NERD OFFICE ESSENTIALS | Dustin

Hey there nerds and nerdettes! Personal space is important, no matter your marriage status or how old you are. Man caves give you the freedom to express your true selves. They give you the space to enjoy football with the guys, a relaxing pool game or pure quietness to get extra work done. The benefits are endless. But what if your interests don't lye with sports or you don't have the money for a pool table? Well, fellow nerd, have I got the article for you! Here are some of the things YOU need to show your nerd colors.

The computer is the heart and soul of your nerd room. Doesn't matter what kind you have. Just so long as you have one! Get that blog done. Play those computer games. Watch those cat videos. Whatever it is you do on that computer! Just be sure that computer background really expresses your inner nerd.

You have some special comics? Display them! Show that you're proud of those limited edition comics. Let everyone know that what you have is better than what they have! 

Action figures. Action figures. Wait for it....ACTION FIGURES!!! Those badass toys need to be out on display in their full glory. And if you still have that 1990's Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle in his original box...I hate you and everything you stand for.

You have a mini library? Prove it. Get some sweet looking bookends, build an awesome bookshelf or, if you're poor like me, keep them on your desk with the Hulk holding them up. As long as they're out.....you're good!

 

This should help you on your way to putting together that fortress of solitude every nerd is dreaming of. Do you have yours set up already? What are some cool things you have displayed in your "nerditorium"?

Gamers On The Go #52 | Kirby Triple Deluxe

Like Zach Fleeman before him, Matt Giguere is back to discuss one of the games that made his top five list of the year…except it’s from his top five list from 2014, Kirby: Triple Deluxe.

If you don’t remember our episode on Kirby’s Dream Land 2 (it was our fourth episode after all), we give a refresher on Kirby’s history and what makes Kirby: Triple Deluxe unique (or not so unique, as the case may be).

Micro Talk #3 | Don't Starve

Once more into the darkness we go as Living the Nerd Life’s Ryan Dampf is back again to speak to another mobile game: Don’t Starve for Vita, iOS and pretty much any other console you can think of. And Chase makes an impassioned speech for another Klei title, Mark of the Ninja, to be ported just as much as Don’t Starve has been, but that’s neither here nor there.

The Forest | Review (SPOILERS)

So... the Forest. Let me just start out with the fact that the last time we went to see a scary movie was the original Paranormal Activity. Since then convincing my wife to see another scary movie has fallen on deaf ears. However, a while back we did just that forced with an abundant supply of peer pressure we went to see the Forest.  

 

SPOILERS BELOW

The story follows Sara Price who learns that her identical twin sister is missing and her last known whereabouts were in Aokigahara the forest at the base of Mount Fuji. The disheartening thing about this fact is that this forest is known to welcome hundreds if not thousands of suicides each year. Knowing this fact she knew she had to go help her sister. Sara had a habit of helping her sister. Jess, Sara's sister, always seemed to unknowingly need the help of her sister throughout her life. Sara explains how she differs from her sister when their parents died, a murder suicide, committed by their father. The difference was that her sister looked at their bodies while she didn't. Jess ended up in Tokyo Japan as an English teacher. Sara thought this was a good move for her knowing that she seemingly never had much responsibilty in the past. 

 So now that there is a bit of a background and intro to the movie we pick up with Sara traveling to Aokigahara because she knows that Jess is not dead she can feel her. The day before she goes out into the forest on her on to locate her sister she happens to run across a strapping young lad named Aiden in the bar/restaurant below the room she had reserved. Aiden, an Australian news reporter was there to tour the forest with his guide Michi a local who walks the forest to convince those contemplating suicide that they shouldn't as well as report suicides he wasn't able to stop. 

Although Michi discouraged Sara from going into the forest she tells him that she can still hear her sister. It's not something she can explain but since birth its a sound that she can never ignore. So that day the search for Jess begins and Michi warns Sara of two things.  First that she shouldn't go with them and second that all the bad she see's in the forest is only in her mind.  

Throughout the romp through the forest Sara deals with a lot of inner demons as Aiden and Michi look to help those in need. They even stumble upon a campsite that Michi explains as "If they bring a tent it means that they aren't sure." As they continue to look around Sara is pulled in a different direction which Aiden and Michi agree to follow. This direction seemingly pays off as they find Sara and Jess' childhood tent in the middle of the forest. Sara says that she is staying until her sister returns and even though Michi encourages her that they must turn back for the night and return the next day. Aiden also agrees to stay with Sara until her sister returns.

Again, this forest plays tricks on your mind and throughout the night Sara in confronted with different sounds and visions. She even gets to the point that she believes Aiden actually kidnapped her sister and brought her to a small cabin in the forest. This leads to her killing Aiden and when she goes to the basement of the cabin where she believes her sister is being help captive she sees her memory of her father killing her mother playing out. Her father crawls towards he grabbing her wrist where she desperately tries to cut his hand to free herself. Meanwhile we catch up with Jess who was running to escape the forest and Sara hears her from the cabin and begins to follow her. As Sara gets close the forest takes its grasp on her. Sara's spirit had followed her sister, Sara was stuck in the stairwell to the basement dead due to numerous lacerations to her wrist. At that point Jess knew she had lost Sara because she lost that feeling they both shared. 

MY THOUGHTS

Meh... definitely wasn't worth going to see it in theaters and not really scary which I was hoping for. Maybe a RedBox rental? But maybe not. 

 

We wanted to give a huge shout out to TJ & Stacey from Warrenton 8 Cinema for Sponsoring this post!


The Marvel Universe Just Keeps Expanding

Nowadays it is nearly impossible to get away from anything related to superheroes in pop culture. They are in every other movie, a number of TV shows, and they're even starting to creep into music videos. And if there is a clear winner in the comic saturation, it is Marvel. Sure, there are some good non-Marvel characters (notably Batman and Superman), but the vast majority of colorful crime fighters come from the Marvel universe. While familiar folks like Iron Man and the X-Men continue to be popular, it doesn't even seem to matter who Marvel puts out there; he (or she) will immediately become a sensation.

Take Deadpool, for example. While familiar to devout fans, most people probably had never heard of him before the marketing blitz that started last year. And it comes as little surprise that the recent movie has done very well, both at the box office and with critics. You know something is a hit when even Betty White endorses it. Of course, as is the norm in Hollywood, a sequel has already been announced. But here's something interesting: Although it's a long shot, if Deadpool writers Rhett Reese and Paul Wernick were to get their way, Inquisitr notes that another Marvel character would be in the second film to battle Deadpool.

"I would love to see the Hulk against Deadpool, because it would be really fun to see Deadpool having to use his agility and his silliness and skills to overcome just brute force," Reese said.

Although fans would probably jump at the chance to see this match-up, it is doubtful because although both of them are Marvel characters, 20th Century Fox owns Deadpool while Marvel Studios own the rights to the Hulk. Reese is hopeful that something else could be worked out, though. "Maybe we can figure out another way to do that with another character in the X-Men universe," he added. "But I would love to see him square up against the Hulk. It would be hilarious."

While movies are fun places to see these Marvel superheroes, they are limited. Whatever characters filmmakers have decided to use, that's all you are going to see. Fortunately, to see much more of these folks in an assortment of combinations, you can turn to video games.

There are now tons of video games that let you play superheroes in a variety of settings. While Wolverine and Spider-Man aren't in any movies together as friends or enemies (not yet anyway), they are in several games. For instance, you can find them side by side on Betfair's platform, where the two exist as part of a Marvel-themed roulette offering. The experience is just like the classic casino game, except it's made more enticing through the use of superhero imagery and, in this case, the pairing of iconic characters.

But the best part of these video games? It's that you get to play as a ton of characters who don't appear in movies (yet, at least). For example, in the recently released LEGO Marvel's Avengers, you can take on the role of Scarlet Witch, Captain Marvel, and Iron Spider. The game also lets you play as villains such as Sandman, Rhino, and Carnage. Plus, you get to control the action and team up with your buddies for several different adventures. Sounds more exciting than anything you would see in a movie, right?

It may not be long before all of entertainment has been Marvel-ized, but that might not be such a bad thing.

Random Scene | Tom Cruise as Les Grossman

So throughout my movie going and watching life there have been numerous memorable scenes for one reason or another. So I thought to myself how it would be great to have a post every once in a while about some of these memorable scenes. I shall call it "Random Scene" and hopefully some of these scenes stand out to you like they did to me! 

The first scene I picked was from Tropic Thunder. The person from the scene is named Les Grossman and when he first appeared in the movie over what looked like Skype I knew he looked familiar. Not until his famous scene where he cusses out the group Flaming Dragon did I realize this was Tom Cruise! Now this isn't the scene that really stuck out to me in fact it technically wasn't really in the movie. This scene took place during the credits... Enjoy!

Wizard World St. Louis | Matt Smith

“I’m a madman with a box, without a box. I’m stuck in a black hole at the end of the universe in a stupid old junkyard!”

Matthew Robert “Matt” Smith is an English actor and director. He is best known for his role as the eleventh incarnation of the Doctor in the British television series Doctor Who, for which he received a BAFTA Award nomination in 2011.

Smith initially aspired to be a professional footballer, but spondylosis forced him out of the sport. After joining the National Youth Theatre and studying Drama and Creative Writing at the University of East Anglia, he became an actor in 2003, performing in plays like Murder in the Cathedral, Fresh Kills, The History Boys and On the Shore of the Wide World in London theatres. Extending his repertoire into West End theatre, he has since performed in the stage adaptation of Swimming with Sharks with Christian Slater, followed a year later by a critically acclaimed performance as Henry in That Face.

Before his role in Doctor Who, Smith’s first television role came in 2006 as Jim Taylor in the BBC adaptations of Philip Pullman’s The Ruby in the Smoke and The Shadow in the North while his first major role in television came as Danny in the 2007 BBC series Party Animals. Smith, who was announced as the eleventh incarnation of the Doctor in January 2009, is the youngest person to play the character in the British television series. He left the series at the end of the 2013 Christmas Day special, “The Time of the Doctor.”

Smith was born and brought up in Northampton. He attended Northampton School for Boys. He had planned to be a professional football player, having played for the youth teams of Northampton Town, Nottingham Forest, and Leicester City. After a serious back injury ruined this career, his drama teacher introduced him to acting by signing him up as the tenth juror in an adaptation of Twelve Angry Men without his consent. Although he took part in the play, he refused to attend a drama festival for which his teacher had also signed him up, as he saw himself as a football player and did not view acting as socially acceptable. His drama teacher persisted, and eventually persuaded him to join the National Youth Theatre in London.

After leaving school, Smith studied drama and creative writing at the University of East Anglia, graduating in 2005. His first theatre roles as part of the National Youth Theatre were Thomas Becket in Murder in the Cathedral and Basoon in The Master and Margarita. His role in the latter earned him an agent and his first professional jobs, Fresh Kills and On the Shore of the Wide World. His new professional roles led him to seek an agreement with his university so that he could graduate without attending lectures in his final year.

Smith’s first television role was as Jim Taylor in the BBC adaptations of the Sally Lockhart quartet books The Ruby in the Smoke and The Shadow in the North. His first major television role came in the television series Party Animals, a BBC television drama series about fictional parliamentary advisors and researchers in Westminster. In Party Animals, Smith portrays Danny Foster, a parliamentary researcher to Jo Porter (Raquel Cassidy), a Labour politician and junior Home Office minister. At 26 years old, Danny is described as an intelligent but timid “politics geek” who should have moved on from researching at his age. Within the series’ narrative, he attempts to balance his affections for Kirsty MacKenzie (Andrea Riseborough), his intern, while trying to prevent Porter’s imminent decline.

In an interview in 2007, Smith discussed his character’s motivations. He summarised Danny as having a romantic outlook of the political world while being cynical elsewhere. The character was drawn into politics by his father and his own political drive. He defended his character’s age by characterising him as being loyal to Porter, instead of being incompetent. He talked about his character’s emotional and intellectual maturity: emotionally, he lacks confidence around women—most notably seen with his unrequited love towards Kirsty—but Smith portrays Danny as a caring and sensitive but “wry, sarcastic, [and] witty” romantic; and intellectually, Danny is portrayed as attentive and possessing a strong work ethic.

Smith was revealed as the Eleventh Doctor in the British science-fiction television series Doctor Who in January 2009 to replace David Tennant, who announced his departure in October 2008. Smith was a relatively unknown actor compared to the actors then speculated about possibly taking on the role, who included Paterson Joseph, David Morrissey, Sean Pertwee, James Nesbitt, Russell Tovey, Catherine Zeta-Jones, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Robert Carlyle and Billie Piper. Smith was first named as a possible successor less than a day before he was announced as the Eleventh Doctor, on 3 January 2009 edition of BBC Breakfast among the names speculated about. His obscurity prompted the news headline “Doctor Who?,” a riff on the show’s title.

Smith was one of the earliest actors to audition for the role, performing on the first day. The production team, consisting of the incoming producer, Steven Moffat, and BBC Wales Head of Drama and executive producer, Piers Wenger, immediately singled him out based on his performance. Smith additionally auditioned for the role of John Watson in the Moffat-created Sherlock, undergoing auditions at the same time; he was unsuccessful, as Moffat believed his eccentric acting style was closer to Holmes, whose role had already been given to Benedict Cumberbatch. At 26 years old, Smith was three years younger than Peter Davison was at the time of his casting as the Doctor in 1981, and younger than any other actor suggested for the role. After three weeks of auditions, Moffat and Wenger agreed that it had “always been Matt” and approached him to accept the role. The BBC were cautious about casting him because they felt that a 26-year-old could not play the Doctor adequately; Wenger shared the same sentiment but thought Smith had proven his acting quality in Party Animals, which Wenger thought highlighted Smith’s “mercurial qualities.” Some fans of the show believed that Smith was inexperienced and too young for the role, while others supported him by citing his demonstrated acting ability. For his performance in his first series he was nominated in the Outstanding Drama Performance Category of the National Television Awards.

Smith has said of his character: “The Doctor is excited and fascinated by the tiniest of things. By everything. By every single thing. That’s what’s wonderful about him as a character. It’s why children like him, I think. Because he doesn’t dismiss anything. He’s not cynical. He’s open to every single facet of the universe.” In June 2010, Smith appeared on stage with Orbital, and performed with them a version of the Doctor Who theme, at the Glastonbury Festival. Smith hosted the Doctor Who Prom at the Royal Albert Hall on 24–25 July 2010. On the morning of 26 May 2012, Smith carried the Olympic torch in Cardiff, an activity which was noted by Doctor Who fans for its resemblance to a 2006 episode of the show in which the Doctor carried the torch. On 1 June 2013, the BBC announced that Smith would be leaving Doctor Who at the end of the 2013 Christmas special.

Smith appeared in a deleted scene of the 2007 film In Bruges, playing a younger version of Ralph Fiennes’ character. He starred in the 2009 short film Together and the 2010 film Womb. In February 2013, it was reported that Smith had signed up to appear in Ryan Gosling’s directorial debut How to Catch a Monster. Smith’s directorial debut, the short film Cargese, was aired on Sky Arts in May 2013.

During Smith’s tenure in On the Shore of the Wide World, the play transferred to the Royal National Theatre in London. After finishing the play, he took on the role of Lockwood, a pupil in the Alan Bennett play The History Boys. After The History Boys, he would act in the teen play Burn/Chatroom/Citizenship and Swimming with Sharks; the latter being his West End début, with Christian Slater. In 2007, Smith appeared as Henry in the critically acclaimed Polly Stenham play That Face at the Royal Court Theatre Upstairs in Chelsea. The play transferred to the Duke of York’s Theatre in the West End in 2008 and became Smith’s second role there. That Face focuses primarily upon alcohol and drug addiction in an upper-middle-class family after the paternal figure in the family leaves. As Henry, Smith portrayed an aspiring artist who left school to take care of his mother. To prepare for the role, the cast interviewed alcoholics and their families. Smith discussed his character’s relationship with his mother in an interview with the Evening Standard.

The entire cast of the play was nominated for the 2008 Laurence Olivier Award for Outstanding Achievement in an Affiliate Theatre, and Smith won the Evening Standard’s award for “best newcomer” for his role. Upon its transfer to the West End, Smith’s performance as Henry was highlighted as one of the positive aspects of the play by critics for the Evening Standard, Daily Express, The Guardian, and The Times.

On 7 October 2013, it was announced Smith would portray Patrick Bateman in the musical adaption of American Psycho at London’s Almeida Theatre. The show will begin its run in December.

Podcast | GOTG #51 | Titan Souls

After seeing Titan Souls on Zach Fleeman’s top five handheld games of 2015 list, Chase wanted to get him back to talk about this interesting little adventure. We chat about its overt references to games like Shadow of the Colossus and The Legend of Zelda, Chase’s certain love for an oft-forgotten Godzilla enemy and what it all means…if it means anything at all.

Show Notes:

  • Zach put up a YouTube video that details even more of his thoughts on the game.
  • In the show, we talk about a specific Steam forum thread that explores the origins of the Titans’ names and how that may inform the game’s story. Read more about it here. 
  • And really, you should read Nick Suttner’s book on Shadow of the Colossus. An excellent book on an excellent game. Grab a copy at Boss Fight Books.