fans … well, puzzled. The show’s ratings, according to TVbythenumbers.com, are slipping, and that’s no doubt in part due to the fact that the show is so completely different than its predecessor. The argument can be made that the show isn’t even fanboy material or fanboy/fangirl accessible, at least not yet. That’s not to say it isn’t GOOD, and we cover the show’s strengths as well as its weaknesses during the hour, but the show’s concept and execution really might be working against it in this case, and it’s not a sure bet at all that it will get another season from SyFy. Also in this hour, we hit on a GREAT comic book allusion found in last week’s episode of Human Target, the winter finale of Fringe, and last week’s big Marvel Siege issues, Siege #2 by Brian Michael Bendis and Olivier Coipel, and Siege: Embedded #2 by Brian Reed and Chris Samnee. Enjoy!

Originally posted at PrimeTimeGeek.com.

PTG Episode 89 is brought to you by Super Bowl XLIV. Oh, how I wish that were really true and that the NFL had paid to sponsor this particular episode. I don’t think I’d have to work for at least a year with the kind of money the league probably is willing to pay to advertise anywhere. Anyway, it is Super Bowl Sunday, and shortly after posting this episode I’ll be off to partake in that most American of traditions, the Super Bowl party, where folks gather in one another’s homes, consume mass quantities of food and drink, and plop down in front of (hopefully) a big-screen TV either to actually watch the game or watch all the pre-game and halftime performances and the commercials. This year’s batch of commercials should be chock-full of good movie trailers for films coming this summer, and you can bet PTG will be keeping score on which were the best and the worst of the movie trailers and the commercials in general. Don’t forget: next week we welcome back “The Man” from Slacker and the Man, and no doubt he’ll have opinions to share on the Super Bowl commercials, as well. Should be a great way to kick off (pardon the pun) next week’s show, so don’t miss it.

For now, in this episode we cover Apple’s big announcement about the upcoming iPad and how people in the comic book industry (well, some people, at any rate) believe it might just be a game-changer. Plus, thoughts on how FOX’s new action/thriller series Human Target stacks up against one of their most popular and enduring entries in the genre, 24, and reviews of two Marvel books from last week, New Avengers #61 and Thor #606. Enjoy!

Originally posted at PrimeTimeGeek.com.

PTG Episode 83 is brought to you by … well, by tardiness. Tardiness is something generally I have lots of patience for, considering how often I’m guilty of it. But when it comes to getting episodes of PTG uploaded and available for you guys to listen to at the very LEAST before the next show airs … well, I don’t give myself a whole lot of slack. Which is why I hereby apologize to you, our fans, for getting this episode out to you so late. The news headlines in this episode are so old and stale they might as well have been from 2009, and the reviews of Dollhouse and Marvel Comics‘ initial issues of Siege and Siege: Embedded so out of date that they don’t even need spoiler warnings at this point. But other than THAT, it’s still a pretty good hour and I hope you enjoy it.

In all seriousness, lots of changes for me personally are resulting in having to change the routine in which I get these podcasts available to you. Rest assured, I’ll be making every effort to get stuff out in a more timely manner from here on out. At the very least, you’ll be getting content from this past weekend on time, because they’re very good (and somewhat longer than usual) episodes thanks to the presence of “The Man” from Slacker and the Man in studio for the live broadcast. Check back later in the week to catch those, both in raw form (w/ video) and in podcast form.

Originally posted at PrimeTimeGeek.com.

PTG Episode 78 is brought to you by Bloodsport. It’s ridiculous to me, considering everything that’s out there on the web to be viewed on YouTube or streamed through Netflix or Amazon.com or iTunes or any number of other online media outlets, that Bloodsport, arguably the only film in Jean-Claude Van Damme’s filmography that can be considered a “classic” of any kind whatsoever, cannot be found online in any appreciable form–it is still ONLY available on DVD (unless you count a stray VHS tape still viable out there). Other JCVD movies are available, the truly terrible ones that aren’t worth remembering or rewatching, that is. Hell, even Kickboxer, Van Damme’s far-less-satisfying follow-up to Bloodsport, is available on blu-ray–how did that happen? I know this because I went searching for audio and video clips, and only found the same scenes over and over again, mainly the fights, and while those are great, some of the dialogue not found in these scenes is truly wondrous cheese that’s worth quoting over and over again. I humbly submit to you that Bloodsport on blu-ray or available streaming through some reputable media outlet, well, that would be my Christmas miracle for 2009, or one of them, anyway.

In addition to talking a little about the films of the Muscles from Brussels, in this episode we spend a bit of time talking about what was, again in my humble opinion, the worst let down in terms of comic book series of 2009, and arguably the worst series overall, Ultimatum. Yes, we covered every issue of Ultimatum when it hit stands this past year, and though it seemed to start so breathtakingly well, as writer Jeph Loeb’s apocalyptic vision of the “end” of the Ultimates universe unfolded it seemed to devolve into simply a series of increasingly violent and gruesome death scenes. In the end, the series was an abattoir for the Ultimates characters, nothing more, and any sense of drama readers might have felt in the “reveals” of the final act is drowned in all the blood and spectacular death. As someone who once called himself a Jeph Loeb fan, I was left truly “dissed”: disenchanted, disillusioned, disappointed, disdainful of the celebration of carnage, illustrated so capably by artist David Finch, the lone bright spot of the whole series. I’m sure my opinion is in the minority–it usually is–but I look forward to a time when Loeb turns back to writing something intelligent, hopeful, and inspiring. He’s done it before–Superman for All Seasons stands in my mind as the most shining example–and I’m hopeful he’ll do it again someday.

Also we cover the final new Fringe episode of 2009, “Grey Matters”, two new Dollhouse episodes, “Meet Jane Doe” and “A Love Supreme”, and give you our top Marvel picks from last week’s selection of new books, including New Avengers Annual #3, Invincible Iron Man #21, and PunisherMax #2. Enjoy!

Originally posted at PrimeTimeGeek.com.

PTG Episode 77 is brought to you by the wonderful world of audio editing. Yes, through the miracle that is Adobe Audition 3, we here at PTG can bring to you 1) a version of Episode 77 that is not only 7 minutes shorter than the original broadcast version (much closer to the 1 hour that we should be clocking in at every week); 2) an episode highlighted by music from guitar god Joe Satriani, specifically selections from his 2nd and 3rd studio albums, Surfing with the Alien (1987) and Flying in a Blue Dream (1989), respectively; and 3) an episode free of the host’s breaking of the fourth wall and actually stopping the show and getting up from the host’s chair to see what could possibly have agitated the dogs at the SomaCow compound (one dog in particular whose name starts with a ‘C’) to such an extent that she sounded hoarse from barking. If you listen closely to this podcast, you can probably still hear the barking during the first ten minutes of the show during moments while I’m talking, however–the software is good, but it’s not THAT good. Ah, well.

So in this episode we talk about some of the major announcements that came out of DC Entertainment last week. As promised, here are links to the announcements themselves at DC Universe: The Source:

• DCU in 2010: “The Return of Bruce Wayne” hits in April
• DCU in 2010: Welcome to Earth-One
• DCU in 2010: The “War of the Supermen” Begins

There were quite a few more stories posted that week in The Source that we didn’t cover in the broadcast that you might want to check out, including the announcement of noted TV writer Marc Guggenheim, most recently of FlashForward, taking over as the full-time writer of Action Comics, and Wonder Woman renumbering to celebrate her 600th issue. The cover to what will be Wonder Woman #600, provided by none other than George Perez, is the definition of “classic”-head over to the story and check it out!

Also in this episode we continue our 3-part “Best of 2009″ series with what were, in our somewhat-less-than-humble-opinions, the Top 5 New Comic Series of 2009. Now once again, we limited our consideration to titles we reviewed during our broadcasts and to titles that specifically started in 2009, whether they were limited series or ongoing series. All five of our choices are pictured in the image below:

Agree? Disagree? Know a title that would have made our list had we actually read it? Leave your comments and your feedback in comments, please–look forward to reading them!

Originally posted at PrimeTimeGeek.com.

PTG Episode 76 is brought to you by my iPod touch. Well, not literally, like I’m not uploading this via the iPod Touch or anything like that. I haven’t figured out how to do that, assuming I even can. What I have learned about this little gizmo is that it’s a pain in the ass to take just ONE song from iTunes on my computer and export it to the iPod Touch, and that the Genius Playlist option is actually pretty cool and useful. Select “Send Her My Love” from Journey and get a 25-song list composed of 80’s schmaltz, 90’s brood music, and the occasional adjective-defying tune from whatever we’re supposed to call this past decade. Of course, anyone who’s had an iPod for the last 3-4 years already KNOWS about this feature and might be thinking, “Yeah, and?” but this is all new to me, so allow me a “golly gee whiz” moment, please.

So in this episode I talk about the new toy and seek suggestions for what exactly to DO with it aside from playing music. After all, the iPod has become almost a mandatory accessory in American culture: when you leave home, you make sure you have your wallet/purse, keys, phone, and iPod (unless you have an iPhone, in which case your phone IS your iPod), and now that I actually have one I need to know how best to make use of it aside from its most obvious applications. Also in this episode we bring you reviews of that LAST new Heroes and FlashForward episodes of 2009, along with the latest from Fringe, and PTG Top Comic Picks focuses on Marvel Comics‘ set-up for next year’s big “Siege” event. Thor #604 and Siege: The Cabal are but the opening shots in what will bring about yet another huge shift in power in the Marvel U, except maybe, just maybe, this time the good guys might be on the better end of things. After Civil War, Secret Invasion, and Dark Reign, the heroes are due for the pendulum to swing back their way, wouldn’t you say?

Oh, and speaking of Marvel, have you seen the new teaser posters for Iron Man 2 that have hit the web the past two weeks? Just in case you haven’t, here they are. I can already tell that 2010 is going to be a VERY good year for us geeks once again!