Geekfest Rants

Finally, Megaforce! - by Steve Vivona

Recently, I was able to scratch a 30-year old itch.

A voracious comic reader as a kid, I vividly remember the ads movie studios placed on the inside front cover or back cover of comic books. These were the films studios expected to hit big with the comic set – films like Swamp Thing, Orca, the 1977 remake of King Kong and…Megaforce.

I was never very discerning in my cinematic tastes, back then especially. If something looked cool, I wanted to see it. I vividly recall the posters for Megaforce. Smirking hero Ace Hunter (Barry Bostwick) was pointing at me in his spandex unitard with the Darth Vader-y chestplate with the phrase “Deeds not Words,” emblazoned above him.  

Episode 69 - Deconstructing The Thing (2011) - Part 1

This week, Carlos and Steve L. discuss the prequel to John Carpenter's The Thing, set for Blu-ray release in late January! How does this film stack up against the Carpenter original (the subject of a recent GFR commentary)? It'll be tough to impress these Carpenter die hards! 

Episode 69 - Deconstructing The Thing (2011) - Part 1

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Anyone wishing to suggest show topics or participate on any future shows, please leave us a comment below or e-mail us at [email protected].

STATION 51...KMG 365! - by Tiberius

On January 15, 1972, a new NBC television drama premiered that changed many lives, and may have even saved a few, too!  This show, EMERGENCY!, featured two Los Angeles County Fire Department paramedics manning Squad 51, supported by doctors at Rampart General Hospital, with Engine 51 as their firefighting equivalent.

Paramedics were relatively new in most places in 1972, but a weekly series featuring their skills helped make them desirable in other cities and towns across America.  Only a year and a half earlier, on July 15, 1970, then Governor Ronald Reagan signed the Wedworth-Townsend Paramedic Act into law. This made it legal for firefighters and rescue personnel to be trained to disperse medicine and treat victims at the scene of accidents with the direction and support of doctors via radios!  Thanks to Robert A. Cinader and Jack Webb's Mark VII production company, as well as major co-operation with the LA County Fire Department, Emergency! became a reality! 

Episode 68 - A Look Back At The Six Million Dollar Man

On this week's GFR Carlos and James tackle 70s tv (and genre) classic, The Six Million Dollar Man! Anyone born after 1970 has its theme music burned into their psyches! The guys provide a thorough overview of the show from its inception to spin-offs, toys, comics and the tv movies of the 80s and 90s!

 Episode 68 - A Look Back At The Six Million Dollar Man

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Anyone wishing to suggest show topics or participate on any future shows, please leave us a comment below or e-mail us at [email protected].

The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo - Geek Review -by Rob

 

 

Like millions of people around the world, I've read the late Stieg Larsson's entire "The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo" trilogy. I've also seen the Swedish version of the first book in the series, and found it to be one of the best movie adaptations of a book I had ever seen. The makers of that film stripped away the overabundant details and extraneous information that likely would have been edited out of the book had Larsson lived, streamlining the narrative without ever being unfaithful to the book.

So when word came that a big-budget English- language version of "Tattoo" had been greenlit, there were many questions and much hand-wringing. Why did we need a new film when the Swedish one worked just fine (and made a star out of previously unknown Swedish actress Noomi Rapace). What could a new adaptation bring to the story that the original couldn't? Why bother?

 

Episode 67 - Blue Thunder - Geek Commentary

We just love our 80s on GFR! On this week's installment Carlos and Steve V. provide commentary over action classic "Blue Thunder" starring the incomparable Roy Scheider, with a great supporting cast that includes the always hissable Malcolm McDowell! Catch ya later!

 Episode 67 - Blue Thunder - Geek Commentary

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Anyone wishing to suggest show topics or participate on any future shows, please leave us a comment below or e-mail us at [email protected].

 

The Christmas Toy...Story?! - by Tiberius

 I was recently encouraged to watch a long forgotten Muppet special from way back in 1986!  Even I, a long time Muppet aficionado, somehow missed this one...  So I gave it whirl...  Oh Boy!

What I discovered was so shocking, I was forced to make the children leave the room or else their psyche would be scarred forever!  It was as if a crime was in progress and I was powerless to stop it! Once I soldiered past the obligatory opening song, which was definitely not a Paul Williams piece, the story began to unfold.  It featured children's toys that play on their own when no one else is around...  A doll, a talking phone, a horse, a sock monkey, even a salty old bear with a cane...so many, many toys!  The young child's favorite toy is a tiger named Rugby, last year's big gift who is excited for Christmas to come again...  So much so, he wants to sneak down under the tree to be unveiled once again to the joyful face of the child.

 

Episode 66 - The 2012 Trailer Special

We've just been flooded with an abundance of exciting trailers and 2012 looks to be an amazing year for genre product. On today's GFR, Carlos and James dissect trailers for The Dark Knight Rises, The Hobbit and Prometheus, examining them practically frame by frame to see what information can be extracted!

 Episode 66 - The 2012 Trailer Special

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Anyone wishing to suggest show topics or participate on any future shows, please leave us a comment below or e-mail us at [email protected].