Interview with Fox from Geek Scholars Movie News

Let me take your order, jot it down. You ain't

never been like me. You're listening to the Keycast

Radio Network. slam into you, he didn't bump

you, he didn't nudge you, he rubbed you. And

Ruben's son is racist. Hello and welcome to Geekcast

Radio. This is episode 70 .5 and no, just because

it's a point five does not mean it's not going

to be a full episode. I am your, one of your

hosts TF2 and Mike. Joining me is Steve Megatron.

Hello. Hello. And we are continuing the syndication

nation spotlight here on GCR. This time around,

we talk to Fox from Geek Scholars Movie News.

Hello, sir. Hi, guys. How you doing? Thanks for

having me. Awesome. Yeah, it's good to have you.

What number in line were they, Steve? I forget.

You just send me the applications and I say yeah

or nay. I don't remember. It was number six.

Okay, so you're the sixth overall. syndicated

partner on the GCRN. Why don't you give us and

give the listeners a little bit of background

on yourself. I would be happy to. So again, my

name is Fox from Geek Scholars Movie News. We

are a podcast team of four people with Jill,

Chris, and Lauren. We've been in business for...

Just about three years now, we cover more of

the movie news aspect of cinema, so instead of

doing actual movie reviews week to week, we try

to cover the headlines and talk about each headline

in sort of a pundit -style discussion each week.

Awesome. Awesome. Yeah, I've caught a few episodes.

You guys really do a really good job. Thank you.

Better than I could do, because I found out that

I... Mike doesn't have the personality for news

because it infuriates him because of how back

and forth it makes him. Yeah, I found out in

the last six months or so that news stories,

I tend to approach them as I approach almost

everything else in life. I either really love

them, really hate them, or I'm indifferent. And

it's just one of those things that it constantly,

constantly frustrates me. We get news stories,

whether they be real, fake, or otherwise. I'm

sorry. Warner Brothers and Legendary split up.

Yes, it did. That is so fake. For a piece of,

you know, cinema that isn't even coming out until

God knows when, you know. When you say it's fake,

can you elaborate a little bit? I'm trying to

avoid this because I know some of our listeners

don't like me ranting and raving about the BS.

About the BS that is BVS. There was a trailer.

I don't know if you saw it. There was a trailer

that came out of a mock trailer. A mock trailer

that came out with Batman and he's watching his

giant bat computer in the Batcave. On the front

of it, it had Legendary and Sin copy as part

of the thing. And I'm thinking, yeah, that's

fake. Because Legendary and WB, I mean, that

story was last year that they broke up. And just

some of the news out there that isn't even really

a news story. just really kind of makes me so

mad. Well, I think it's a fair point there, Mike.

I think that there is something we try to make

sure we do is if we're going to talk about something

that is clearly a rumor, we label it as such

and we talk about the conjecture and labeling

it again as such. What we really try to feed

off of are the press releases that come from

official sources, official casting announcements

where the ink is dry on the contract, everything

else. I agree with you. There are too many sites

that try to make a living off of sensationalism,

and we are not proponents of that in any nature.

I agree with you in that stance. And see, I think

a lot of these sites, and a lot of them are very

reputable in certain aspects, but a lot of them

aren't in certain aspects. I think all these

sites are online tabloids at this point. Well,

I think you make a good point there. I think

there's a difference between being reputable

and popular. And unfortunately, I think a lot

of websites are trying really hard to be popular.

We see it even across Facebook and Twitter, where

you see headlines that, you know, top 10 things

about Batman. You won't believe number six. And

they really... clickbait and it's really a shame

because I think there is a there is room in the

conversation to have just an honest intellectual

if not academic conversation about cinematic

happenings even if they are pulpy cinematic happenings

even if it's about transformers or Batman v Superman

those are fun conversations to be had if they're

portrayed in a light that is less speculative

and more based on fact i love a friend of mine

on facebook uh... derek ferguson from the podcast

better in the dark he uh... every now and then

i'll see him post your daily dose of blah ha

ha ha ha it'll have some lincoln's so like i

think the latest on the something to do with

that the the uh... star wars episode seven was

insured and i think you know it's just like oh

wow So what made you guys want to, how did the

Geek Scholars crew kind of come together? What

made you guys want? Why movie news? Why is that

something that you guys wanted to talk about?

Oh, it's a great question, Mike. So it started

several years back. One of the geek scholars

on the show knew I was taking a trip and she

had been getting it, Jill, and she had been getting

into podcasting. And I said, I really needed

some. I had horrendous layovers and whatnot.

And she recommended a few that she found. And

they were all pretty similar, Mike. They were

all movie reviews that ended up being reviews

longer than the actual film I was amazed at how

people were putting together podcasts where they

would discuss a film that Just seemed to go on

and on and on I understand that people like to

dedicate a lot of time To the movies that come

out and have long conversations about them, but

I I was lacking I I felt there was a gap in that

I couldn't find a program that really Discussed

film again more from a scholarly academic point

of view and had a fun conversation about other

aspects of cinema rather than what was playing

at your local box office. Casting decisions,

directorial decisions, cinematic decisions overall

in terms of the big blockbusters as well as the

smaller independent films. And so I eventually

reached out to a friend of mine who is economist

by trade and he just is a very smart individual

and he really, I thought he could... Sort of

at an angle to the news where he would talk about

trends in the way people went to see films in

terms of Spending their money and IMAX and 3d

and he he jumped on board And then we brought

on an art historian of all people. She is a pastry

chef and a baker, and we wanted her to talk about

the artistic nature of film. And then finally

we added the person who gave me the idea in the

first place, Jill, who represents, I think, sort

of the idea of the average filmgoer who... loves

a little bit of everything and wants to figure

out a way in which she connect to all different

kinds of films. So we thought the four of us

would add really unique perspectives to discussing

the week's headlines and offering a way of bringing

the news to people who want to know what was

going on in film, beyond just what was happening

at their box office each week. That is interesting.

I know that when Steve and I started up Movie

Week in Review, he wanted it to be that. He wanted

it to be a news show. Um, well, I kind of wanted

a combination, which is what spawned, uh, it's,

it's actually, uh, funny concept enough is, uh,

three and a half years later, uh, my cohorts

here on the network decided, oh, we're going

to, we want to do, uh, uh, a movie, you know,

like a small movie review of up to date films

along with news. And I was like, that's. Basically,

the same concept I had, only I kind of lacked

the motivation to sit down weekly and do it at

the time. Or the time. It's a time crunch. It's

a time suck. At the time, we had just started

the GCRN and I was so burnt out. 2008 2009 this

guy started like four or five shows and was okay

Yes, that is true, but that's not what I was

gonna say Over on Steve's original show that

he will be you know laying to rest and in a you

know spark chamber near you on all things transformers

we I got to the point where all the rotten of

the fallen stories are just that they're not

even stuck like when tfw two thousand five dot

com you know bless them they do amazing work

over there but when they put new stories of oh

hey the movie is filming here oh hey the movie

is film location story those are not story i

agree and i i just got so burnt i understand

it on on doing Like you said, it takes a lot

of time and a lot of dedication, and it's a very

much a time suck. I said to Steve, I said, well,

I'd like to do that if we could actually dedicate

the time to do it. And I said, why don't we just

do... review a movie every week and right just

have it as like a Saturday matinee because Movie

week in review actually used to air on Saturday

morning Saturday afternoons And at the time in

2009 I had this gigantic DVD collection. I'm

like, okay, I can just go down the list Yeah,

and I want to jump in there Mike's I think what

you guys do is creaks I think that you need a

unique voice and perspective and I'm okay with

great movie review Podcasts like yours that really

I think add a unique perspective and a unique

voice and some Comradery and some comedy to it.

That's all well and good. I think what I got

tired of was the the regurgitation of the film

and spoiling it and things of that nature and

so What I appreciate with what you guys do is

you add a little bit of levity to the situation

You definitely are enjoying yourselves and that

comes through and what the craft that you guys

put together And let's be honest when I started

this I was not thinking about doing What is in

your theater this week, right? I was thinking

of doing it made more sense to us to do the you

know, what's in our collection because You pretty

much own what you like Right, of course. That,

and most of the movies are 20 and 30 years old.

And if you need a spoiler warning for a 20 year

old movie, there's something wrong with you.

You've missed out. Exactly. You've already missed

the train. You should not be listening to this

show pretty much. You should be going to watch

that movie we're talking about. Yes, exactly.

And sometimes we will say that at the beginning

of a show, you know. You know I will say not

necessarily put it as a spoiler warning But I

will say you know we're gonna sit here and talk

about this we're gonna dissect it We're gonna

spoil the hell out of it if you haven't seen

it turn the podcast off Go watch the damn movie

and then come back and listen to our opinion,

and I think that's perfectly fair What would

you like to ask him Steve so As far as is As

far as going through podcasting, what do you

see the next evolution, so to speak, of your

podcast? Yes, Steve, it's an excellent question.

I think that more and more, and we even get requests

for this frequently, is to have a video component,

which I find very fascinating. I think that people,

for whatever reason, like to see the hosts, what

they look like, their facial responses, and I

understand that. I think it adds a level of connectivity

to the conversation that I think people are craving.

I honestly don't think the Geek Scholars is going

to do that anytime soon. I think we enjoy the

fact that we have to work a little bit harder

that you can understand our tone and our inflection

and our insinuations just through the way we

use our voices. I think we like the radio aspect

of it as our medium, but I do think that more

and more we're going to see more podcast evolving

as you put it very eloquently to a more visual

medium. I think we're going to see more production

value because it's much easier to make those

kinds of videos where you will have sort of the

pardon the interruption ESPN sort of overlays

on top of the people talking much more like a

homegrown talk show. And so I think that's where

the podcast realm is headed. It'll be interesting

to see if the ones that are Audio only can survive.

I think they can but I think it's going to get

the competition is gonna grow stiffer The competition

might grow stiffer, but everybody wants Real

radio programming. I hope so. I think that there's

there's a nice balance between the two I think

that for some people they really enjoy the visual

and Don't get me wrong, sometimes I enjoy it

as well. If I have time to kill and I'm sitting

here on the computer and I just have a window

popped up on either really small window or my

other monitor and then I kind of listen and watch

as I'm doing other things. But it's also nice

to have the audio element because if you're on

the go, like say in your car or you're doing

an outside job. It makes it nice having it on

your MP3 player to sit there and listen to on

your headset so that you can kind of take the

show on the go. No, I agree with you. I think

I think we try to be for the multitasker, the

people who are believe they can do multiple things

at once. And therefore they're cooking their

dinner and listening to us or going for a bike

ride and listening to us. They're on the metro

making their commute to work and listening to

it. And I think we actually really appreciate

that. I think because we're all. People who do

that in our own lives and we look for shows Like

yours or like NPR that we can feel stimulated

by audibly by at the same time doing something

else with our hands or some other medium Absolutely,

cuz I you know, there's only a couple of podcasts

that I watch the video version of there's a network

I watch various podcasts from called after buzz

TV and sure If their servers aren't working properly

and I can't doubt it it happens a lot more than

you think For some weird reason this this network

that was started by Kevin under Garo and Maria

Manuno's of all people Sometimes their podcast

won't download properly or they haven't gotten

them up on the server By the time they said they

were going to etc etc etc So I'll just go to

their YouTube channel and I'll find the episode

that I'm wanting to Listen to and I'll just I'll

click the video, but I won't watch it I'll put

it in the background and I'll just listen to

it. It's just one of those things where unless

it's a Video series specifically my buddy Jason

Duvall and Dave Draper They have a series on

their site called bored. Okay, where they take

a look at video games from the 1950s all the

way up to today and it's a It's a cute little

videos video series that's done once a week for

about ten weeks at a time and You know that you

have to watch you don't necessarily have to watch

the review of the board game But I mainly watch

it for the intro and the closing because it's

just hilarious. Oh good You know so I'll watch

stuff like that podcast in general to me that

you know I've said this for the last four or

five years They are the new, the next evolution

of radio. You know, we always talk about, oh,

well there's talk radio and there's AM radio

and everything else. Well, half the stuff on

FM radio, depending on what it is, you know,

depending on your musical tastes, half the stuff

is, and I understand why this is, because they

need to pay for it, but half of, every time I

turn on the station on the FM dial, it's like

commercial. commercial. I get it. They need to

use those to pay for their, you know, you know,

and all that stuff. But it's like, wow, I'd rather

just, you know, listen to something that, you

know, I care about more so than have to hear

ad after ad after ad. And we use ads and our

stuff and everything else. What I try to do and

what I excel at is the review shows. And what

I try to do is I try to create something that

As I'm editing the show, obviously, I put the

theme music on the beginning and the end. Right,

sure. If we're doing an episode review, I'll

put a clip from that episode, and then we'll

do a discussion clip from the next episode, et

cetera, et cetera, et cetera. And every now and

then I'll throw in a commercial with the He -Man

show that we're doing. I sometimes will throw

in that old Castle Grayskull audio. Excellent.

It's that kind of thing. Yeah, well, I think

you bring up an interesting discussion there

Mike I mean more and more I think the thing that

turns me off from many podcasts even well respected

podcasts with celebrities or or high -end hosts

is is too many ads I or ads that don't make sense

in the context of the content that I'm listening

to and that's something that I I really have

an issue with I feel more and more that It detracts

from the overall narrative of the show and that's

something I'm not in favor of I don't mind shows

that really try to integrate Advertisements or

promotions or sponsorship for things that are

directly related to the content in which I'm

listening to But there are way too many shows

like when I'm listening to Neil deGrasse Tyson's

show and he does an ad about microwaves or or

recliners or lazy boy, you know, that seems so

out of place. It's almost like breaking the suspension

of disbelief in a movie. It would be like watching

a Star Wars film and then suddenly in the middle

of it, seeing an advertisement for McDonald's.

Right. Exactly, Steve. Exactly. It really detracts

from the overall experience. And so I think I

think it's an interesting point you bring up

there, Mike, how ads are permeating more and

more into the into the narrative. And that's

kind of upsetting. We don't try to be elitist

in any way about this, but we made a commitment

and we're going to try and stick to it as long

as we possibly can. The Geek Scholars has no

ads. There are no ads on our site. There are

no ads on the podcast. And I think we're fortunate

in that we love doing it so much that even if

we had three listeners per week, our moms and

dads, I think we'd still do it. And we're going

to try and keep doing it as long as we can in

that fashion. Or we've said if we get an ad or

a sponsorship, it has to be directly related

to what we're all about. It would have to be

something cinematic, entertainment related that

really complemented what we were trying to do

on the show. With some of the ads like we usually

try it like when we do them Put shows like if

it's an animation show or it's like some kind

of or we talk about maybe Batman We'll talk,

you know throw in our Batman ad for that podcast

that makes perfect sense. Yes, but but like Like

I've listened to this week in tech and they'll

have okay and now an ad from stamps Yeah. It's

like you're a tech show. I can see audible, I

can see carbonite, but stamps, really? Right,

yeah, it really breaks, again, that suspension

of disbelief. It takes you out of the element

that you wanted to be in when you decided to

hit play. You decided at some point that you

were gonna dedicate your hard earned time. to

this medium, to this art form, and then suddenly

there's something very jarring in the middle

of it. I find that very disconcerting. There's

a couple, I don't know if they do this anymore,

but there's a couple of things, a couple of shows

that I listen to on that AfterBuzz TV network

where they used to... right in the middle of

conversation, stop the entire conversation to

transition into an Amazon ad. And that I don't

like when you do it mid -show. If you're going

to say, OK, we're going to take a break, you're

going to hear an ad and we'll come back on the

other side. If you're going to say something

like that, fine. But if you're just going to

stop the complete conversation or interrupt somebody's

conversation mid -sentence. That's a little ridiculous.

I try my best unless it's something that we just

started or unless it's something that came back

I'll put an ad at the very beginning of the show

But our ads are 30 seconds or less and then at

the end of the show like take I was talking earlier

about the he -man podcast what I'll do is I Want

the listener to have the experience of remembering

watching the cartoon, so I'll take uh -huh We

usually do three cartoon episodes per podcast,

so I'll take the three PSAs that were done for

those cartoons. I'll put a PSA, I'll put a podcast,

I'll put a PSA, I'll put a podcast, you know,

that kind of thing at the very end of the show,

like after the people have already heard the

main discussion. And that's kind of fun, though.

There's a little bit of nostalgia in that. There's

a little bit of wink wink, which I think is is

fun entertaining. Yeah, but they're just some

oh god don't even get me started on Kevin Smith

now I used to listen to him as much as I like

the guy as much as I like his one I was in a

Kevin Smith movie once oh really which one I

was in the worst of them all Jersey girl Oh my

gosh. Yes, I had a scene with Ben Affleck in

the Hard Rock Cafe Hotel, actually. And so that

was my Kevin Smith experience. And he is, to

be fair, a really wonderful, heartwarming fanboy

in real life with people he doesn't know as well

as he does. I will give him that credit, but

I... No, yeah, and I will, but it's like, it's

one of those things when I first started listening

to the show Fat Man on Batman, the second, third

or fourth episode, I counted it on Fat Man on

Batman episode four. The first nine minutes of

the show is him pimping out all the other stuff

that he's doing. Like, it's... Wow. Well, let's

move off the advert. Yeah. Yeah What are your

specific Favorite moments so far from 2014 and

movies. Oh gosh, that's it. That's a fantastic

question. Um You know, they usually my favorite

moments in film are honestly the moments I share

with other people I will give you one example

off the top my head, which is a little obscure

I got to see Veronica Mars at South by Southwest

with the cast of Veronica Mars with a bunch of

fans who had literally Financed the film Veronica

Mars was the first successful kick -started film

it went off at a modest Two million dollar goal

it raised something like six point five Which

is for those who don't know Veronica Mars was

a three seasoned A television show starring Kristen

Bell about a young detective type person, sort

of a cross between the Hardy Boys and Nancy Drew,

who solved mysteries. It was cut a little bit

short, at least in terms of the fan perspective.

And then several years later, they got together

and literally financed their own film. Watching

something like that, Steve and Mike, with people

who, again, felt a deep connection to it and

reacting to the product that they helped bring

to the screen was fantastically fun and really

uplifting. In terms of a movie going experience,

that was one of my favorites. In terms of sort

of the mainstream big blockbusters, I was a huge

fan of the Lego movie. I found it wildly creative.

I found the script to be deep and complex and

comedic in ways that were very unexpected. I've

been very happy with the way that comic book

movies have sort of changed this year. Captain

America, The Winter Soldier, and X -Men Days

of Future Past be less of the sort of explosion

-heavy action adventure, more like the political

thrillers that I think back from the 70s, often

starring people like Robert Redford. And so there's

been something for everyone this year, which

I've really appreciated from the box office.

Going to the Kickstarter thing, I think it's

just awesome that people We're able to put their

money where their mouth is more or less and and

keep alive what they actually wanted to see Yeah,

rather than get handed something they didn't

want. I agree I think that's important that they

had sort of a stake in it. They had sort of a

Sort of well, it made it more personal. Yes.

That's a great way of putting it Steve That is

it that is a fantastic way of putting and I think

the producers especially the director Rob Thomas

Saw that and felt like they had to make a movie

For once not for Warner Brothers not the people

who are going to market it and put it out and

distribute it but for the fans and Veronica Mars

is more a movie for the fans that I've seen in

any other movie. And the only thing I can compare

it to is Serenity, which was Joss Whedon's Firefly

follow -up. But this is even more so a fan love

letter, Veronica Mars, the film. And so I had

to applaud that. I had to applaud the cojones

on the director for making a film that really

did not try to bring in new fans. It only tried

to serve as something the fans from the original

series would appreciate. Absolutely So what would

be if you if you had to pick so far Would be

your top five films of 2014 gosh top five Okay.

Well, it's tough with it being so far because

they're still Under six months left of good film.

Yes, we have I mean we probably what's really

interesting Mike and Stephen tell me if you agree

with this Isn't it funny to think at this point

that probably all the Oscar nominees for all

the major categories probably haven't even been

released yet Isn't that kind of interesting I

find like it probably won't be even released

till October November December right now We're

in the popcorn season, you know, and it's really

fascinating It's funny because you get you start

out the year with most of your train wrecks and

then you go into your your heavy action slash

superhero slash sci fi. Right. Right. And then

you move on into to slight horror, thriller or

based on a book. And then you move on to your

your Oscar nominees and then you move into a

couple last either sequels of previous films

of. whether it's action or comedy or fantasy.

No, I think you're absolutely right, Steve. There's

a certain cadence to each year, which is very

fascinating, I think. It always sort of interests

me to see how it doesn't change. It's always

the same sort of musical notes hit each month.

But to answer your question, Mike, more pointedly.

So if I had to think about my favorite movies

of the year. Definitely the Lego movie would

be on that list. I would think I would also add

Edge of Tomorrow. That film, the film with Tom

Cruise, which is really Groundhog's Day meets

Aliens, surprised me in a fantastic way. It had

a lot of humor in it. It had a lot of great action

and adventure. I really enjoyed the empowerment

of Emily Blunt's character. I loved X -Men Days

of Future Past as a fan of the comic, the original

comic. I thought they really did their due diligence

and showed reverence to the narratives that were

put forth earlier on paper with pen and ink and

brought to the big screen in a fantastic way.

A few others that I really enjoyed, I'm going

to call out Calvary, which was a recent Brendan

Gleeson film about a priest who is threatened

and confessional of all things. He's told he's

going to be murdered and the rest of the film

is sort of about him reconciling that and deciding

how he's going to handle that situation. A few

others, Grand Budapest Hotel, I think Wes Anderson's

perhaps finest film is... magnificently beautiful

in the different aspect ratios, creating these

unique settings with fantastic templates and

palettes of colors and characters and complexities.

Really was a fan of that. Am I up to four so

far, I think? Gosh, if I had to pick one more,

it's tough. Let's go with something a little

more off the off -beaten path. I'll take Chef,

which was John Favreau's recent debut, a film

about a father trying to reconnect with his son

on a cross -country trip in a food truck, of

all things, and the bonding he does between his

son and him, and trying to understand him for

the first time, being a parent who is immersed

in this world of work and the culinary arts,

and trying to pass that on. and what does that

pipeline look like into the next generation?

I thought that was very fascinating. So that

would be my five, maybe even gone to six there,

I lost track, but an eclectic mix of fun things

this year. Breaking bad without the drugs You

know Bavro is so off his rocker in that game.

It's so high strong He's only one step away from

cooking meth next to his enchiladas. It really

really just one extra ingredient It would make

it all the more interesting Those weren't really

Angelatos. Exactly. Exactly. But it was great

because Favreau really put his heart into it.

I think it's a movie he wanted to make for a

long time and it has some discernible missteps

in terms of casting and some of the relationships

don't go... quite where you would think they

would. I mean, does anyone really buy Sofia Vergara

marrying Jon Favreau? Does anyone buy Scarlett

Johansson having the hots for Jon Favreau? There's

a little bit of a fantastical element to these

things, maybe wish fulfillment. But when you

put that aside. Well, it's almost like the Judd

Apatow movies. Right. You got the kind of dorky

dude with the insanely hot woman. Yeah, I mean,

how many hot girls really could Seth Rogen attract,

right? I'm with you. Exactly. But Favreau is

such a master of language and a master of detail.

One of the things I loved about Chef was that

he really trained how to cut the vegetables.

And that's such a minor thing. That's such a

minor, minor detail. And yet when you see in

the film, you believe that Favreau could create

these culinary wonders. And I appreciate that.

I appreciate that when I watch even the cast

members who are trained to act as if they love

the food they're eating, I believe them. And

that's a great subtlety that I appreciate in

what Favreau did in Chef. Such a big deal out

of Scarlett Johansson. I always tell him, go

back to 1998 and watch the horse whisper and

then you will feel completely creepy. Yeah. She

was young once. Yes. She's only two years older

than me, so I don't have to feel that way. There

you go. She's also an extremely nice and heartwarming

person, if I may say so myself. Alright, so what

would be your most anticipated things for the

rest of the year? Oh gosh, it's tough And because

one of the reasons I mentioned earlier at this

point of the year We're not entirely sure what

will actually make it into theaters at the end

of the year just today I was sent the first trailer

for the imitation game, which is a drama starring

Bennett Karibash, starring as Alan Turing as

a man during World War II who unlocks the secrets

to the German code. And it's a really fascinating

story. I'm really hoping it's the movie that

puts Benedict Cumberbatch onto a higher plateau,

makes him a household name. It really could be.

So that's something I'm really looking forward

to. In the immediate future, I can't say that

I can't hide my absolute love of Guardians of

the Galaxy. I love what James Gunn has done with

that property, and I think it's going to be a

huge success. Beyond that, I like the fact that

the fall is a little bit of a mystery. I think

there's a lot of things coming down the road

that I have no idea what they're going to be.

there's an inherent joy in that. There is an

inherent joy in knowing that I have no idea the

performances are gonna wow me. I have no idea

the directorial efforts that I'm going to be

amazed by. Like I was last year with things like

12 Years of Sleep. And I think those films are

yet to come. I think there's lots of things that

audiences have no idea are coming. And there's

something kind of exciting about that. Awesome.

All right, this was just one of the things that

I thought of before we started the show tonight.

So I was watching Iron Man 3 for God knows how

many of the up -to -date amount of times. It

caught it on stars. And you know, the Iron Man

movies, they are... the 21st century Superheroic

versions of the first lethal what three lethal

weapon movies? Okay, can you elaborate if you

look at that? Well, you got Robert Downey jr.

And you get? Murtaugh, I'm sorry. Yeah, he's

got roadie and Okay, sure the first Iron Man

movie is Very very dark. There's not a lot, but

it's higher, huh? Well, right, but but what I'm

saying What I'm saying is, yes, it is Iron Man.

It is his origin, or a version of his origin.

And it's very, very dark, much like the first

Lethal Weapon movie was. I mean, if you look

at Tony Stark being a counterpart to Riggs, I

mean, Tony... even though he does want to live.

I mean, he's not suicidal, but it's just one

of those things where I thought of that and I'm

like, hmm. He's lost. He's lost. He's meandering.

He's trying to find some purpose. We meet Riggs

in the beginning of the first Richard Donner

film. Riggs is definitely a man without cause,

a man without purpose. And I would agree, or

he's used to doing the same thing. He's undercover.

He's doing the drug trafficking and things like

that. He's tracing the... But he's not challenged

and I think we meet iron man. We meet Tony Stark

in a similar place He's good at what he does,

but it doesn't challenge him anymore Exactly

in the second film Gary Shanley Gary Shanley

is so Joe Pesci In the second movie every scene

that that Tony and Gary have together, it's more

so... Gary Shanling is this huge prick this huge

guy that's in Tony's way? Just an hammer isn't

a better analogy the sort of the annoying prick

who pops up literally over Tony's shoulder putting

his arm around him like aren't we best friends

come on come on come on come on you know like

that that idea I mean no because hammer is not

funny at all hammer is just boring There was

a personality there he had some crazy flair Formage,

you know, I yeah, but but Pesci would not do

what what? What Rockwell did that's the thing

like like Leo gets does not dance. I Don't know

if I see you busting some moves over there the

Pesci's got it and then Yeah, that's true. And

then the third movie. It's It's lethal weapon.

Well, no, it isn't really Is kind of I would

say it's more lethal weapon three because you

have The whole Tony roadie thing going on with

them teaming up and you know mostly being out

of the suits But you also have this whole thing

with him and pepper which is kind of even though

by now they're more into their relationship than

rigs and and Lorna were in the third film for

neighbors, but but It very much feels like that

to me. I don't know. It's just one of those things

where I'm like, hey, they super -herified Riggs

and Murtaugh. Great. And obviously, the third

one is more so a lethal weapon than anything

else, really, because of, obviously, Shane Black.

Right. Oh, yes. But that was just something that

I thought was, I thought of that today and I

thought it'd be interesting to bring up on the

show. No, I mean, I see the comparisons. I mean,

clearly you're, but again, like I think you said

it best, we have Shane Black, the herald of the

first film, who I think many people don't remember

was associated with it. And again, I asked the

question, why is every Shane Black movie revolving

around Christmas? He has some weird obsession

with that holiday that I almost don't want to

get into. Oh my God, Steve. Shane Black for Die

Hard 6, 7, and 8. You know, it wouldn't be that

bad considering he knows how to write a buddy

cop film. I agree. And I'm not impressed with

what happened with Die Hard 5 in any sense of

the word. That was not a Die Hard movie. Oh,

the last Die Hard film? Yeah. Oh, yeah, that

was awful. That was terrible. The Olympus Has

Fallen should have been Die Hard 5. Yeah, that

would have been much better, actually. I wonder

if you could get Reginald Bell Johnson out of

retirement. Well, I hear from the scribe of Die

Hard 6 that they're talking about bringing Sam

Jackson to work with us. Oh, okay. It's not going

to happen. Dude, it's not going to happen. There's

no way. Oh, come on. Nick Fury can drop his eye

patch every now. Oh, wait. He already did. Sorry.

Yeah. He's like, I'm retiring. What so I'm gonna

turn the tables on you guys a little bit. What's

next for you? What's what's I mean? We've been

talking you guys have been doing such a great

job of interviewing all the podcasts in your

network What do you guys see is the future as

of your network as it grows? You start paying

us money people Trust me I've said it a million

times in the past six. I've been podcasting since

December of 2008. They're still ignoring I've

been saying since December 2008, this is pretty

much my full -time job. I'm a disabled person

for the most part. Having an actual quote -unquote

real job isn't an option for me a lot of the

time So I figured oh, okay I can do this and

I got better and better and better as it went

along And I've always said, you know I don't

want to have a set salary for this because then

it would actually feel like work I've gotten

to the point now where I can sit down in one

morning or one afternoon and Completely edit

five different podcasts in one day and have them,

you know be the the quality standard that people

expect. Well, that you expect. Right, well, obviously.

Well, no, I mean, that's an important standard.

You know, and it's one of those things where

I've gotten so good at the editing part of it

where it's like in the beginning, you don't even

want to, don't even tell him, you don't even

want to know how I was editing in the beginning.

That's why in the beginning, Steve was doing

a lot of the work. He was like, Steve, put the

two feeds together. Because we recorded Audacity

on each other's end, like, and I pieced it together.

That was a nightmare. Was as far as the future

of the network, we're just gonna keep continuing

to grow at least, you know The more voices we

have the better Yeah I'm pretty much not necessarily

cutting back, but I'm also Not doing 20 shows

all at once. That's probably for the best. Well,

see that here's the thing because I am you know

because I am physically disabled and I have a

lot of time on my hands I figure okay well I

can do this and it will take up a lot of my time

so you know putting a lot of it into this is

is a good thing and it's one of those things

that I really enjoy doing it that's good as you

should yeah and I mean any number of topics.

I mean, it's just one of those things where I

like looking and I know Steve sometimes does

like this and sometimes he can't stand when I

do this. I think, what was it, the first year?

First year we started Movie Week in Review. I

had the next 15 plotted out in a schedule. I'm

one of those big pictures. He was floating into

20. 21 or something like that I I had to see

and Obviously now we you know move it around

and whatever else but I needed to see something

is one of the most important points of advice

that I ever got before I even started podcasting

was Set yourself up with what you're gonna do

before you actually do it. It's kinda like, oh

god, I can't believe I'm even gonna reference

this because I can't stay on the character. It's

kinda like Springer from Transformers the movie.

Think about what you're gonna do before you do

it. And it's one of those things where I sometimes

have, you know, You know, things rattle around

in the back of my head that I'm like, Oh, okay.

Well, if I do, and I love doing the review shows

cause they're so easy. They're so simple. Um,

you know, you watch a couple of cartoons per

episode of a podcast, you write down your thoughts,

you record them. Bing, bam, boom, you're done.

Um, I think the longest. Cartoon review show

we will have Will be pixels in the animation

which we are doing nine different video game

cartoons over 100 episodes it started in 2012

and it'll probably go till 2017 so there'll be

the second longest show on the entire network

outside of my or in GCR and whatever else and

I don't know Steve. What about you? Where do

you see our future? Well for instance when I

I you know originally first started podcasting

it was like 2007 so it was before I even knew

Mike but I Never saw myself going this far honestly

Would I change anything no I continue to see

this network growing. We just launched our year

five design which I think is very clean and easy

to get to content. I like all the new renovations.

I still have things planned to make it more of

a social network of sorts as we progress. Just

lacking the time to do so. Of course. I've had

plans in the past to try and do live shows, whether

it be through Google Hangouts or through some

other different methods. I've tried playing around

with that. Eventually, I hope to get that working.

I was doing a video show for a little bit on

YouTube, and I actually switched it to a podcast,

which is Altered Geek. So I eventually hope to...

make the time to get back to that as well. I

just see adding more fellow geeks and fans and

just our peers to the site to help share our

collective knowledge in a place that more or

less won't... I'm trying to think of the nice

way of putting this. that won't essentially hoard

themselves out for money, like to do it for the

wrong reasons. No, I'm with you. So that's where

I see it going. Well, in the short term, what

I want to ask you guys about is any thoughts

on this week's Comic Con? Is that something you

guys pay attention to, excited about, think it's

a lot of baloney? What's your stance on the matter?

This episode actually won't air until after comic

-con, but kind of in general I like it. I think

it's a great thing. I think it's gotten to look

like I actually a couple weeks ago I just did

a show about this okay and on someone else's

podcast I I'm a guest on talking about my generation

with Doug Abel, but it's one of those things

where I myself am not good with people in real

life and comic -con especially how crowded Comic

-Con is, and probably 98 % of the people don't

shower. I don't think it is that. I think it's

actually the fact that it's so compact. It's,

yeah. It is more about, basically think of me

as Casey. What's this about staying down here?

You're claustrophobic. What'd you just call me?

Yeah. I'm asleep. You know, it's just one of

those things where I don't do well in a crowd.

I understand. I just don't. And I love the idea

of Comic -Con. I love seeing all the exclusives

that come out of Comic -Con. I actually, a couple

of years ago, I think two years in a row, I did

a Full -on six -hour podcast live as comic -con

was going on for the Saturday with radio free

Cybertron over at TF radio net And I was on there

talking about the news as it happened, coming

out of Comic Con for six hours that whole Saturday.

Yeah, I did that two years in a row. I really

enjoyed doing it because I was reacting in the

moment. Some of the news I liked and some of

the news I didn't like. Yeah, that makes for

good radio. Sure. Yeah. And I think now, you

know, in 2014, there's just they beat it to death

with news stories about any any topic you can

think of. I think that it's gotten. I mean, don't

get me wrong. I would love don't get me wrong.

I would love to go to a full fledged comic con.

It's just the money and the ability to get there.

Like, more or less, I can't afford to pay for

plane tickets or the tickets to get in or the

place to stay. So it's just one of those things

that I can't go. So I have to watch the the stuff

as it kind of tumbles through social media. Now,

if I could go, I would go look at everything

and have it all go to the site. But being that

I have to see it all after the fact, it's kind

of... And I think that there's so many different

Comic -Cons now. Yeah. Because these, like the

San Diego or the C2E2 or the New York Comic Con,

I think that they get so flooded with people

because everybody is so enthusiastic about it

and pop culture has blown it way out there that

everybody's making these smaller ones so that

they can actually have a more personal experience

with it. Whereas these have become such large

shows that you're fighting to get to every every

little piece of the event and and actually, you

know, besides that, I mean, the long lines to

get to everything. Yeah, no, it's it's it's gosh.

I mean, yeah, they make you work for it, don't

they? Especially for the fans. I mean, now we

hear reports of people literally sleeping in

line overnight, you know, almost close to if

not 24 hours. Yeah. I mean, it's amazing how

it's evolved and changed. And I don't know if

it's for the better, but people love it. It's

a supply and demand kind of economy, especially

on the fan side. And so as long as there are

fans out there eager to see just a glimpse of

the stars from the next young adult novel adaptation,

there will be tents set up outside of San Diego's

convention center. And I think that's only going

to continue going forward. I just think personally,

I think San Diego Comic Con is, honestly, it's

worse than trying to do everything at Disney

World. I mean, you know, you get 10 days, you

can go to Florida, you can, you know, 10 days,

maybe 14 days, two weeks, you can do almost everything

at Disney World. Right. Five days for San Diego

Comic Con, you can do maybe 20 things in that

five days. And that doesn't even count. the half

a million other things they have. Well, the one

benefit of them having so many events at the

one at the one place and then having it, you

know, in this huge complex is not everybody's

into everything. No, it's true. It gives people

the opportunity to kind of split. No, and I and

I agree with that. Yeah, I'm not saying that

that everyone's going to have the same interest

or not. I honestly wish that Comic -Con would

in general, the overall wizard world, whatever

the hell the main corporation is called, I wish

they would split it up and make it smaller throughout

the entire year. Like Steve said, you've got

Comic -Con Dallas, New York Comic -Con. I live

in Michigan. Granted, there's Motor City Comic

-Con, which it's neither here nor there. I've

heard horror stories of that one. That's like

an anthill compared to going to San Diego. And

that it somehow happens to follow my anniversary

every year, so I can't go. So there's that. Plus,

I mean, I would love to see some of these travel

around just so that you can still have the same

experience, but have it in different locations

and have, you know, maybe the different venues.

And I would think that. I mean, it's essentially

the same thing for San Diego or New York or C2E2.

It's all the same basically convention. I mean

different companies put it on but it's the same

basic concept. Alright Fox, where can the people

besides going to geek cast radio calm? Where

can the people find Geek Scholars movie news?

Well geek cast radio is the best place to find

us But if you are so inclined to find us independently,

we are at geek scholars comm you could follow

us at geek scholars on Twitter We're on Facebook

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at geek scholars comm We love interacting with

people who want to write in whether you love

us hate us. We would love to hear from you So

we encourage everyone to contact us. However,

they see fit Awesome. All right coming up next

in the syndication spotlight. We will have Some

turtle flakes get your Saturday morning cereal

ready, ladies and gentlemen We'll be back Next

time. Damn, I screwed that up. Oh, fuck. Unleash

the geek in you. We won't catch you next time.

I gotta go to the bathroom. Please don't say

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