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 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!

PTG Episode 41 is brought to you by the Cure for the Run. SomaCow is putting its pig-kicking leg to better use by kicking its donation-collecting efforts into high gear for its upcoming charity event, taking place on Saturday, August 22nd. If you own a business and you’d like to make a donation, go to http://curefortherun.com and hit the PayPal button. If you are local to Orlando and would like to participate in the event, download a sponsor form from the site and get started collecting to fight hunger in our community. All monies collected go to Rock for Hunger-for more information about them, head over to their website, http://rockforhunger.org.

Speaking of events, just want to throw one last shout-out to everyone who came out for the PTG/SomaCow/theExperience.fm Karaoke Tweetup last Friday night. Gave props during the podcast, but I want to take the opportunity in this space to provide some links to the other great folks that came out and had a good time with us …well, I certainly hope they had a good time!

First, give some love to The Experience: Tail, Nos, and Jamie have become big supporters of SomaCow, and Nos brought his best to the karaoke showdown with me … only to have us both utterly crushed by Mickey and Ross of SomaCow. Oy.

Next, check out DJ John and his show, the Dorknation, which broadcasts out of St. Cloud, FL. John definitely has dork chops–he truly impressed me when, during a lull in the karaoke activities he happened to spot of the TVs in the bar showing “Star Trek: The Next Generation” and identified which episode it was within the first two minutes of watching, with no sound, mind you! Of course, I knew which one it was also, but it’s always very gratifying to know that someone ELSE out there has that particular useless skill. They’re on every Tuesday and Thursday from 8-10PM on ustream.tv.

Also we had photography enthusiast Kelly Walker, a.k.a. peglegpug, who as a fan of SomaCow came out to the tweetup and got GREAT video of Ross and Mickey’s song stylings. She has since immortalized that performance by posting it at her website, www.peglegpug.com, but trust me, that’s not the only reason to head over and check out her site. It’s just a very GOOD reason to do so!

And finally, of course, we must give credit where credit is due, to SomaCow. Not only did Geoff, J, and Ross come out this time and not leave Mickey all alone and defenseless among us savages, but Ross, in the ultimate act of producer-ness, stepped up to the challenge of filling Geoff’s shoes and took on the stage with Mickey for a rendition of Bonnie Tyler’s Total Eclipse of the Heart that will NEVER be forgotten by the SomaCow faithful. Though it may not have been the equal of Geoff and Mickey’s infamous performance of that same song at Devaney’s (as I’ve been told by parties who shall remain anonymous), it was certainly immortal in my mind. I strongly suggest you click HERE to watch the video and feel for yourselves … whatever this performance might inspire you to feel, and to ask yourselves this most solemn question:

What the hell is Ross doing to that microphone stand?!

Episode 41 features a Blackest Night Spotlight focused on Tales of the Corps #3, PTG’s Top Picks for the week ending Aug. 1st, including Wonder Woman #34 from DC Comics, The Lone Ranger #17 from Dynamite Entertainment (not pictured above), and Ultimatum #5 and Ultimate Spider-Man Requiem #2 from Marvel Comics. It also features PTG’s first ever book review, given by our own EricathePimp, focused on Vampire Literature best-sellers Twilight by Stephanie Meyer and Dead Until Dark by Charlaine Harris. Enjoy!

PTG Episode 39 is brought to you by Anime Festival Orlando 10, coming up this Friday, Saturday, and Sunday, July 31st-Aug. 2nd at the Wyndham Orlando Resort. PTG will be there on Saturday morning to cover its first ever anime-themed event, and we’re looking to spread the word about the show while checking out some panels and getting an idea of what’s going on in the anime world. Hoping to run into Gary Holmes from Just Push Play, as he’s actively involved in the Swords of Orlandia role-playing game that has become a signature event at AFO, but Gary’s a busy guy and it wouldn’t be a surprise if he turned up later in the weekend. Anyway, should be good times for anime fans and cosplayers, so I’m looking forward to it!

Speaking of big events, just want to follow up on a few items relating to PTG 38 and the great job that James Wright, a.k.a. “Chuck Spear”, did for us reporting on his unique San Diego Comic-Con experience. During his report, he mentioned that he and some friends had gone to the show equipped with some custom-designed t-shirts that sounded very cool, so after obtaining his blessing I have those designs for you right here–check these out:

The images are linked to Geoffrey’s Comics Shop in Gardena, CA, who provided the shirts and is selling them … for now. There MIGHT be a licensing issue with using Marvel properties in this fashion, but until the cease and desist comes down, no reason why you can have a cool shirt, right? Right! Once again, many thanks to James–there’s a chance he’ll be attending Wonder Con in San Francisco this February, and he’s offered to represent PTG out there at that show, so you can look forward to more Chuck Spear bringing West Coast ‘flava’ to the show in the months to come!

You the Man, “Chuck”!

One last note: Don’t forget, PTG/SomaCow Karaoke Tweetup Part Deux is TOMORROW night at Colonial Lanes in Orlando, off SR 50 (Colonial Dr.) and Primrose Ave. If you’re local to Orlando and you’re a fan of Orlando podcasting in general (not just SomaCow!), come out and join us for a drink and some singing! It all starts at 11PM (though we’re likely to be there “warming up” (drinking) at closer to 10PM. Hope to see you!

Prime Time Geek Episode 25 is brought to you by Bad Apple Comics. Vote for Bad Apple Comics as “Best Comic Store” in this year’s Orlando Weekly “Best Of Orlando 2009″ poll by clicking HERE. They’ll be your best friend, and so will PTG. (Okay, so maybe not your BEST friend, but we’ll both like you a whole lot.)

Lots of time in this episode is spent talking comics – special guest co-host Matthew Ruele spent some time before (and during) the show getting caught up on Marvel’s meltdown of the Ultimates universe, Ultimatum, which could carry the alternate title of “So You Think That’s a Gruesome Death?” Later in the episode, Bad Apple Comics General Manager Shawn Schinault calls in to talk further about Ultimatum, as well as the amazingly well done Old Man Logan story in Wolverine, the aftermath of Batman: Battle for the Cowl, and the new Batman and Robin #1. Shawn gives some interesting insights on the reasoning behind Ultimatum’s brutality, Old Man Logan’s brilliance, Batman: BFTC’s blunders, and Batman and Robin’s bright future. If you’re over at the Bad Apple store on OBT and you need a recommendation on something great to read, you could a lot worse than to ask Shawn to recommend something for you. The man simply KNOWS what’s good in a comic book.

Truthfully, as Matthew pointed out, it is quite sad that so many of Marvel’s heroes in this world have fallen, if for no other reason that these often-brilliant new takes on classic characters were once celebrated as much-needed revitalizing energy for a company that needed a shot in the arm. As Ultimatum rumbles to its final, body-count raising conclusion next month, I can’t escape the growing perception that writer Jeph Loeb’s blood-soaked opus is growing into an exercise in seediness, something akin to Hostel-like torture porn, where we as readers get to see characters we’ve come to care about sacrificed on the altar of crossover-event sensationalism. It’s simply not possible for issue #5 to not kill half the remaining cast, because to do anything less would be a letdown in comparison to what’s come before. We’ve come this far, Jeph–why not simply blow up the entire Ultimates Earth and be done with it?

Well, it looks like we’re going to have to wait a little longer for a few Marvel movies whose release dates were announced just a few weeks ago.

In a press release issued this morning, Marvel Studios announced a revised schedule of films in development, a schedule which pushes Thor and The Avengers, both originally slated for 2010 and 2011 releases, respectively, back one year to accommodate for more production time and a smoother road to the multi-character epic that The Avengers promises to be.

Those who might be disappointed by this turn of events can take heart in some “good” news, possibly. The “good” news is that Spider-Man 4 now has a firm release date, May 6th, 2011. I place “good” in quotes simply because it depends on your feelings about another Spider-Man sequel based on the mess that was Spider-Man 3.

Here’s the text of the press release:

Paving the way for the production and release of its multi-character superhero film, THE AVENGERS, Marvel Entertainment, Inc. (NYSE: MVL), announced today an adjusted release pipeline for its self-produced feature film properties that reflects the first time individual Super Hero characters and story arcs will be inter-woven and culminate in a multi-character motion picture. Separately, Marvel Studios confirmed today that Sony Pictures Entertainment will release SPIDER-MAN 4 on May 6, 2011. Additionally, Marvel Studios has revised the release dates for THOR and CAPTAIN AMERICA as part of its release strategy for an uninterrupted road to THE AVENGERS, now debuting May 4, 2012.

A Marvel character-based film will now launch the summer box office season for three years in a row, from 2010 through 2012.

“This new schedule strongly sequences Marvel’s movie debut dates, big screen character introductions and momentum. It maximizes the visibility of our single character-focused films, leading to the highly anticipated release of the multi-character THE AVENGERS film in 2012,” said David Maisel, Chairman, Marvel Studios.

Sony Pictures’ and Marvel Studios’ SPIDER-MAN 4 is slated for May 6, 2011. To date, all three motion pictures in the phenomenally successful SPIDER-MAN franchise have generated nearly $2.5 billion worldwide theatrically.

Below is Marvel Studios’ 2010-2012 updated release schedule for its slate of self-produced and financed feature films:

Marvel Studios Feature Film Pipeline
Film/Character – Prior Release Date – Current Release Date
IRON MAN 2 – May 7, 2010 – May 7, 2010
THOR – July 16, 2010 – June 17, 2011
THE FIRST AVENGER: CAPTAIN AMERICA – May 6, 2011 – July 22, 2011
THE AVENGERS – July 15, 2011 – May 4, 2012

The release date for IRON MAN 2 remains unchanged. IRON MAN 2 is the sequel to the blockbuster film, IRON MAN, which has grossed nearly $600 million worldwide.

Thanks to Newsarama for posting this.

Hour 2 of PTG Episode 10 kicks off with the funnier of the two clips from Chasing Amy set in the midst of a comic convention, but honestly, in my opinion its only funnier due to Jason Lee’s unique delivery of the f-bomb. Yeah, juvenile, I know–the f-bomb still cracks me up sometimes.

Well, though I swear no one is more surprised by it than I am, I was actually able to keep my promise to you, my listeners, that if Dan Didio, Senior VP-Executive Editor of DC Comics, truly was at MegaCon this year I’d have a few questions for him and I’d corner if I had to in order to get answers. I got him in a corner all right, but as it turned out, he picked out the corner of the convention center, not me. The head honcho of DC’s publishing end was gracious, humorous, and a pleasure to talk to on a range of subjects, including but limited to more DC visits to MegaCon, the work of Geoff Johns, Final Crisis, Green Arrow/Black Canary writer Andrew Kreisberg going on to becoming a writer and producer on FOX’s Fringe, done-in-one stories in comics, and electronic delivery of print products in the future. If you’re a DC reader I hope you enjoy listening to the interview as much as I did giving it. And to my listeners who aren’t comic book readers, you shouldn’t skip over this segment, because I asked Dan to recommend a comic book from DC for fans of sci-fi and fantasy, fans of the genre who aren’t comic book readers right now, to get them hooked, and he in fact gave me TWO recommendations that I wholeheartedly agree with.

In the “b” block of Hour 2, Sports Buzz Ryan calls in to share his thoughts about Street Fighter IV, the latest entry in Capcom’s legendary fighting series and one that seems worthy of all the pre-release hype and anticipation. All you Ken and Ryu fans, you Chun-Li lovers and Bison fanatics, if you don’t have this game yet, GET it. It’s everything you ever loved about Street Fighter II, given the next-gen console treatment with all the trimmings.

No BSG After-Action report in the “c” block, but instead a quick review of Marvel’s New Avengers #50 and some final thoughts on this year’s MegaCon. Hope you enjoy!

I began Hour 2 with a clip from Star Trek IV – The Voyage Home, thinking I would have a chance to talk about that film’s blu-ray release (along with the other “Original Crew” films and Season One of the Original Series) on May 12th, but alas, the time got away from me and I didn’t get to it. This clip loses a little something when you can’t SEE what’s happening, but Bones’ line about “the bureaucratic mentality” and Kirk’s “Let’s see what she’s got,” are well worth it. And even though we only got to see it for about 5 seconds, that was always my favorite Enterprise bridge–the gleaming white with blue chairs and glossy black control surfaces. One of my biggest gripes about Trek V (and I have MANY) was the Enterprise bridge redesign for that film. Bleagh.

Hour 2 features some praise for Marvel’s resident evil genius, Brian Michael Bendis, as he weaves a deliciously wicked web for the ‘real’ heroes of the Marvel U to find themselves out of, complicated mightily by Norman Osborn’s team of ‘Avengers’, currently starring in their own Avengers book, Dark Avengers. Bendis must simply be having a blast writing this, taking all the ‘wrongness’ of villains pretending to be good guys that he worked so well in Thunderbolts and kicking it up a notch with villains pretending to be our favorite good guys, good guys like Spider-Man, Wolverine, Hawkeye, and Ms. Marvel, and dressing up once-and-soon-to-be-nutcase-again Norman Osborn in Iron Man armor painted like the American flag. So, SO wrong, and yet still SO entertaining.

Due to confusion over the different time slot for Episode 9, JC did not make his planned appearance, so the second block focused on more upcoming DC fodder, with particular emphasis on Battle For the Cowl. My one fear about this book is the length of time they’re going to drag things out with Dick Grayson resisting taking on the mantle of the Bat, the mantle everyone ELSE whose opinion matters KNOWS is one only he is deserving of. Others involved in the storyline, most notably Jason Todd, will certainly disagree with that conclusion, and will no doubt step up to fill Batman’s cape and cowl before Dick can get over his reservations, or at least that’s how it would go in a very conventional, predictable, boring kind of way. Please, Tony Daniel: surprise us.

The hour wraps some talking up of MegaCon this upcoming weekend and the BSG after-action report on “Deadlock”, last Friday night’s rather lackluster entry into Season 4.5. Easily the weakest of this half-season’s episodes, it serves the purpose of moving pieces into place for the final run of four episodes, as well as showing us something surprising. Before, while Ellen Tigh (Kate Vernon) was alive and in the fleet, before her death on New Caprica, it always seemed like there was NOTHING redeeming about her character, and she just served to bring out the worst in Saul (Michael Hogan). Now we see the truth: Saul and Ellen bring out the worst in EACH OTHER–it wasn’t all Ellen after all. On the Basestar in “No Exit”, Ellen is thoughtful, intelligent, maternal, sympathetic. Get her onboard Galactica and with Saul and she’s the bitchy, spiteful, manipulative harpy we were happy to see poisoned at the start of Season 3.

Yeah, it REALLY sucks to be Iron Man right now. And dammit, I always said Cyclops should have stuck to redheads.

I can’t even begin to verbalize how wrong THIS image is. And Wolverine’s kid has claws, Daddy’s costume, AND Daddy issues. Wonderful.

Loki’s machinations continue, and Venom BECOMES Spidey (To which poor Peter says, “Wait, WHAT?!”)

Well … wow.

It’s clear that Marvel, and in particular Brian Michael Bendis, is going to enjoy making us say over and over again “Oh, that’s just WRONG!” in the days and months to come. I’ve already been saying it about Hank Pym taking on the superhero name of his DEAD wife while teaming up with the robot he BUILT and programmed with his DEAD wife’s personality. But “New” Cap kneeling to the Iron Patriot a.k.a. Norman Osborn? Emma Frost going back to her evil ways and screwing over Cyclops and the X-Men? Loki getting the last laugh over Thor (this has already begun, as of last week’s EPIC Thor #600)?

DC Comics has some monumental events coming up this year, as well, but with all this going on for Joe Quesada and co. across the street, Marvel’s grip on market share in the comics industry, like Osborn’s now-iron grip over control of the Marvel Universe, is going to be tough to break.

Many thanks to Jevon Phillips and The Hero Complex for posting these!

And speaking of Bat-time, it APPEARS that time FINALLY ran out for ol’ Bruce Wayne in DC Comics, as “Final Crisis” #6 hit the stores on Wednesday, and while everyone was out buying issues of Amazing Spider-Man #583 guest starring President-Elect Barack Obama, Batman got hit with some serious Darkseid nastiness and was left a dessicated corpse. Or so it SEEMS … Find more about that AND the end of the “New Krypton” story in Superman comics, along with Watchmen movie news, Keanu Reeves in the live action film adaptation of Cowboy Bebop, JC Martinez’s weekly tech segment focused on advances in touch-screen technology announced at CES last week, and last but certainly not least, an interview with Night of the Night Wolf Comedy Group member Michael Poley! Night of Night Wolf will be performing LIVE at Stardust Video and Coffee in Winter Park later that night, but Michael will take time out from his preparations to talk to us about NONW’s third show at Stardust and what folks going to show can expect. Here’s the promo for the show:

Gonna be a great episode, so don’t miss it, tomorrow night at 6PM EST!