Death Of Comic Con and Talkin' Tech!

Hey you guys, this is The Mask, and you guys

are listening to the Geekcast Radio Network,

and you know what? You are smokin'! You're tuned

in to Steve Megatron on Altered Geek. Hello,

and welcome to... Altered geek. I'm your host

Steve Megatron and joining me on this adventure

and geekdom is... TFG1 Mike. And Mike Booth Ninja

Powers for the second week in a row or the second

episode in a row. Yes. Yes, Altered Geek is now

on a bi -weekly schedule. You're only getting

Altered Geek twice a month. Because it's all

geek all the time, twice a month. That's right.

That's a schedule I seem to be able to work with.

Hey. Whatever works. We all have fun around here

anyways so let's see there's a There's a lot

that's happened since the last episode I'd like

to say that there has been a lot it seems between

Apple and their unprofessional visions and and

basically everybody abandoning SDCC and Steve

has new 3d printer that he's gonna talk about

in a little bit I've never like I know someone

who is actually at before the right before the

pandemic my buddy Doug Abel He lives out there

in San Diego and he was a comic -con go San Diego

comic -con goer for 20 plus years and then obviously

the pandemic hit comic -con was at home for a

while and but it seems like All of these companies,

now that they're all either eating themselves

up from the inside or whatever, they all don't

care about going to Comic -Con anymore because

ain't nobody gonna be at Comic -Con this year.

And this year it's a little different because

currently we have the SAG -AFTRA and the AMPTP.

Yes, yes the actors gilded and raised guild strike

and that means after everything that's currently

in production and being shot that they've already

you know written Is done. We're gonna have a

little lull. Oh, yeah We've been here before.

Yeah, we've been here before true. The movies

were atrocious and Wonderful times. Yeah, it's

it's when we got star trek into darkness and

revenge of the fallen And quantum of solace and

Wolverine origins. Yep. So a lot of the movies

that are sequel lightest Although the only one

out of all those that I mentioned I can I will

defend quantum of solace as just being casino

royale part two Yeah, it really was Which means

for me it turned into the quantum boredom The

other ones I mentioned were rehashes or just

poorly written so Yes, very much. So I especially

on the Transformers front Well, yeah, I wasn't

much of a fan of the Star Trek film either but

you know, but yeah It doesn't surprise me though

that comic -con is kind of floundering. I mean

for one a lot of these Organizations are cutting

programs left and right. Yeah, probably somewhat

due to the the writers guild and the actors guild,

but the The fact that they're just trying to

cut costs. Yeah, so this is just another one

of those ways that they can cut it and between

removing programs completely from their services

and Canceling ones that that were already previously,

you know, I'm looking at Paramount for this one,

but Previously greenlit and shot and done other

than post -production and then they're like,

yeah, by the way Yeah, we're canceling the show.

It can be shopped somewhere else. And they kind

of insert foot and mouth for the Star Trek. They're

like everything Star Trek on one, you know, the

home of Paramount. And then they're like, by

the way, we're we're canceling Prodigy and shipping

it out to somewhere else. And so it's no longer

that home. And and then they send an email, you

know, oh, by the way, we're raising our prices.

Well, that's been coming for a long time Yeah,

no explanation though in the email which was

funny because like Netflix when they at least

when they send one They're diplomatic about it.

You know, they're like, hey, we're you know,

we're raising prices But it's so that we can

bring you more great content so we can do this

so we can do that for you You know this that

and the other thing Paramount's like now we're

just raising the price. Well, no see that's not

it's not it wasn't just that it's we're adding

where they're they're moving the Showtime content

into it. So yeah It's not it's not we're raising

the price for nothing. It's there isn't going

to be a showtime tier anymore So it's all under

one app. So it's like we'll cut the cost of having

two apps Yeah, it's like we'll cut the cost of

you know Showtime by half and we'll just add

that onto the description price for paramount

plus so but like it wasn't it wasn't nothing

it was just it it's it's just a I mean, it sucks

all around that they raise the price. I just

I just don't want to. Yeah, yeah. It's it's it's

not it. It sounds like it's nothing if there's

nothing. I think you want to watch part of it

just because I think that it just didn't come

right out and say it right at the start. Like

I think it's mentioned it later. And by then,

I kind of glossed over. So I've been waiting

for that one that now I've been waiting for that

merger. There's stuff on Showtime that I want

to watch and I didn't want to pay. for Showtime

so well all of the streaming services are going

to collapse into themselves like like we're talking

about with Paramount Plus getting Showtime HBO

Max is no longer HBO Max. It's just max and it's

gonna have So is it gonna still have all the

I don't even remember if it's still having the

all the HBO content Or is it just no they got

read as they they? They offloaded it They offloaded

a bunch of high profile stuff to that's right

to be yeah But at the same time though, it kind

of makes sense because if you I mean I kind of

get what they're I it does it suck Yes, but I

get what they're doing because if you've got

um Like let's just say one of the shows I get

rid of was westworld but like And I really like

that show but how many people like would really

go back and like watch that? Once it's done and

it's just sitting there, how many active people

are actively watching that on their service and

it's just sitting there when they could go and

say... The show moved to Tubi, but let's just

say, for example, if it was more high profile

streaming service and Netflix was like, oh, we'll

give you $100 million to be able to stream Westworld

for... you know, X number of years. I mean, one

hundred million dollars shot in the arm is way

better than like four or five people regularly

been binge watching Westworld. No, and I get

that. Like, I mean, it's more so the the quick

dump and purge and then kind of never release

it again. I guess because like I know Disney

pulled a bunch of stuff and then Paramount's

kind of going in that same route unless it's

something that's like super high profile And

again, I don't fault them because like I know,

you know, they're all trying to cut costs and

you know with inflation and trying to consolidate

different services and a lot of them are Kind

of Merging with other platforms still but it's

still kind of interesting I miss the old days

when everybody just paid Hulu or Netflix to have

shows on their services. And the other thing

is these subscription services, they don't really

do anything for, and I know Mike, you've told

us before in the past, and you probably, I don't

know if you still do this or not, but you've

told us that you've used a free trial and then

subscribed for a little while and subscribed,

came back later, blah, blah, blah, and all that.

But these subscription services rely on, hey,

if you're new, you can get this free trial and

then your subscription starts. All this stuff,

even cable still relies on Nuke. They don't give

loyalty to the people that just, okay, I've gotten

the deal for two years. I'm still going to stick

with your service because I still like watching

what's on your service. They give nothing to

those of us that actually just stay and pay.

Well, and that's, that's all subscription services.

That's not exclusive. Yeah. No, no, no, I know.

Yeah. No, I know. But I'm, I'm saying that like,

okay, I understand giving the, the new people

the deal, the one time over, but you should also

give your returning subscribers a deal too at

the same time, at least once a year, maybe. I

don't know. I don't know. Yeah, I get what you're

saying. I don't really think about that with

streaming services. I think about that more with

service providers. It's like, oh, if you could

afford to give the new guy, if you could afford

to send a guy out and hook somebody's service

up and they get $44 a month for high -speed internet

for two years without a... or you know rate increase

like you don't have to send anybody out to me

why why can't why can't you just give me the

$44 like deal you're not it it's just that that's

the kind of stuff that kind of bothers me but

at the same time like right now with like the

way my stuff is my my services are like bundled

i'm taking them to the cleaners okay um so Yeah,

so if I call with any type of like an issue or

something like that, I don't push as hard as

I would if I wasn't like. So. If you don't want

to reveal this, you don't have to know it's not

that big of a deal because I don't think anyone

from AT &T listens to this. But I I am in so

I have. You know companies give you. certain

corporate companies and stuff like that, they'll

give employees an employee discount for like

cell service. If you've got Verizon, if you're

an employee, show your employee badge, you get

22 % off or AT &T, you get 21%. They do that

kind of stuff, right? Well, AT &T and Verizon

also have, this might make me look like a bad

person, but they also have first responder discounts.

My work badge says emergency responder on it.

And so I went into AT &T and I said, can I get,

does this qualify? And the guy at the AT &T store

was like, yeah, you qualify, blah, blah, blah.

So they signed me up for it. So the real kicker

is though, like a lot of like the corporate plans

are, they give you. 21 % off of your line access.

Not your plan, but your line access. The first

responder discount is 25 % off your entire bill.

Oh, wow. Well, they do that too if you work for

places that, like my wife used to work for Chase

Bank, and they would give a, I want to say a

15 or 20 % discount. for her having worked there.

And we had that grandfathered in forever until

we switched to Boost and got an unlimited everything

for 25 bucks a month and used the AT &T tower.

So. Yeah, so I got. But yeah, I'm I don't know.

I our Internet bill, our bill all told for our

phones and for the fiber Internet we have and

stuff like that is Around a hundred bucks. Cool.

So because, yeah, and I don't like if I call

if I have an issue with my bill or something

like that, I do call. I'll call and ask about

it. Just kind of like, but I won't rock the boat

too hard because I'm like, all right, you can

win this because I'm still not paying you the

extra like $200 a month. I probably should be

or something like that. Like like I'm not. It's

like you can have this, but going back to what

you bought. What kind of brought this whole thing

up, though, which was the Comic Con thing and

people pulling out of that like it's very similar

to what's been happening with E3 for the last

like decade, I'll say. Yeah, like the the big

the you know, the big three, they they've well,

no, they've stopped going. They don't do I mean,

the last few years, no one could go right. But

like even before that, a lot of companies had

pulled out and they were doing their own streaming

event. Yeah, it was. Here's a here's a pre -recorded

video like I PlayStation has like the state of

play stuff and Nintendo drops Nintendo directs

whenever they feel like they want to drop something

on the Internet. Yeah, I don't really know what

Microsoft does except they seem to have like

a video or something that comes out at around

like the time the normal video game conference

conferences would have occurred. So the thing

is like. Like. E3 though being it was slightly

different because it was more more for vendors

and stuff like that to go and see kind of what

was coming Yeah, the consumers could could go

but like Comic -con like I mean I read some stuff

like It is I've read some articles like in the

past about is comic -con only comic -con because

of the movie stuff or do they or does the movie

stuff wreck? the comic con experience because

you've got other you've got people that are just

coming for the movie stuff and pushing everybody

that actually is there for the comic con stuff

like out and so i guess like reclaim like comic

con like kind of like reclaiming itself is fine

my what i'm curious about is if these people

if these companies aren't showing up what are

they doing to peddle their Stuff like cuz nobody

I haven't seen anyone go. Oh, we're gonna have

I guess Disney's kind of done it on Disney Plus

a couple of times, but they have they haven't

done anything like Well, what was it last year

that they were at Comic Con and they blew their

wad for phases five and six for Marvel where

they're like this is almost everything that we

want to talk about right now and it's gonna be

up until 2028 or whatever the heck it was but

even still like and I've wondered for the longest

time in the advent of streaming, you know YouTube

and streaming and streaming stuff like that like

like Why why were the movie vendors going to

comic con and also why couldn't I pay? To view

a live stream of said like a pay -per -view thing

of said conference, you know, like they're always

like, oh, this is only for the people that like

pay to be here. Well, let me pay to watch it

like. On my computer at home. You know, like,

why are you why are you gatekeeping this? You

have fans that want to give you that would willingly

give you money. I think I think we've actually

talked about like the comic con as like pay -per

-view thing, like like a long time ago on Altergeek

before. Yeah. But like, it's it's so weird that

they there are these avenues that they want that

they can take, but. They haven't taken them,

and now the studios are pulling out of Comic

-Con to not use it as their announcement, so

my curiosity is, where are they going to make

these announcements? Probably it's going to be

on their own platforms, but... Most likely. That's

fine, but I would like to know what that looks

like. Well, a number of years ago, there was

a website where they were doing live coverages

of Comic -Cons and... other original content

and it kind of went belly up too. I think they

only did it for like one year because it was

just not catching on the way they thought it

would. Yeah. And the thing of it is, is you're

asking the question of what that would look like

of where these other like Disney, Marvel, Star

Wars, et cetera, all these, any insert, any movie,

gaming, whatever company you want to say. They

all have YouTube channels look at Hasbro Hasbro

and Hasbro pulse puts on fan streams for every

single brand Most every single brand that they

use that they have and they produce they have

GI Joe streams. They have transformer streams.

They have Marvel Whatever action figure streams

they have Dungeons & Dragons streams for crap

sake like YouTube streaming for the for the channels

that they have on YouTube I'm sure that's where

it would end up most likely But the thing is,

is what if for some unknown reason or some like,

let's say and just really quickly to go back

to what you're saying about the movies pulling

out or Comic -Con or whatever. I remember Comic

Con Star, it was originally, obviously, it's

Comic Con. It was a comic convention. It was

for writers, artists, it was for comic book companies,

et cetera. And then SDCC somehow saw, oh, hey,

look, movie studios. Let's do that. Let's do

TV. Let's do these big events. And that's what

it had been from, let's just, I don't even know,

but I'm gonna say 2007 to 2018. I think it was

that alarm before that, but yeah. But let's just

go with that as an example. There were plenty

of times where I would look at the SDCC guest

list of signings of people I would want to stand

in line for to either meet or have. Steve, you've

had several of these experiences where you've

gotten to go to TFCon and meet David Kay or meet

Gary Chalk or whatever it is. You know, I would

have loved to have had the chance to have that,

and I don't think in the last few years, pandemic

notwithstanding, when SDCC has happened in person,

that they've really, I'm sure there still are

signings, I'm sure there still are events and

panels and things like that, but we have Star

Wars Celebration for Star Wars stuff, and they

did that over in Europe this year. That was okay.

sure great but not everyone has the money or

the means or even if you're you know someone

who works hard works 40 hours a week and makes

lots of money not everyone has the money even

if you did save up to go to comic con for five

days you obviously have to pick your set days

of like what your vacation would allow or whatever

kind of thing and i would rather pay a fee to

watch a live stream of the event or of these

panels, if I had to, to get the experience or

to get that live information, then actually get

on a plane and go to California again. I already

did that once in 2016 and that was not fun. But

at the same time, though, like thinking about

it, like maybe it's just because you said it

and I'm just being, um, being caught contraining

here, but like at the end of the day, like you

should, you're... I know I said I would pay a

fee to watch this stuff, but at the end of the

day, would I really, even if they did provide

it, because in my brain, just having this conversation,

I'm going, you want me, now you're asking me

to pay you to sell me an ad for your upcoming

stuff. You know, it's a six of one half dozen

of another I mean maybe if it was like a panel

like I'm I'm I'm If there's something I was interested

in but if it's just like kevin feige getting

up there like talking about like the the future

of marvel like before it implodes like um, no,

I don't want to pay to see that I Yeah, no, you're

you're just serving me up an ad with with some

with a nice uh powerpoint behind you like, um

No, thank you. I'm not gonna pay for that I really

do think when they had that SDCC with the phase

five and the phase six and they blew the wad

on it. Like they did all that way too soon. Like,

yeah, give us some stuff, but don't give us two

phases that who knows if they're even going to

happen. Well, the thing is, is the bubble is

starting to burst on a lot of this stuff. People

are just kind of, I don't know, tired of the

stories or just not. it's not as Unpredictable

as it was it's gotten very formulaic and a lot

of stuff and so I I think and plus people are

just I Think just wanting something new. Mm -hmm

See for me like especially with like the Marvel

stuff I would For me like all of all of phase

four like every movie in phase four and Everything

well every everything that's come out post like

endgame yeah with the exception of black widow

because that's in the first part in my head,

but Every everything that's come out post endgame

has been just Throwing crap at the wall and seeing

what sticks yeah and I know that they've they

they they had like a plan and the pandemic like

wrecked all that stuff. But now, like everything's

out of order, everything's like delayed and everything's

being done on on like the super cheap, not even

like phase one cheap, but like, well, this CGI

alone has been horrible. Right. Like and it's

it's that's because they're floundering and they're

trying to make now they're trying to make these

big movies like on a much Smaller budget, but

it's ending up. It's it's they're hurting They're

hurting themselves by trying to not hurt themselves

But like there isn't like a with with phase one

two and three there was something for you to

like you like from from the get -go There was

something for you to like sink your teeth in

and get invested and everything post endgame

There isn't anything for anyone that even wants

to follow something like everyone got so used

to going to see these things See these movies

for the next piece of the story The problem is

now you've made X number of movies and X number

of TV shows and nobody has any idea what your

plot or story or any of it is Yeah, cuz they're

all just kind of going all over the place and

then it's and and I know they there there are

people that go Oh, well, that's what they did

with the first book with the first stuff and

they they picked all this stuff up. No You can

say that now in hindsight, but the Infinity Stones

were there like early on enough like that you

could That was like them and that was like the

thing that they latched on to that you could

just they could you could follow that really

loose thread through the whole thing and They're

just isn't It's there there isn't that one tiny

little thread that they can sit there and go

Oh, well, we we're gonna weave this through everything

because they're Dang I I watch these things and

I'm like I'm sitting there going, I don't I don't

know why this movie mattered. And so I wait for

the next one and go, maybe the maybe the next

one will make the entire picture like even better.

But then that movie ends up being somehow. Less

than the previous one, but again, that's because

there's nothing. There's nothing there like I

often I get I get some hate from some people

by saying. Endgame is only the movie that it

is because of 22 other movies that came before

it like you don't like endgame by itself Nothing

in endgame lands if you haven't seen 22 other

movies right pretty much like and So yeah endgame

is endgame is a great movie, and it's it's pretty

it's it's well acted It's it's a it's it's a

great movie, but it's not it's to me. It's not

that movie without the 22 that proceeded did

it. And so with everything that's happened now,

like I had that hope that like, oh, this one

will fix that one or that one will fix this.

And there hasn't been that there hasn't been

the movie that corrals everything to to write

the ship. And they're and they're not doing it

in their TV shows. Like there's just so much

stuff being left on the ground. I don't I don't

know. That's why I'm losing interest. Yeah, and

I understand that. There have been three Marvel

television shows that I was interested in seeing.

One is animated, two are live action. Obviously,

the animated one is What If. That was cool. The

other two were Hawkeye and Falcon and Winter

because I like Anthony Mackie as Falcon. So I

like that character. I like seeing what his journey

is going to be. And Steve knows this. I'm a broken,

broken, broken, broken record. But I've said

it before and I'll say it again like I say it

on the Transformers podcasts we do. You bring

in Unicron to the Transformers, that is a crescendo.

That is the very last big thing you do before

you reset the universe. You have a movie. called

Endgame, like you just said with the 22 preceding

movies building up to it. It's the end game.

There is no more continuation. It's the end period.

Like, yeah, they eventually did obviously save

the world and return the Infinity Stones and

all that and everything else. And it was a really

a super happy ending, but it wasn't a cliffhanger

like Infinity War was, but it was set up to be

a cliffhanger. I know Infinity War was set up

to be a cliffhanger, but the point with Endgame

is, poof, snap your fingers, you just ended the

Marvel Cinematic Universe with Endgame. And yet

these things continued. I'm mildly curiously

interested in Secret Invasion, just because I

like Samuel L. Jackson as Nick Fury. I've only

seen the first episode as of this recording.

But the thing is, is that post Endgame? Mm -hmm.

Yes, but it's only because of him and his character

that I'm interested in it It has nothing to do

with the fact that Endgame ended the universe

because Supposedly they're done with the crappiness

that was phase four and they're moving into whatever

they're gonna do in phase five I don't I'm not

even invested anymore. Like I I I enjoyed the

the recent spider -man movie Mm -hmm because

they drew on the previous two other Spider -men

yeah, yeah, I don't even get no don't get me

started about no. I I liked it because of that

Mmm. Yes. Okay. Yeah, it's it's more of a fan

service I'll give you that but I enjoyed it for

what it is that being said I I feel like the

flash was almost the same thing but not done

as well Can see that and I haven't seen the flash

so but it yeah Come on, Mike. Speak up. No, I

can't I can't speak to I can't I don't want us

I don't want to speak to the flash because I

don't want your spider -man speak up. Oh Come

on I know I am no fan of Tom Holland spider -man.

I'm not either But again, that's why I was happy

that the other two came back I was I was I was

very very very excited that Andrew Garfield came

back Like that was the that was the whole reason

I wanted to see that movie is because I wanted

to see Andrew Garfield as Spider -Man again.

But like that, I see. And that's the thing. I

feel like there's been a number of movies that

have just tried to like. Maybe it's just been

Spider -Man and now the flash. I feel like there

was something else that was just trying to cash

in on all that nostalgia built up. Yeah, the

built up fan base, nostalgia fan, like all of

it just. And like, you know what I did? You know,

I had a bad taste in my mouth for the third Spider

-Man movie because I'm just gonna say it ripped

off into the Spider -Verse. They literally saw

what into the Spider -Verse did and how popular

that was and said, can we make this in live action?

And they went, yeah, back up a Brinks truck.

We'll bring everybody back. And so I had a chip

in my shoulder from the get -go because Yeah,

Tom Holland is going to walk away having been

like the best, having had the Spider -Man with

the highest box office and he's going to have

the movie in phase four that has the highest

box office numbers also. Like, but it's not like

it's not his doing. He didn't do it. You know

what I'm saying? Like, it's not it's like smoke

and mirrors. It's again, it's like any game being

good, like on its own. inevitable. I mean, people

might find that fun. Like I said, I was excited

to see Andrew Garfield come back and get to play

Spider -Man again, because I'm not afraid to

say this. I liked him better than Toby McGuire.

So I like Toby McGuire better than I liked. See,

he's just so whiny to me. He is. But it was nice

seeing his character come back. I mean, it was

nice seeing them all come back. But my favorite

is my favorite live action Spider -Man is going

to be. To a Andrew Garfield. So well, yeah, I

mean he fit the character the best out of the

three but but they uh Yeah, it was just like

well, let's just repeat this in live -action.

This is like see you're not even doing anything

original and that's been my whole III the other

thing I haven't liked about Tom Holland from

the get -go is like his spider -man movies don't

feel like They his spider -man movies are not

the same spider -man movies that Tove Maguire

and Andrew Garfield's Spider -Man movies were.

His Spider -Man movies completely rely on everything

that came before it and the world that it's set

in. Heavily reliant on Iron Man for the first

two movies and even still reliant on Iron Man

for part of the third movie. Happy. Well, they

brought back the whole arc reactor thing too,

like it's just that the the tony stark thing

just will not die and I don't know why but It's

because they because marlo and disney want him

to come back But the at the end of the day like

I feel like the way that Was it i'm trying to

remember because i've only seen them both one

Maybe it's the same freaking movie. I feel like

the way that The last spider movie ended it set

it up for tom holland to finally get his own

spider -man movie It did because it wiped the

slate clean Right, and I I I really hope that

that's what it is. I hope there isn't any Like

iron man gadgets iron man like tech suits ai

in the suit. I I don't want like no no No, like

I, I want, I want to see Tom Holland be the Peter

Parker, the Spider -Man that, you know, he was

set up to be like in civil war where he had that

suit made out of like sweatpants and welding

goggles. Like show me that Tom Holland, Spider

-Man. Don't give me iron spider. Like, I don't

know. I don't. So yeah, that's, that's been my

knock against. But like I like don't get me wrong.

I like the other performance. Like if you cut

out all the Iron Man stuff from the first Spider

-Man movie, I like that movie. But again, that

still relies heavily on you can't cut it out

too much because you've still got the Stark Tower

and where the vulture gets all his technology

from and all that stuff is all heavily tied into

the attack on New York. So yeah, I don't know.

It's. Yeah. It's always been it's always been

a sore spot. I'm just in my hope for the flash.

And I don't want one indication one way or the

other. I won't tell you. Flash is that it's some

sort of a. Pseudo decent send off to the Snyder

verse, because. But even then, saying that out

loud, like, I don't even know how that happens,

because unless Jeffrey Dean Morgan shows up as

Thomas Wayne. I. Cry, you know, it's it won't

land. I will say that they. Took the premise

of Flashpoint and kind of did their own thing.

Yeah, I, I, I knew that. But I figured it out

beforehand because I saw the toys in the store.

I mean, I've had some stuff like spoiled, like

I'm not like completely blind to what's what

happens in the movie. I just like. There's just

hoping it's a they they did. There's an aspect

that they honor what's come before, I'll say,

without spoiling anything and then just kind

of leaving it as is. But there's also a point

where you can tell things are going to definitely

change. Take that for what you will. I'm not

going to spoil it. but yeah, I There were aspects

that I did like obviously Keaton coming back

And how they did that was kind of funny And then

There's a couple of unexpected cameos so Just

I I am Mike will be happy. I'll just put it this

way. I Already know who all the cameos are. Okay.

Yeah. Yeah, that's just not Yeah, you ain't caught

in this air Yeah, I know about no there's yeah,

there's a different one I think I know about

oh, I know about in the last five minutes. Yeah,

I know about that one. Okay, I I Going back to

shoot when this thing first started, I am unapologetically

a fan of Zack Snyder and the Snyderverse stuff

for DC. I liked what he was putting down the

entire time, unapologetically. I'm sad to see

that get destroyed. And I know I I do not pity

or feel any sympathy for James Gunn and the uphill

battle that he has. Because. I just don't know

how, especially in this climate, with everything

we've just talked about, I don't know how to

get people to care like. Especially with a reboot

or or recasting Superman with Henry Cavill Light.

Yeah. But even then like you've got I mean I've

heard that Warner Brothers is scared of now they're

scared of Blue Beetle and Aquaman. Oh Great because

of the because of the reception that the flash

had and I'm wondering like what like Do you think

it was? I'm curious what you guys think. Do you

think it was like actor antics? Do you think

it what it's like the so -called superhero fatigue?

Do you think it was? Like I have like I have

to wonder how closely does the average moviegoer

actually pay attention to these things? I think

it's a couple things. One, I think people still

haven't fully recovered to going back to theaters

in full force post -COVID. I don't know about

that, though. Well, it's depending on the film.

I mean, Transformers kind of didn't really do

as well as they thought. I mean, it did better

than The Flash did. But I think part of it was

The actor that plays the flash Constantly getting

in trouble with the law was part of it But see

that goes back to how closely direct people do

the just as general moviegoer actually pay attention,

you know well, I mean and People pay more attention

than what you think to what actors do nowadays.

I mean People have boycotted things because of

the private life of an actor and or, you know,

studios have dumped an actor because of their

personal opinions on things. So, I mean, it's

it's just very subjective on the lives of the

actors, depending on where they they sway on

their their meter of morality. And I think one,

that's part of it. I think, too, I think most

people kind of didn't really know what direction

DC was trying to go in. And I realized that they've

changed directors and a lot of stuff was like

back and forth, you know, before this actually

got made. Right. So would you say there is an

equal number of people that pay like like that

pay attention to actors and like pay attention

to studio shenanigans? Like, do you think people

just know like they like in their head, like

this movie doesn't matter? I think most people

that are going to the movies today are people

like us. I'm not going to sit here and say the

geeks have inherited the earth, but we kind of

have. Yes, there is still the general movie -going

populace, but if it's on the 6 o 'clock news,

they're going to know about it. And I only knew

about What's Their Name and their criminal shenanigans

because I saw it on a news report. And it's the

internet. Everything is, the news is written,

YouTube, whatever you want to say, however you

want to consume your news. The internet is everywhere

and the news is just everywhere. I remember back

in the 80s when I was a kid in 1988 or 89, I

saw it on a current affair that Robert Downey

Jr. was in jail. and he had all his drug issues

throughout the 90s and he didn't really make

a full comeback until 2008 when he was gonna

be Iron Man. So if Robert Downey Jr. can spend

the better part of a decade and a half in a slump

and be Hollywood blacklisted before the internet

really even took off, then yeah, I think that

anyone today who's on social media who says The

wrong who is high profile enough who says the

wrong thing or does the wrong thing or makes

the wrong impression Sure, anybody can have hell.

I could be blacklisted, but nobody really cares

about me I don't know. I I think that I I think

that just people were objecting with their money

At this point, plus didn't help that Warner Brothers

essentially announced, you know, oh, yeah, we're

changing gears completely. Everything that came

before doesn't matter. James Gunn's taking over.

He's rebooting the universe. And people just

kind of saw the flash is like, eh. Yeah, like

it doesn't matter. Like that's like why would

I watch it? It's the storyline that they're leading

up to at the end. It's not going to make any

difference unless they plan on bringing this

version of the flash over into James Gunn's universe.

The rest of its kind of doesn't matter and they've

essentially written off, you know all other As

far as some of the characters are concerned in

this that movie written them off so that they'll

never really return unless they have a need for

it because There is an element in it that leaves

a door open so It's interesting. I just think

both DC and Marvel are in the same mess. Although

DC never really got out of the mess and Marvel

just climbed into it. But I feel like DC's mess

was caused by studio interference, which is still

DC's mess. Whereas Marvel, it's like they don't

really know where to go since in game. But like,

and that's the thing, I don't I don't know why

I've said this before, but I don't know why that

I don't know why DC came out the gate thinking

all of their movies had to be. 500 plus. You

know, box office movies like. 500 plus million

dollar movies or billion dollar movies out out

the gate like that Marvel didn't do that like

the first all of phase one and like none of those

outside of Avengers none of those movies came

close to a billion dollars yeah, so like if for

for water brothers to And again, maybe that's

part of the studio problem, right? They give

you $200 million to make a movie that probably,

you probably only should have had $150 million

to make a movie with. But that said, you shouldn't

give someone $200 million to craft a movie and

then get mad when it doesn't have a billion dollar

return on it because you started something. You

you steamroll into the billion dollar movies.

You don't start at the billion dollar movie mark

So and I you know what I gave James Gunn props

He's trying they've got like a slate of movies

that they've talked about and they've announced

I'll admit I will probably go and see all of

them I'll probably own all of them but at the

moment like I don't mark my words if The new

Superman movie isn't like doesn't sell gangbusters.

You're gonna see them revise all their plans

again You get what he gets one and like I know

he's already done Suicide Squad for him, but

he's got one basically like you've got one movie

to show everybody what it's about and the bat

and the bad thing about it is you have two other

movies coming out that have nothing to do with

what's coming and That's just gonna drive the

stock further into the ground. Yeah So I in general,

I also think it's Gotten to a point now where

everybody including just the general movie audience

Might be sick of continuity driven universes

We've had the Marvel Universe since 2008 DC wasn't

technically a continuity driven universe. They

tried to be and failed but like Between the Marvel

Cinematic Universe between the Star Wars universe

between even the Star Trek stuff any of the Star

Trek stuff even Transformers transformers is

a toy brand that will go on forever and ever

and ever long after we're gone, but like It just

seems like for me. I grew up in the 80s. I grew

up watching single most of the time single films

like I didn't know there was a sequel to Mannequin

until like three years later after whatever whenever

it released etc etc or I didn't know there was

a sequel to this or there wasn't a sequel to

something or whatever back back in those days

and I think we're moving back into that where

maybe the single film the one whatever that story

is whatever that film is it doesn't matter what

it is has a beginning middle and end That's it.

You move on to the next film I think we might

be moving back into that because I think maybe

enough people are tired of Continuity and I can't

believe that's me saying that because I absolutely

love continuity You know those well speaking

to that Steve. Did you finish it Mike? Have you

seen the the new spider -verse movie? No, I'm

waiting on the digital pre -order Okay, sorry.

Did you say you did finish it Steve? I have not

but I don't care if I'm spoiled. So well, I'm

just my my issue with that movie like It's it's

just as pretty and it sounds just as good. Well,

I don't know. Well Okay, it's just as pretty

a technical level and you know, the writing and

everything is just as good as the first one The

music suffers a little bit. The music selection

suffers a little bit, in my opinion, compared

to the first one. But more importantly, the reason

I bring this up is because we're just talking

about movies with like with continuity in it.

Like. The second movie like Spider -Verse two

is inferior, in my opinion, to the first Spider

-Man to the first Spider -Verse movie, because

it's. At the end of it all, it's it's two and

a half hours of setup for a third movie. Yeah.

And that hurts it. Like if you like the first

Spider -Verse, yeah, it ends on a tiny little

cliffhanger, like a little nugget. Like, yeah,

we could do another one if this one's like really

well received. But there was like they crafted

a perfect like superhero story in that movie

that it sat on its own on the shelf. And I can't

like talk about Spider -Verse two and as a whole.

without seeing the third one, because we're right

back to what we talked about earlier, which was,

does the third one retroactively make the second

one whole? Like, it's not, I have to look at

it the same way I look at like the Matrix movies,

which is like, I look at it as like, there's

the Matrix, and then there's like, yeah, there's

Reloaded and Revolution, but they're one movie

to me. Like I don't I can't take them as two

separate movies I don't I can't say reloaded

is a bad movie and I can't say revolution is

a bad movie or a good movie because I take them

together and I think they're I think they're

fine together yeah, and and so I'm looking at

this spider -verse movie and I'm just like man

I it doesn't hit because it's not done. It's

not a finished product and That really bothered

me about it. Yeah, and that's what stinks like

like you said The first film had a little bit

of a, hey, Miles, you wanna come over to my world

for a cup of coffee or whatever? I'm just using

that as an example. I honestly don't remember.

I know that the portal opened at the, you know,

but like there was a little, like a little tiny

thing that may or may not happen financially,

regard or whatever, it doesn't matter. But like

content and story -wise, that film, as you said,

beginning, middle, and end, it had a full story.

And if the new film, Across the Spider -Verse,

is just a full set -up to Beyond the Spider -Verse,

well then, the only way I'll be happy is if Batman

shows up. Come on, Steve, you know that was funny.

But seriously, though. Yeah, don't... try to

sell us individual and I know they said part

one and that's fine and that's all well and good

and they said that from the onset with Across

the Spider -Verse but don't do a whole movie

that's all set up and then have us wait however

many years I'm just going to say two but let's

say two three four whatever. It's supposed to

be March of next year. Okay well one then but

you know Don't Okay, so That's not that long

wait But like all this setup and no real payoff

at the end and then you have us wait a year That's

just in this day and age where even me I want

instantaneous everything half the time Everybody

does like you know, we want that instant coffee

before it burns Give it to me. Give it to me.

Give it to me feed it to me feed it to me feed

it to me Go ahead, sorry. No, let me back up

real quick. I just want to I just want to rephrase

for anyone that's yelling at the podcast right

now about Twitterverse. Like I I was not I knew

full well it was part one of a two part movie.

I knew full well about that. And I was not mad

that it ended on a cliffhanger. I'm mad that

I can't. Like, I can't say if the movie's good

or not, because it's not done movies. Yeah. That's

and that that's what I'm mad about. I'm not mad

that I met landed on a cliffhanger. I don't it

looked it looked phenomenal I can't wait to watch

it at home because I think Like the first spider

verse like I can't that that movie. It's a piece

of art It makes me feel things that no other

thing like does no other medium Does and I don't

know what it is. I talked to my wife about it

like all the time I do not know what it is like

that movie Just it it hits me in a way that like

nothing else like ever has and I went into like

even the trailers for across the spider verse

like hit me like that and So I was like super

excited for it But like when I watched the movie

like yeah, it was pretty it was jaw -dropping

and the sound I didn't have a problem with the

sound mixing I know other people did but like

I I really liked it. I Liked everything that

I saw but it wasn't it didn't hit Really hard

and so i'm but I don't think I fell in love with

into the spider verse until I watched it home

like I remember going and seeing it in the theater

and be like man that was Phenomenal, but I don't

think it became the movie that it is to me now

until I was able to watch it at home So i'm hoping

across the spider verse has that same Like tail

on it like it will like stuff will Hit harder

being able to watch it at home rather than in

a theater But even then, even if it does land,

I still know I'm going to be watching like an

incomplete movie. And that's fine. I knew that

they didn't sell me like a bill of like. Right.

Yeah. They didn't pull one over on me anyway.

I know people that like you said, Mike, they're

they're used to like binge watching a TV show

or just getting it all out of the way right now.

They're not used to having to wait. But, you

know, these are people that also didn't grow

up with Back to the Future 2. Yes. And then having

to wait for the third one like It's they didn't

they didn't have to live through that like Yeah

See, that's the problem. Okay, I know I I don't

know but I'm gonna say I know Like Hollywood

when they want to do something like back to the

future two and three film it back -to -back Get

all the production done all out at once or whatever

and then release one in 88 and one in 90 Or was

it 18? Yeah, it was, yeah, it was... It was a

year apart. Okay, well, okay, yeah, so then it

was 89 and 90. Something very familiar about

all this. Doc, calm down, okay? Just calm down.

It's me, it's Marty! No, it can't be you! I sent

you back to the future! Well, they do that sometimes.

They did it before. Yeah, no, I know they...

Right, no, I understand that. But what I'm saying

is, in this day and age, if you do that, find

a way to say, OK, perfect example is, and Mike,

I know you've probably played it at least once,

the Miles Morales Spider -Man 1 .2 or whatever

the 1 .5 version of Spider -Man PS4 is. It's

not 1 .4. It's just Spider -Man Miles Morales.

Yeah. I was making a Spider -Man 2 .1 joke. Now

it's your turn. Go be a hero, Miles. Okay, let's

do this. But yeah, the Miles Morales Spider -Man

where it's basically winter in New York at the

time. Like, release into the Spider -Verse or

release across the Spider -Verse. in the winter

of 2023 and then release and I know animation

takes a hell of a lot longer and all that but

I'm just saying like just as a general thing

then release the other one maybe late summer

early fall in the same years especially if it's

that much it's not that much of a whatever like

you're saying but it probably is like if it ends

on a cliffhanger don't leave us hanging off the

cliff for a year people Well, I think the only

movie that I, I know they used to do that like

a long time, like a long time, like serials used

to do that, right? But the only movie that I

can think of that's done that in my time is Matrix

Reloaded and Revolutions, which was May and November

of 2003. Yeah. Yes. Yes. But yeah, it was May

it was May November 2003 Yeah, and I don't know

how I mean they obviously they did fairly well

for being rated our movies and whatnot box office

wise But like I can't think of another another

Anything that's done that yeah, I was shocked

that I was shocked that the That part two was

coming in March like I was I was expecting it

to be like, like you said, two, two, three years

down the road, which there are a lot of interviews

lately, like with people that say there's no

way it's coming out in March, but we'll see.

We'll see what happens. And I think it's because

over our lifetimes, however old or young we are,

we've gotten used to the fact like when I was

a kid. OK, Beverly Hills cop one and two. 84

and 87. They're three years apart. We were used

to that whole thing of, okay, if you see a first

movie and you know or you may think there may

be a second movie coming, it's probably going

to be at least a minimum of two years before

you see that second film kind of thing. And like

we've already said in this episode so far, Nowadays

that really I mean it is the case but it isn't

the case because again, we now have streaming

we now have this we now have that We have Disney

doing all kinds of stuff with the Marvel Cinematic

like here Here's here's this instead of going

to the theater We'll just dump it on Disney Plus

and you can watch it at home and look I am all

for I don't leave my apartment I said this two

weeks ago Am all for the comfort of watching

something in my own home like you were saying

a moment ago with with across the spider verse

Maybe when you watch it at home You'll feel differently

than you when you felt in the theater because

in the theater to me You're going for the theatrical

experience of seeing it on the big screen You're

not really going to you're not really going to

the theater to abs to absorb every single specific

detail of the film and then analyze it on a podcast

the next night over that you know what I mean

like you're there for that big screen experience

more so than to drink everything else all in

I guess I don't know Steve thoughts man wait

what I says I don't know I think he wants to

talk about his 3d printer sure you print out

yet or a Megatron or uh no I've I've gotten a

couple of small objects that I've printed and

had it go on my transformer figures. But every

time I've tried to print a couple of larger objects,

I've not had great luck. I was trying to print

the IDW Megatron and I looked over and I realized

it stopped like spitting out 3D printing material,

but it was still moving. He's had technical difficulties

with this thing since he had it, folks. Yeah.

If you don't want to go listen to all things

Transformers, why don't you tell the lovely people

of Altered Geek what your technical difficulties

were in getting this thing set up? The fact that

it just wouldn't print or stick to the board.

I've upgraded multiple parts on this thing already,

which has helped, but I've learned that 3D printers

are very finicky, not only with temperature,

but you have to get this thing leveled almost

perfectly. On on the board or it just doesn't

print and I've learned that they're really annoying

to To deal with when they just decide to stop

printing but otherwise like the few things I

have gotten printed out of it have turned out

really nicely and the plastic itself is because

I'm using the there's multiple different types

of plastic you can use some of them have different

strengths and Capabilities, there's the the pretty

standard one for like newbies is like the PLA

plastics which are harder overall when they've

been like so if you're building a model they're

great but if you're building something that you

want a little bit of give for then you need to

use like abs plastics which are in like your

general figures like action figures and things

like that because the pla plastics will snap

if there's a lot of excess bending So I'm learning

the things about the plastics and then the the

softwares and and things like that My next project

is going to be learning how to continue a failed

print which you can do through I guess the software

Like People show how to you measure it and basically

slice it off of the the top and then it will

print just that section And then you just glue

it to the the pre -existing one But yeah, I've

printed leg extensions for a Rhinox figure. I've

printed a shoulder -mounted cannon for a G2 Megatron

and the EMH's badge that goes on his shoulder

for a Star Trek Voyager. But I'm trying to print,

like I said, an IDW Megatron and the Enterprise

from Star Trek Picard season 3 so Very cool.

Yeah, the the leveling the the board is definitely

the hardest part and then when the The printing

capability of it when it decides that It gets

clogged very easily which sucks because you have

to tear it apart. Oh dang I've had to do this

once already I've learned too though that sometimes

the 3d printers come with like subpar quality

parts so But yeah That sucks yeah, so I'm still

learning quite a bit about it If I can get this

thing figured out then there's many things I

would like to print with it. It's just Until

I can get the the free models figured out. I

don't want to purchase any STL files that I can

print objects that other people have created,

so. Interesting, yeah, so so working with tech

is difficult sometimes, but. It's it's still.

Interesting to see. And then to try and have

to learn something new on the plus side I did

get a. I took a IT certification a couple of

weeks ago. Cool. And I passed it. I bought it

in like January after my last layoff. And then

I was like, I'll get to it at some point. And

then I was like, yeah, I should probably just

take it and be done with it. And then they're

like, I learned that when you do an IT certification

remotely, like with without being in a physical

location, they are almost tediously annoying.

to make sure that you have nothing in your vicinity

to cheat with. Not that I was like intending

on it. I was like, I've moved everything of reason

off of my desk. And they were like, show us the

surrounding on your webcam, you know, because

they may keep your webcam on while you're taking

it, which is also borderline annoying, even though

they already have like a software that they can

see what apps you have open. So I turned it around

and I showed them. I just put boards over the

part of my desk I didn't want to move everything

for. And then they saw three monitors on the

other side. I was using my laptop, so I didn't

have to unplug my monitors, because I absolutely

loathe that. And they were like, yeah, we need

you to unplug and show us the plugs from the

outlet on the wall for these three monitors.

I'm like, I can't even get to the plug. What?

Yeah, so I had to show them on the camera that

I physically pulled the power cord out of the

back of the monitors because I was like, I can't

get to where the plug is at to unplug these from

the wall because the way my office is set up.

So it was just irritating. But yeah, it was just

totally stupid how that whole thing worked. But

I'm glad that I passed it. Cool. Yeah, you're

always good at the school work stuff. Well, I

didn't even really study. So the questions it

was asking me on some of the things I was kind

of surprised that I passed. My God. Well, it

was asking me programming questions for IT stuff.

And I'm like, for this certification, it's like.

I wouldn't be doing any programming whatsoever,

so it was really annoying how it kept asking.

Hmm, so weird. Yeah, Mike. What kind of tech

have you been using lately? Oh geez I was I was

trying to think all week or in the last two weeks

like what I could to possibly like talk about

and I Don't know I I Well, you know, we talked

about the air pod, you know for a second like

off camera I've been dealing with with the With

what I've diagnosed now as a faulty air pod Which

really kind of like irritates me just a little

bit I my wife got me the air pod pros for an

anniversary gift in 21 and the right air pod

within the last like I don't know if I honestly

it's probably been going on for a while, but

I've just not really paid attention to it until

recently the the right earbud it The it's just

distorted like a driver in it is blown or something.

It still plays audio and stuff like that But

if you it's really weird if you turn on any type

of like noise cancellation feature which activates

like the microphone on the outside of it to achieve

that and you Talk in any way shape or form. It's

just a massive garble static thing fast in your

ear and Um, obviously it's not supposed to be

that way. And so I've been, I've been dealing

with, I tried like a number of different things.

I like cleaned them. Uh, I even bought like,

you know, blue sticky tack and pulled a bunch

of crud out of like the bends and all that crap

and got them back to like pristine condition.

And it just, it's not, there's just some, it's,

it's just bad. So I'm going to order a new pair

next week. I just have to figure out what I want

to order. Yeah. There's so many choices now,

but so there's that. And I guess the only other

thing I could think of is like, I, I don't I

think it had been well since last time I'd been

on for last. I was last time I was I was like

what 21. What do we say? Yeah, before something

like that. Yeah, yeah. Yeah, I I had actually

updated all of my. Home theater equipment. Since

I think I think I'd done half of it. Right? like

before we recorded, I remember I got a, in 21,

I got a new receiver and a new Blu -ray player.

I have, and I had a, so I have an Xbox Series

X and I have a PlayStation 5 and they're both

Blu -ray players, but I've never, ever since

the PS2 and the second gen of the PS3, I've never

used a console as any type of a media device.

In my home, they only exist to play games. I

don't even use the streaming apps on them. They're

there only to play games. So I had a 4K Blu -ray

player in the PlayStation 5 and the Series X,

and I was like, I don't know. You just can't

bring yourself to use it. No, because in my head

that watching movies is something that I do a

lot and I don't want like you hear about drive

failures all the time. Right. And granted, now

I buy almost all of my games digitally now, but

I still don't want like a component in there

to fail. So I'm just not going to use it. Right.

But I ended up spending almost as much as a.

Well, just about as much as a PS5 on a 4K Blu

-ray player. Whoa. Because I was looking for

one... I wanted one specific... So getting a

Blu -ray player that actually does Dolby Vision

is expensive. Okay. And that's why mine was so

expensive, is because I wanted one that actually

handled Dolby Vision. And it does a number of

other little cool features that only I care about.

At the end of the day, OK, well, like for example,

for like HDR content, you can tell the player

what type of display it's hooked up to so that

when it's displaying HDR content it can remaster.

The content in real time. For the display. More

more or less. That's what it's that's what it's

doing But I will say I so I used to be able to

get I used to be able to do Before I bought this

player. I was still buying physical discs, but

My wife and I we were just watching the digital

copy the digital 4k copy so we could watch it

in Dolby vision and it was Some point in like

after we bought it. I think we went yeah, I think

it was like Really like I think was the Batman

we were watching that we watched it digitally

and Oh, no, no, no, it was the matrix matrix

the new matrix movie resolution. No, whatever

whatever the most recent one is resurrection

resurrection We watched that movie when it came

out streaming on you know HBO Max and we're like

that wasn't I Was okay Sure, whatever. All right.

Fine. And I like the Matrix movie, so I went

ahead and ordered it anyways. And when it arrived

on disk, I threw it in the Blu -ray player and

it was like night and day for both myself and

my wife. So it's not just like it's not just

me being like a snob. My wife even commented

on it like it wasn't so much like the picture,

although the picture was a little a little better.

I'm just coming off of a disc. It was the audio

that blew us away because one of the first things

that gets cut back in streaming is audio to save

on bit rate for the picture. Right. Because I

think it's like, you know, if someone's streaming

something, you don't know if they're streaming

it on like a sound system or if they're streaming

it on their phone. So we don't need to, you know,

supply you with that. We don't need to. Cap the

bandwidth for audio like we can just save it

all for the video portion of so it looks really

good But it sounds like you know, it doesn't

sound as good and ever since then we've noticed

like, you know We'll watch something when it's

released on Disney Plus or like again with the

Batman like we watched the Batman and the the

subway scene at the beginning like is It's a

really cool scene, but it's way more visceral

hearing it off of the disk. Mm -hmm and It's

just it's I don't know. When I was when I was

upgrading all my stuff and I spent that money

on the on the on the player, it was it was this

very weird thing. Just like I can't believe I

just dropped this just so I could like watch

movies. But I'm like, that's what I like to do.

Yeah. And it's especially now it's been so weird,

like just to be able to see and like hear that

like that difference, especially like when it

comes to the audio, like I never even like realized

what I was like technically. Missing until like

I got this I got this player That's because I've

been watching everything like streaming like

I didn't realize what was what was going I was

like I kind of fall into that it's good enough

and Like now I'm like man I Tell my wife is like,

you know, we could watch this when it comes out

on streaming But I think I'm gonna wait until

I can actually get the disk because I just want

to be blown away like right from the get -go

because if it's a bad movie like You don't ever

yeah, well she well first of all, I'll watch

it again, but she probably wouldn't want to watch

it again and Then that that right there like

limits like when I can watch it and how I and

how I can watch it Right cuz like, you know,

she might be trying to sleep while I've got like

the the subwoofer turned on and I don't know

It just becomes a whole thing but right whatever.

So yeah, and then and then late last November

I When we moved into this house, I made the jump

to an OLED TV in 2019. And I was, was and still

am completely in awe of that TV and what it's

been able to accomplish. And then last, last

November I went from, I bought a larger OLED

TV for the, for my main like home theater room

in the house. So I, yeah, I've completely upgraded

all my Like home theater. So, so now it's like

when we go to the movies, it's like even harder

to justify going to the movies. Yeah. So because

the movies don't have the quality that you have

that you've built up over these last few years.

And honestly, I don't want to sit in a large

room with a bunch of strangers. I want to sit

in front of my own TV with whatever, you know

what I mean? Like I want to be at home and I

want to control the content. I don't know what

it. I really don't know what it is. I had I genuinely.

Have not had a bad movie theater experience until

like my last three. Outings. Like I like I was

not to the point where like I want to like get

up and like walk out or anything like that, but

it was like genuinely annoyed by like. Just like

these. Just like the people like around me it

was so and that had That had or has or had never

happened to me before so it was very off -putting

like Allie and I even like kind of discussed

it and we had a we were in the AMC like Stubbs

program which is like you pay them $20 a month

and you can see three movies a week mm -hmm and

you know, we cancelled that and we just decided

well we'll go see mission impossible and the

turtles movie and then we're probably done going

to the movie theater and and it's not just like

the people either like i go like because Was

a projectionist I was a theater technician like

I go and I sit down especially in the theater

that we go to We always go to the same one We

always get the exact same seats and it's the

theater that I installed when I was a theater

technician So I know how it's supposed to look

and I know what can go wrong with it and so I

sit down in the seat and I'm looking at it and

it's like There's already something wrong And

so it's like is it enough like can I sit here

and deal with this do I even like And then it

becomes like, you know, my wife can tell that

I'm moderately uncomfortable about something,

but it's like, do I tell her what it is? Because

it's like that thing that like once you see it,

you'll never not see it. So it's like you have

to like kind of keep it to yourself. So you're

not like ruining it for like other people that

can't tell. And it's just like. I think the last

time we went now, I was like, is that is there

like dark circles on like like. Circles and like

half circles like on the unlike the lower portion

of the screen. I'm like, yeah, there are there

They're called screen shakers. They're like they're

broken basically what they are like some of the

larger screens Literally behind them there are

They do exactly what they what what they're what

they're called. They're called screen shakers

There are little arms that have a pad on the

end of them and they gently sit on the backside

of the screen and they vibrate. It's supposed

to help with light refraction so that if it's

because the brighter something gets the more

intense the colors get and if it doesn't with

the larger screens it can distort the image so

by shaking the screen just a little bit it controls

the refraction of the light and It provides a

cleaner image. But what happens is these shakers,

they get stuck in a position. Pressing into this

back side of the screen and you can see them.

Like when I'll bright white light to shine on

the screen, you can see them poking through.

The back side of the screen when they're broken.

Oh dang, so my wife noticed that I didn't tell

her about it either. She just leaned over. She

goes there. Is there like a bunch of stuff on

the screen? I'm like yeah. There is. It's been

there since the last three times we've come here.

Yeah, I said that. I was like, yeah, it's done

that way. And then and then we went and saw.

Fast 10 and. It was just a mess. It's just a

freaking mess. We went and saw fast 10 and they

only played it on one projector was supposed

to be played on two. And I kept like I kept like.

Well, the pre -show was on I looked up at the

projection booth and only one projector was on

I was like, okay, it's the pre -show whatever

it's fine Okay, no one cares and then the trailer

started. I'm like, okay, it's still one projector

All right, maybe I'll start maybe I'll flip over

like it's supposed to and then and then the movie

started and it was still playing off of one projector

I'm like, yeah mother This is and then and then

the one before that it did play on two projectors,

but the two projectors were out of alignment

Oh my God. That was. But see, again, like it

was only off by like. Like pixels by pixels,

but I, I. And you can see it if you're looking

at font, but a lot of people don't know what

it is that they're looking at like. And so I'm

I'm like. Damn it. Ah, so we at the end of it,

we're just like, no, we're not. And that's on

top of people like talking like in our same row

or being a little too, like, rambunctious, like

what like what the case was with across the Spider

-Verse. And we're just like, you know what? I

don't know. I don't. Well, it's like, I don't

know why these guys want to pay. $40 to go sit

in a movie theater and talk. Like, really? I

thought maybe I would do myself a favor by going

to the most expensive house in the theater at

like, you know, a 7, 9, 10 p .m. show. But no,

apparently that's where all the talky people

go. Like, yeah, I don't know. And I know you

probably can't do this. I don't remember. I don't

remember if you can or you can't. Never go to

evening shows. I always go to the earliest matinee

right after lunch because I know Only three people

besides me are gonna be there So we did do that.

We were doing like the matinee stuff like and

those were pleasant But like like I said, like

I like I like I said earlier I go to the same

how I go to the same theater same house, same

seats. So when I'm getting when I'm trying to

get movie tickets, I'm trying like I've got notifications

for when tickets go on sale for movies. Right.

So I get in there like as fast as I get the notification.

I get in there and I try for like to get like

the seats on like a Saturday or Sunday. And I

will literally go in there and they'll be like

the two tickets that are gone are our seats.

I'm like, all right, moving on to the next showtime,

moving on to the next showtime. Like I'm not

even considering any other seats, like even in

the row in front or in back. of those two seats,

it's all right, the 12 o 'clock shows, those

two seats are gone, all right, what's the three

o 'clock show look like? That's not there, all

right, I'm looking at seven, and I do that on

Saturday, I'll do that on Saturday and Sunday,

and the day one's worked for a little while,

and then we ended up being forced to having to

go to the, I say forced because fear of missing

out, which I don't really have, because I wasn't

talking with anybody about movies. Like to see

movies like opening weekend if I can and so it's

like well now we have to go to like seven I think

when we're gonna go see the flash like the only

the only house I could go with it with my sees

was like a 10 p .m. Show which you know We just

didn't end up feeling like it because we had

had such a bad experience with the three previous

movies But and and again, that's partially on

me. Like I want those same two seats like yeah

It's a routine and if you have a routine you

want to be able to be stick to your routine and

when you get knocked out of your routine You

just get all flummoxed. It happens to me on a

daily basis sometimes It's it's that and I because

I was there when we did the install for that

theater I know that that's where they sat when

they did the calibrations for the microphones

Right Which I know you can make the the Big Bang

Theory joke about Sheldon doing his Stupid noise

thing, but I was I was there with an actual with

when they had the actual computers and the actual

microphones set up and Yeah, so yeah, that was

I don't know but yeah, no I ended up upgrading

all my stuff and I Tinker with that a little

bit here and there cuz like there's some stuff

like I read on forums about that you can do like

In the service menus and I turn my logitech remote

into a service menu remote Cool, so I can get

access to settings on my TV that you don't have

the regular consumer person doesn't have access

to and Actually end up making the TV into a better

TV than what they actually sell like to the consumer

So all control is remote Steve what about you?

When's the last time you were in a movie theater?

Hmm think a year and a half ago. What's a family

movie with the kids? Okay Very cool. Very cool.

Yeah, I like I've already said I'm a control

freak so and I don't like leaving my apartment

so I'd rather wait like and what and I'm sure

I could find this it's the internet obviously

you can almost find anything but like I wish

certain websites would Say oh you can pre -order

this now. We won't charge you until the release

date, which is fine. I don't mind that that's

absolutely fine, but like tell me when the actual

projected release date is That's what I want

to know so that way I don't have to necessarily

pre -order it I can just wait until that day

and then buy it. Oh Digital content What else

would you like to bring up Steve? No, I think

that's about it man. Okay I don't really have

anything else. Nothing else, really? No. I feel

like he's fishing. What's that? I feel like he's

fishing. I have a fishing pole and Daniel is

sitting next to me. No, I don't. I don't fish.

No, he's saying I'm fishing to you. Oh. Fish

are jumping today, huh, Dano? I guess so. Hey,

what's the matter? I don't know, Hot Rod. Come

on you can tell me guess. I just miss my dad.

Don't worry spike will be back soon. Oh, hey,

I got something Yep, it's a whopper all right

Rock the shuttles coming talk about doll Daniel

As far as me and my, I have my tower, I have

my Google Pixel 6 Pro, I probably won't end up

getting a new, oh, okay, briefly before we close

out, just so I can eventually put in an ad break

somewhere around here. Because the world needs

another movie podcast. The Geekcast Radio Network

presents for your listening pleasure, The Cinema

Geeks. Hosted by Amanda, Kevin, Matt, and Dan.

Each week we dive head first in the landscape

of movies as we discuss movie news, play movie

games, go in depth on reviews, and even have

a top 10 countdown or two. Also, don't miss our

director retrospective series where we review

line is, if you love movies and love podcasts,

you need to experience The Cinema Geeks. You

can find us on iTunes, Talk Talk Radio or GeekCastRadio

.com. A new show drops on Tuesday mornings on

the GCRN website and all of the major podcast

platforms. So listen to the Marku42's universe

podcast from the universe and beyond. We brought

the entire convention center to the brink of

an inter -genre geek war. Okay, Michael, if we're

going to tackle this podcast thing, we've got

to do something really special. It has to be.

Cool, daily, in audio form, and undetectable

by radar. Something that screams summer. I know,

let's do a Phineas and Ferb review podcast. We'll

call it the Podcast Organization Without a Quillacronym,

or Pauka for short. What do you think? I think

if we're not careful, Candice is gonna bust us.

You can find Pauka on the GeekCast, Radio Network,

iTunes, and all of the other methods you find

podcasts. We'll give you the whole seat, but

you'll only need the head. On the Simplistic

Reviews podcast, we talk movies. We talk TV.

We talk - Hello, Julie, what the heck are you

doing? Trying to make our spots sound more exciting

by adding explosions. Yeah, I'm pretty sure you

could've got the point across with sound effects,

not the real thing. Car, car. Download the show

on iTunes or if simplisticreviews .blogspot .com

I'm sure your insurance company will cover that.

No, they won't. No, they probably won't. I'm

not that thrilled with the first Pixel Fold.

I will be waiting until the Fold 2, 3, 4, or

5. Wait, you want a foldable phone? At some point.

Why? So I can read comics on it? Because Comixology

and Amazon screwed me over out of being able

to read comics on my 32 -inch monitor and I have

to read them on my Google Pixel 6 Pro? Take it.

You're not a fan of the folding phones. No Okay,

that's all right. Well, we know what we're talking

about next week folks folding phones. You heard

it here first No, not next week in two weeks

No, not even in two weeks. We're not talking

about folding phones. It's one way to get a tablet

without having to pay tablet prices It's still

not a tablet No, it's a folding phone All right,

Steve you can call breaking in style, ah funny

Yeah, I'd rather break out in style instead of

breaking in in style I'm gonna pull a mic. Of

course you are. He's gonna break a bad with it,

but They get the fuck out of here and never come

back. Anyways, so what do you guys think on the

internets there? Let us know on the website geekcastradio

.com or on the social medias. Everybody knows

where to find us. I don't need to repeat it.

So yeah, let us know about what you think of

with the the whole superhero thing and the the

films and What tech gadgets you're getting into

and if you found any any interest whatsoever

in this episode, let us know the defiant fascination

with Star Trek There you go right there. That's

gold Jerry gold I have been Steve Megatron and

you guys have been Tf2 and Mike Mike the ninja

powers. Yes So until next time get altered get

geeky with the altered geeks Did we take over

your show No, no That's not I'm talking about

me hello you always do Blanchard. Where's that

button? Yes. Folding phones, huh? No go, huh,

Mike? No, it's. I'll say the same thing my dad

said about like when the trucks came out, they

had the rear steering on them. They're just just

massive dollar signs with repairs over. Like

that's all it is. Like I don't. You're introducing

a fail point. into something that at this point

should not have a fail point. Like. Very true.

But I'm also weirded out by like like I it had

been forever since I had gotten Apple Care on

something. But when I bought my iPad Pro in 2018,

I got Apple Care on it because it was an LCD

with rounded corners. Oh, well, yeah, then you

need AppleCare on that. Well, I mean, but that

was like to me that was black magic because LCD

is not meant to be like cut or printed in any

other any other shape than rectangle. And I'm

well, I'm 90 percent sure. Like I've seen like

teardowns, like I know that they just like the

screen extends beyond the corners and they just

cut like it. It's an animation. It's a. It's

a UI effect where it's actually it looks like

it's rounded But it's just cutting off like the

corner so you can't like see it extending out

past which that's fine But like in my head like

that was black magic like just just the way that

I know that technology works So I was like, you

know I'm getting some type of protection on this

because this is something absolutely insane and

if it something goes wrong with it I don't want

to be like stuck with it for you know, because

it like crap to bed. Alrighty then. You're still

here? It's over. Go home.