Friday, May 16, 2014

GSB Podcast: SIDEKICKS AND TV CANCELLATIONS


Though this episode should probably have been called Let's Yell At MDawg, the Five Nerdy Venoms ran down the list of memorable Hero Sidekicks and even Villainous Henchmen.  But first the gang talked about all the TV shows that got canceled recently. Particularly bothersome was the axing of our geek favorites like THE NEIGHBORS and ALMOST HUMAN among others.  Toby-Wan hosted again and asked everyone questions like Why do we need sidekicks and What happens when partners turn into sidekicks? 



GEEK SOUL BROTHER and the 5 NERDY VENOMS airs 10pm eastern on Tuesdays for News and Movie and TV reviews on TALKSHOE.COM.  Search for Geek Soul Brother in iTunes and subscribe to get up-to-date downloads of each episode.  And keep up with future episodes by subscribing on Talkshoe, or give us a 'like' on Facebook and get updates when a new show is scheduled. 

GSB Flashback: THEM! (1954)


Today I'm bringing the big bad bug fest from the fifties.  Nuclear fallout and animal mutations were fertile ground for Sci-fi filmmakers of that time.  One of the most famous was a thriller called THEM!

Even though the Giant Ant Models looked horrible (maybe even for that time), the tone of this sci-fi favorite took a serious look at the dangers of radiation and the disruption of the environment.  The story sets up a good mystery with questions like "Why are these people dying?... What are these big footprints?... What is that crazy noise that sounds like a bad Fan Belt in a car?".  And after the reveal that it was indeed giant insectoid killers, it was all about saving people and stopping the spread of a humongous ant colony.  It was pretty cool the way they kept the tension and fear going throughout the movie.  Hope you enjoy 1954's THEM, one of the top 'Over Grown Monster Animal' movies ever!

Sunday, May 11, 2014

Look at NBC Trying To Actually Get CONSTANTINE Right!


We're already getting previews of new shows for the fall.  And I have to say that this is not a bad start.  The Keanu Reeves' Constantine left fans of the comic a little sour.  I personally liked it to a certain extent, but what do I know?  I haven't taken the chance to read any Hellblazer stories really.  I do know this though, a brunette haired American talking Constantine is a big No No.  On the other hand, for the good guy that treads the lines between Heaven, Earth and Hell, it looks like they got more than the hair color and dialect right.

Matt Ryan is Constantine, the rough edged London anti-hero that just can't let evil spirits do their evil things.  Harold Perrineau is Manny, an angel and maybe voice of reason.  Lucy Griffiths plays Liv, the young woman that is suddenly drawn into Constantine's world.  For those of you geeks out there that know the stories, tell me if this Fall 2014 series looks promising by the trailer:





Five of the Best Mothers of Sci-Fi

Happy Mother's Day to all the geek and non-geek mothers out there.

Mothers go through so much. Childbirth, crying kids, cupcakes, birthday parties, runny noses, sad days and happy days. But most handle it with love and tenderness. I know my mother did. Being a black kid that had a propensity for daydreaming and a love for the unbelievable, I have to say that I had an awesome mom. And growing up, she certainly added to my geekiness by taking me to movies like Logan’s Run, Close Encounters, and Godzilla vs. The Smog Monster.

But few mothers go through what these Mothers of Sci-Fi go through. Cosmic kids, ghost attacks, transmutations, protecting the future of mankind. They’ve dealt with some pretty heavy situations. Here is Geek Soul Brother’s list of the Best Mom’s in Sci-Fi.



Sarah Conner – Sarah is the number one best mom. Chased by not one but 2 Terminators, she protected herself and then her son. And she wasn’t some babying mom that sheltered her kid. Oh no, she taught him everything he needed to know to survive and best Skynet in the future.



Sue Storm – Loving wife, caring mom and a damn powerful superhero. Mrs. Storm has had it tougher then 99% of all the other superheroes. Balancing her motherly ways while battling world threatening villains; the Invisible Woman is one of the best moms ever.






Lt. Sharon ‘Athena” Agothon – Who says a synthetic human can’t be a real mom? Not Sharon Agothon, Athena if your nasty. This number Eight model of the Cylons had a mission to ‘get busy’ with a human. But Sharon had something special in her circuits to fall in love with daddy and have a beautiful human-cylon baby named Hera. And when anybody came between her and her baby not even a fleet of starships, nor her troubled twin could stop her from getting her kid back.




Diane Freeling – I know it's not Sci-Fi but I thought she deserved to be in the list. This joint smoking soccer mom was doing a fine job taking care of her family, until an evil Poltergeist started haunting them. Now she doesn’t get any points for treating things as ‘cool’ with letting her daughter magically slide across the kitchen floor. I would have been outta there! But she made up for it when little Carol Anne got taken into purgatory. Talk about your Amber Alert. And with just a rope tied to her waist and a shaky husband holding the other end, she brought her little angel back from the edge of the ‘light’.




Amanda Greyson – Even with a cranky Vulcan husband who’s romanticism is that of a Sea Salmon, and a son with a chip on his little Vulcan shoulder, Spock’s human mother has always been there for her family. Ready with encouraging and sometimes stern wisdom for her son, Amanda shows the love that’s needed for an officer of Star Fleet. A moment of silence for her passing at the hands of J.J. Abrams and friends.


I'm sure you have many more suggestions. These are just some of the Mothers I thought of. Come on and tell me who you would put in the list?

Saturday, May 10, 2014

What Book(s) Would You Want HBO to Make into a Show?

In light of GAME OF THRONES, I thought a new series on HBO would be a good theme for my GEEK SOUL BROTHER QUESTION OF THE WEEK - #GSBQOTW. So What Book(s) would you love to see HBO produce into a series? I asked my Twitter Family (months ago) what they thought.  They tweeted back some great suggestions. My book reading queue just exploded.

The first answer I got was from my buddy - Papa Kenn Media (‪@PapaKennMedia) - ‬ Locke & Key - a graphic novel series by Joe Hill (aka Stephen King's son). It seemed the most requested were novels by Octavia Butler, African-American Science Fiction Author. And Stephen King's THE DARK TOWER was a popular choice. I'm sure if you take a look at this list you will find something that you might not have read. Thank you so much to all my followers.

Locke & Key - by Joe Hill
 

Rob Thurman's Cal Leandros series
 

Brian Lumley's 'Necroscope' series.
 

Any novel by Carl Hiaasen
 

The Dark Tower by Stephen King
 

Lilith's Brood by Octavia Butler




The illiad / odyssey
 

Seven Waters trilogy by Juliet Marilier.
 

Guillermo Del Toro and Chuck Hogan's "The Strain" trilogy
 

Sandman Slim! Or The Grimnoir Chronicles
 

Hop on Pop?
 

Illuminatus! by Robert Shea and Robert Anton Wilson
 

A Kubrickesque version of Madeleine L'Engle's Wrinkle In Time books.
 

Tripping on Wisconsin, 666 Newark Avenue by Anthony St. Thomas (he suggested his own books lol)
 

Repairman Jack Books by F. Paul Wilson






The Saga of the 7 Suns by Kevin Anderson
 

Amelia Jones PI series by Pandora Richardson
 

Chronicles of Prydain by Lloyd Alexander
 

Ready Player One by Ernest Cline
 

Mark Gatiss' Lucifer Box series
 

Kindred or The Parable of the Sower & The Parable of the Talents by Octavia Butler
 

Legend of the Seeker, and Dragon Age by David Gaiden
 

Ghost World by Daniel Clowes
 

The USA Trilogy by John Dos Passos
 

Which_Way_Books
 

The “Gone” series by Michael Grant
 

Carl Weber - Married Men.
 

Preacher by Garth Ennis
 

Sleeper by Ed Brubaker
 

World War Z or Harry Potter, but more-realsitically, a new version of The Stand.
 

The "Kenzie/Gennaro" series of books by Dennis Lehane
 

The "Easy Rawlings" books by Walter Mosley
 

THE LEAGUE OF EXTRAORDINARY GENTLEMEN
 

GOTHAM CENTRAL
 

Chronicles of Narnia






Y the Last Man
 

African Immortals series by Tananarive Due
 

The Mayfair Witches trilogy by Anne Rice.
‬


The "Ware" series by Rudy Rucker
 

Dragonlance Chronicles & Legends
 

The Crystal Shard Series
 

Captain Alatriste novels.
 

Orleans Sherri Smith
 

The Punisher series get the spawn treatment.
 

The Dragon Quartet (series) - Marjorie Kellogg
 

Dresden Files, Black Dagger Brotherhood, Night Angel, Old Mans War
 

All the Elmore Leonard works ‪
 

American Vampire!
 

Global Frequency would make a great series.

 View conversation
 

Novels by Ursula Le Guin
 

Hearts in Atlantis by Stephen King
 

Asimov's Foundation series or Morrison's Deus Ex comic series
 

Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy

So which book or book series would you love to see HBO produced? Or any other network for that matter. - GSB

GSB Podcast: SPIDERMAN 2 REVIEW / COMIC CONVENTIONS


In this episode the Five Nerdy Venoms reviewed SPIDERMAN 2.  Toby-Wan Kenobi liked it okay, and The Private had a few problems with it.  But neither one of them hated it.

Also the gang talk about Comic and other geek Conventions.  They ask what's good about them and what's bad?  And which ones have each of them been at? Of course this episode includes Nerdy News and our usual geek topics.  Hope you enjoy.





Remember, GEEK SOUL BROTHER and the 5 NERDY VENOMS airs 10pm eastern on Tuesdays for News and Movie and TV reviews. Feel free to call or chat with us about whatever main topics we are featuring. Keep up with future episodes by subscribing, or give us a 'like' on Facebook and get updates on when a new show is scheduled. Search for Geek Soul Brother in iTunes and subscribe to get up-to-date downloads of each episode. Or you can always listen to past episodes on my TALKSHOE PAGE (or try the player in the sidebar). Leave your comments and tell us what you thought. As always, I Hope you enjoy the show.

Friday, May 9, 2014

GSB Flashback: THE THING (1982)



Welcome to another one of GSB FLASHBACK! This is my blog series where I suggest old films and Television shows for all you 'younger' geek brothers and sisters to watch.  You might think they're corny at first, but give them a chance and you will probably see how creative and original these films were back in the day.

Today's suggested film is one of my all time favorites. A classic sci-fi Horror called 'The Thing'.  It's about a stranded research team in the antarctic that finds themselves dealing with an alien that is hiding in plain sight... literally! Check out the trailer:





Oops!! Right monster, but Wrong trailer.  The version above is the 2011 The Thing, which is actually a remake of John Carpenter's classic 'The Thing' (1982); the real Flashback for today.  Carpenter's movie was a major achievement in horror at its time. Just like the movie 'Alien' was groundbreaking for its effects and sheer horror, 'The Thing' had done some effects never seen before. John Carpenter's vision made him the master of horror and 'The Thing' was, in my opinion, his crowning achievement. I think what set this movie apart for its time wasn't just the incredible pre-computer effects of the monster, but also that Carpenter used the device of paranoia in the storytelling so well. Every character couldn't trust the next. And the audience didn't know who to trust either. It may not hold the fear factor that movies have today, but it should still be entertaining to all:





Oh wait a minute! The 2011 version of The Thing is actually a remake of a remake? That's right, Carpenter took the idea from the original 1951 movie called "The Thing from Another World" directed by Christian Nyby, but unofficially directed by Howard Hawks which you can see in the dialog and shots.  Just to let you know, this is also one of my all time favorites of what I consider CLASSIC classic sci-fi/horror films. Watch this film if you get a chance, either before or after you watch Carpenter's film, and I think you will enjoy it and find the 1982 interpretation more interesting.





And all of this is actually based on a 1938 book called 'Who Goes There?' by John W. Campbell. I haven't read it, but it's supposed to be pretty good. - GSB