The Great Geek Manual

The newest trailer for the upcoming Watchmen film has hit the web. It premiered as one of the previews played before Quantum of Solace.

The trailer itself is good enough to raise goosebumps. It honestly looks like this film might do the comic justice. But it’s also raised a bit of controversy.

In the voice over, the narrator says “The Watchmen are over” as if the name of the team of superheroes in the film were “The Watchmen,” but if that’s the case, it’s a deviation from the comic, in which the characters were split into two factions: the Minutemen and the Crimebusters.

Is this a classic case of the promotions department having no clue what the film they’re promoting is about? It would surprise me if it were, but purist around the web seem to be taking this slip up particularly hard. The matter is being debated across the blogosphere as well as in a number of forums.

The latest installment in the James Bond franchise, Quantum of Solace (PG-13), opens in theaters Friday, November 14, 2008. And since every guy in the U.S. will be rushing to theaters to see it, it’s the only movie opening this weekend. Still, you won’t hear any complaints from me.

Video Releases

• Indiana Jones – Kingdom Of Crystal Skull (PG13)
• War Inc (R)

Television

• Night Gallery: Season Two

Re-Releases & New Formats

• Harry Potter Years 1-5 [Blu-Ray]
• Hellboy II: The Golden Army [Blu-Ray, WS]

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Wow. It’s going to be a slooow movie week for geeks of all ages.

The only thing even remotely of interest to be released this week is something called Repo! The Genetic Opera. It’ll only be opening in four cities, but who knows? Maybe it’ll hit the torrents.

In the year 2056 – the not so distant future – an epidemic of organ failures devastates the planet. Out of the tragedy, a savior emerges: GeneCo, a biotech company that offers organ transplants… for a price. Those who miss their payments are scheduled for repossession and hunted by villainous Repo Men. In a world where surgery addicts are hooked on painkilling drugs and murder is sanctioned by law, a sheltered young girl searches for the cure to her own rare disease as well as information about her family’s mysterious history. With 64 songs, too!

This seriously sounds like a joke, but I’m somehow, I just know that I’ll end up buying it on DVD.
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So guess what I just got in the mail last night?

A pumpkin from the promotional team of the upcoming film, Coraline!

I was completely surprised. They wrote to tell me that they were sending “promotional materials,” but I never would have guessed that they’d FedEx me a pumpkin. As if they needed to send me a pumpkin to get me excited about a movie based on a Neil Gaiman novel.

Coraline will be released February 6, 2009. If you haven’t already read the book, you should pick it up. It’s one of those kids’ books, like Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland and Momo that does a great job capturing the imagination of adults as well as kids. As a matter of fact, there’s enough homage in Coraline to both Alice and Momo to fuel a thesis, but I digress…

Oh, the pumpkin even came with a card from the film’s director, Henry Selick:
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Ahhh… Halloween! What cinematic terrors has Hollywood in store for us? What ghoulish horrors?

Only Zack and Miri Make a Porno (R). Damn you, Hollywood. The best night of the year for a good scare and you give us a freaking comedy. The Haunting of Molly Hartley (PG-13) is also supposed to premiere, but it’s not clear whether or not it opens nationwide, and quite frankly, it looks like teen bait. Double damn you. Video rentals are just as devoid of season-appropriate fare. Damn you. Damn you. Damn you.

Video Releases

• Dead Space – Downfall (NR)
• Journey To Center Of The Earth (PG)

Television

• Dark Shadows: The Beginning, Vol. 6
• Millennium: Seasons 1-3
• Mystery Science Theater 3000: 20th Anniversary [Limited Edition]

Re-Releases & New Formats

• H.P. Lovecraft Collection, Vol. 5: Strange Aeons

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It looks to be another disappointing October, completely devoid of decent scares. This week, Friday, October 10th, City of Ember (PG) and Quarantine (R) open. City of Ember looks to be a decent kids’ movie, albeit one that utterly mutilates the story of the original book, while Quarantine looks to the typical HollyWood horror shtick without any surprises.

Video Releases

• The Happening (R)
• Joy Ride 2: Dead Ahead (NR)
• Kill Switch (R)
• Rest Stop – Don’t Look Back (NR)
• You Don’t Mess With the Zohan (NR/13)

Television

• Lexx: Season One
• Mission Impossible: Five TV Season Pack
• Robot Chicken: Season Three
• Sarah Jane Adventures: The Complete First Season

Re-Releases & New Formats

• Drive-In Cult Classics 3

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Nothing ground-shaking is coming out this Friday, October 3rd, but there do seem to be a shower of mid-list draws, including the comedy Nick and Norah’s Infinite Playlist (PG-13), the nerd-worthy drama based on true events Flash of Genius (PG-13), and the sci-fi thriller Blindness (R), which, to me, looks a lot like The Day of the Triffids. Of course, none of that matters, because everyone with time to kill will be going to How to Lose Friends & Alienate People (R) in the hope of catching a glimpse of Megan Fox partially nude.

Video Releases

• Iron Man (PG13) [Blu-ray]
• Mindscape of Alan Moore

Television

• Beauty and the Beast: The Complete Series
• The Mr. Bean: Best of, Vol. 2

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This Friday, September 12th, Burn After Reading (R), The Family That Preys (PG-13), and Righteous Kill (R) will be hitting the theaters. Not great geek pickings, but you really can’t expect too much geek on the screen with the summer winding down and the streets back in control of the adults.

Video Releases

• Felon (R)
  A family man convicted of killing an intruder must cope with life afterward in the violent penal system.
• Juncture (R)
  Diagnosed with a terminal illness, a woman uses her final three months to enact some vigilante justice, furiously tracking down vicious criminals.
• Legend of the Shadowless Sword (R)
  The kingdom of the land has been conquered, and the ruler’s only remaining descendant is the exiled Prince Jung-Hyun. Unaware of the darkness that has fallen over his homeland, Soha guides him toward his royal destiny.

Television

• Smallville: The Complete Seventh Season [DVD] [Blu-ray]

Re-Releases & New Formats

• Day Watch [Blu-ray] (R)
• Pumpkinhead Collector’s Edition [WS]
• Night Watch [Blu-ray] (R)

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