Irrelevant But Awesome

This is the first edition of a new gameplay series that I'm doing that mostly serves my own selfish purpose of getting a platinum trophy for WWE 2K15. In this video, I play as Damien Sandow and complain about him being Macho Mandow as well as complaining about my roommates sleeping on the couch all the time. It's a real problem.

Chris, Joel and Jason reviewed Hot Rod and they all like to party. Chris' Thoughts:  This is the best dumb movie you’ll ever find. Seriously, it’s random, silly and incredibly dumb in the best way imaginable. Every time I’m hanging out with friends and I find out that one of them had never seen this movie before, I demand that we watch it immediately and this is why I made sure to include this movie in the first leg of the Summer of Netflix. It’s a good movie to simply cut your brain off completely and concentrate on laughing. Joel's Thoughts: This movie is ok. On the list of movies that are “Lets see if that SNL cast member can carry a whole movie” this one is nowhere close to the bottom. But it doesn’t quite reach what you would call a “good” movie. I can say it’s a very Andy Samberg movie, in that if you like his style of humor this movie will probably work for you. This is really unofficially the first Lonely Island movie (with Jorma Taccone co-starring and...

We've gotten so used to thinking of massive tomes when hearing the phrase "Fantasy Novel," that it's almost impossible to think that's what Neil Gaiman's book The Ocean at the End of the Lane is. But rest assured this is in fact, a fantasy novel. It's not A Song of Ice and Fire, or The Wheel of Time, where one series can take up an entire row on your bookshelf. No, Gaiman's fantasy novel is quite slim, but a lot is packed into this quick little novel. The story starts with the narrator returning to his childhood home to attend a funeral and making his way to the neighborhood he grew up in. There, at the end of the lane he comes across a pond and a family that he seems to have remember, but then as he sits there, all the events of his childhood come flooding back to him. The book then takes us back to when our narrator was just a young boy who learns that things are not exactly what they might appear to be. He meets the girl who lives at the end ...

Continuing the theater reviews, next up is A Gentleman's Guide to Love and Murder , winner of the 2014 Tony award for "Best Original Musical." The entirety of this show is based around the premise that the main character, Monty Navaro, learns that his mother was a disowned member of the D'Ysquith family, a family of wealth and importance, which makes him a member of the family as well. This also means that Monty is ninth in line to be the Earl of Highhurst. With this new found information, Monty sets about attempting to murder the eight other members of the D'Ysquith family that stand between him and his title. The whole thing is played for laughs though, with Monty addressing the audience directly explaining how each of the murders was to be accomplished and the difficulties that sometimes come with murdering eight people who are all related and never getting caught. It's a concept that is so bizarre it can't help but be funny,with everything on st...

Okay so the title of this post might be a tad misleading but hear me out! It's not entirely off-base. Star Wars 1313 got a lot of fans excited a couple years ago with it's promise of being a gritty, Uncharted-like video game and the early footage did nothing but build that hype. Take it from me, I sat close to the front in a panel for the game at Star Wars Celebration VI in 2012, knowing next to nothing about the game beforehand and left feeling like my life depended on the release of this game. And merely several months later, George Lucas announced the sale of Lucasfilm to Disney, soon after LucasArts closed its doors and on-going projects seemed to be scrapped, including Star Wars 1313. And then came Nolan North's panel at Metrocon over the weekend where he was discussing writer Amy Hennig's departure from Uncharted 4 and is now working on a mysterious Star Wars game for EA and Visceral. North claimed that he knew a lot about the game and it was going to be ...

It's a comedy? It's a rom-com spoof? Who knows! Alex, Joel and Chris try to review this super weird movie! Alexa's Thoughts:  David Wain has made some films I’ve really loved (Wet Hot American Summer, Role Models) and really didn’t (Wanderlust), and They Came Together falls somewhere in between. Wain and writing partner Michael Showalter proved they can effectively balance clever comedy and complete absurdity with Wet Hot American Summer, but try as they might, They Came Together never quite reaches that level. On paper, I should love this film. It ridicules romantic comedies (she’s a small business owner, he works for a major corporation; they hate each other then love each other), anchored by the always-charming Amy Poehler and Paul Rudd. The erstwhile Leslie Knope and Bobby Newport have great chemistry and are clearly having fun, but the parody’s execution falls flat. Rather than trusting the audience to be smart enough to understand its lampooning of roma...

Ever hate it when a bunch of college kids assume you're a couple of hillbilly murderers? I know I do. Chris, Joel, Alexa and Jason review the one of the funniest horror movies you'll ever see. Chris' Thoughts:  This one was a definite pleasant surprise. I’m not a horror/slasher film fan at all so when Joel continuously insisted that I watch this movie, I was incredibly hesitant. This movie is atop the comedy/horror mountain with Cabin in the Woods with Tucker & Dale embracing the comedic element a little bit more overtly. It’s incredibly original as the movie is from perspective of the two perceived hillbilly killers that have the unfortunate luck of fixing up their summer cabin at the same time a bunch of college kids fall victim to their own paranoia and to their psychopath friend. I would watch this movie once a week if I had the time. Definitely the best movie I've ever been forced to watch. Joel's Thoughts:  For those who don’t know, there is an...

If you haven't kept up with Summer of Netflix thus far, never fear because you can simply join us for the month of July, we won't tell anybody. But even if you're joining us for the first time or you've religiously watched every movie on every day since the beginning, here's what you have to look forward to for the first half of July!

Joel, Chris and Jason review Hot Fuzz, the second installment of The Cornetto Trilogy starring Simon Pegg and Nick Frost and directed by Edgar Wright. Joel's Thoughts:  The Cornetto Trilogy (This movie, Shaun of the Dead , and The World’s End ) are pretty much the modern day equivalent of the three Monty Python movies ( Holy Grail , Life of Brian , Meaning of Life ). This is both a compliment and a criticism of the movie. A compliment in that both “trilogies” (a term that is used very loosely) are done by incredibly funny comedians, both create a strong style of comedy that by and large defines how comedy is done for the next several years. On the other hand, it’s usually more fun to sit around with your friends and quote the funny bits than it is to actually rewatch the movie. (Seriously, when’s the last time you actually sat down and watched Monty Python and the Holy Grail by yourself, from beginning to end?) Hot Fuzz is the second movie and a send up of the action genre. ...

Joel, Chris, Megan and Jason all review Jim Henson and Franz Oz's The Dark Crystal Joel's Thoughts:  It’s hard to imagine flat out disliking this movie. Even if fantasy is not your cup of tea and you’d prefer your Henson full of slapstick and silly comedy (Though he does that amazingly as well) you can’t help but just be in awe of what is accomplished in this movie. Henson and company set out and succeed in telling a fantasy epic in a live action movie with no humans. It’s not the best puppet work ever captured on film, but at the time it was. Remember, at this point we had The Muppet Show, and the first Muppet Movie had been released. But the intricate and ambitious character design in this movie is like nothing that had ever been attempted at that point. The movie proves that puppets aren’t just useful for comedy gags. The movie is completely serious and plays the characters straight with never a wink to the audience. It works and it creates a thrilling epic that is s...

Would you like a sneak peak at what has to be, just the most ridiculously obscure piece of Star Wars merchandise ever produced? It was revealed a few days ago, and will be sold exclusively at Comic-con this year check it out below. "But wait!" I'm sure some of you are saying. "That's Boba Fett. He's not obsure at all. There's probably more Boba Fett toys than any other Star Wars character save for Darth Vader." And you're probably right. But you see this isn't just your average run of the mill Boba Fett toy. This toy is based on the first ever appearance of the famed bounty hunter, before he ever appeared in The Empire Strikes Back . At this point I'm sure a different group of people is ready to call me out on my inaccuracies. "No no no, that's not right at all" you might be saying. Boba Fett first appeared in the Star Wars Holiday Special and he looked nothing like that. Those colors are all wrong! He looked lik...

Dive into the ridiculous life of Jordan Belfort with Chris, Joel and Neil in today's edition of the Summer of Netflix! Chris' Thoughts:  Leo is probably the most talented guy with the worst luck. This role was easily his best chance at getting a Best Actor Oscar, he just had the unfortunate luck to be nominated the same year Dallas Buyers Club came out. All that aside, I enjoyed the pants off this movie, it’s an unbelievable movie based on a unbelievable, ridiculous real life story. The first time I saw this, I kept repeating to myself, “how is this guy still alive?” My only problem with the movie is that it seems to glorify the appalling things Belfort instead of admonishing them. But then again, it’s not like Belfort had to go to jail or anything, his punishment was to pay back all the money to his clients so visually, it’s hard to depict any sort of punishment on screen. This is one of those movies that I loved watching but really wishes it was fiction. Joel's...

The image above is what you have to look forward to in this video. Created by a Youtuber by the name of "maurcs," and it's just like the title suggests, all 6 movies from the Star Wars franchise played at once. What are the practical applications of this? Is there a secret link between all 6 movies when you sync them up? Can you actually enjoy this without the aid of some sort of hallucinate? The answer to all of those questions is probably "no." But it's interesting plus it could be a game among you and your friends to see who can last the longest because watching this video is visually exhausting. I honestly wanted to quit during the text scroll. Honestly, it resembles an experimental art film so play it for your hipster friends and listen to them rattle off about it's subtle context and how it has such a "respect for story." Let us know how long you can watch this video without destroying your screen.

Welcome to the first installment of Short Film of the Week, where we select a short from somewhere on the internet that you can check out for free. For our initial installment, we're looking at the fan film Predator: Dark Ages.  Set in the universe of the Predator movies (can you believe there are five of those?) this fan film takes place hundreds of years before any of the official movies back in the middle ages. Apparently Predators have been coming to earth to hunt humans for hundreds of years. It's worth checking out the movie for its Predator effects which are pretty impressive for a fan film.

Today, Chris, Alexa and Joel, tackle Liberal Arts, a film written, directed and starring Josh Radnor (Ted from How I Met Your Mother) and also stars the talented Olsen sister (Elizabeth Olsen). Chris' Thoughts:  That awkward time when Ted from How I Met Your Mother visited his old college and had a weird relationship with a 19 year old student. Also, Zefron is there. Seriously, this is a fun and thoughtful movie about a guy that’s clearly in a transition where he’s too old for some things and too young for others and what we see in the movie is necessary for him to get to where he needs to be. The scenes between Josh Radnor and Elizabeth Olsen are delightful to watch whenever they’re not being super awkward about their age difference. Also featured in this movie is John Magaro who Orange is the New Black fans might recognize as Vince Muccino, a new character introduced in season 3. Alexa's Thoughts:  Going into Liberal Arts, I thought I would like it, not love it, ...

For those who don't know I recently traveled to New York for a few days and because I was there, I obviously had to take in a Broadway performance or two. So I wanted to take a few days and write up a review of each of the shows that I saw. Now I understand that you might not be headed toward NY any time in the near future, and thus you might not be able to see some of these shows. But keep your ear out. Each show that I saw either already has a touring production traveling about the United States, or will fairly soon. One show even has the rights avalible for regional and local theater, so you might be able to see it closer to your home than NY. First up, The 39 Steps . This was the only show I saw that wasn't a musical, and was actually the only one that I saw, that wasn't on Broadway. The 39 Steps premiered on Broadway in 2008 and was nominated for a Tony for best new play. After it closed on Broadway, it re-opened off-Broadway eventually making its way to The Uni...

For those who don't know, ILM (Industrial Light and Magic) in many ways created the movie experience that you have today. The special effects company was founded by George Lucas more or less when no company existed that would be able to realize his vision for Star Wars on the screen. Since then, ILM has gone on to create the effects for over three hundred movies over the past forty years. To celebrate this milestone, they've released a video celebrating some of their finest moments in special effects. You can also check out an extensive piece about the company from Wired Magazine here .

"Frank Goodish, famous internationally as professional wrestler Bruiser Brody, was murdered by Jose Huertas Gonzales on July 16, 1988, in Bayamon Puerto Rico." That's the opening sentence of this book written by Larry Matysik and Brody's wife, Barbara Goodish. The story of Frank Goodish isn't a tragic one, it simply had a tragic ending, one that still is in the back of the minds of millions of wrestling fans all over the world. But Matysik made the position of the book very clear and was sure that stance was firm, Jose Huertas Gonzales murder Frank Goodish. There's no "possibly," "maybe," or even "allegedly." How can someone get away with that accusation without legal action taken against them? Because Gonzales actually DID murder Goodish but was acquitted in 1989 following a laughable trial in which nobody willing to speak on Goodish's behalf was told when the trial would be taking place. I had already read a post written...

You see that face over there to the right of this text? That young man, ladies and gentlemen, is named Tom Holland and will be your new Spider-Man as announced by  Marvel . Of course, we knew the news of the casting would be coming soon as the cast of Captain American: Civil War continues to take shape as they gear for a 2016 release. However, Marvel has yet to announce that Holland will be playing Spider-Man in that movie yet, we're all just making that assumption. What is known for sure is that the next Spider-Man movie, paid for by Sony and co-produced by Kevin Feige, president of Marvel Studios, will star Holland, will be released on July 28th, 2017 and (as announced today) will be directed by Jon Watts. Neither Watts nor Holland have a whole lot to list on their respective IMDb page but maybe that's a good thing, right? Taking the reigns of a much-loved yet much-criticized entity such as Spider-Man comes with a truck-load of pressure and expectations on it's ow...