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A fun discussion of all things nerdy!
Episodes
Wednesday Aug 15, 2012
Tuesday Jul 24, 2012
Tuesday Jul 24, 2012
From before World War II, comic book superheroes have been inspiring animated features to give motion and voice to the thrilling tales. Unfortunately, while some have been downright outstanding, others have apparently been made by untrained apes who have no concept of style or quality. To help guide you through the years and the many, many cartoons is the Geek Salad crew with Episode 71: Family Services vs The Superfriends. Join Andy, Mike G, Jim, and Mike C as they discuss such topics as the awesomeness that was Batman: The Animated Series, but also the awfulness that was the 1978 Fantastic Four cartoon (curse you, H.E.R.B.I.E.!). Then stick around as Total Recall visits the Trailer Park, and the gang hit back at Ric Flair and the Juggalos in Stupid, Stupid.
Geek Salad is available at www.geeksalad.podbean.com, or can be subscribed to at the iTunes store by using keyword “geek salad.” Geek Salad is also part of the Stitcher family. Download the app for your Android, iPhone, or Blackberry at www.stitcher.com!
Contact Geek Salad at geeksalad@yahoo.com. Geek Salad is also available on Facebook under the group heading “Geek Salad Podcast.” Please subscribe to their Twitter feed: @geeksaladradio
Geek Salad is intended for adult listeners and contains coarse language and profanity. Listener discretion is advised.Sunday Jul 08, 2012
Sunday Jul 08, 2012
There have been some truly incredible food-stuffs made over the course of human evolution. But for every yin, there must be a yang. There have also been some vomit-inducingly horrible concoctions created. Objects so devoid of quality, nutritional value, and appealing flavor that the term edible would be undeserved. And to guide you through this quagmire of loathsomeness, the Geek Salad crew is back for episode 70: Anthrax Ripple. Join Andy, Mike G, Mike C, and Jim as they explore such wretchedness as Crystal Pepsi, bubblegum that came with Topps baseball cards, and the McLobster, all while sipping down some Narragansett and Natty Light beers. Have a vomit bag on standby.
Geek Salad is available at www.geeksalad.podbean.com, or can be subscribed to at the iTunes store by using keyword “geek salad.” Geek Salad is also part of the Stitcher family. Download the app for your Android, iPhone, or Blackberry at www.stitcher.com!
Contact Geek Salad at geeksalad@yahoo.com. Geek Salad is also available on Facebook under the group heading “Geek Salad Podcast.” Please subscribe to their Twitter feed: @geeksaladradio
Geek Salad is intended for adult listeners and contains coarse language and profanity. Listener discretion is advised.Sunday Jul 01, 2012
Sunday Jul 01, 2012
As we in the nerd community prepare for the end of an unbelievably brilliant trilogy of Batman films with The Dark Knight Rises, we have seemed to have forgotten about the 15th anniversary of the end of another series of Batman films. On June 20, 1997, Warner Brothers and DC Comics released Batman & Robin, the final installment of the….um, I guess we can call it “The Michael Gogh/Pat Hingle Quadrillogy” since by the time this series concluded, the element that stayed consistent were the actors who portrayed Alfred Pennyworth and Commissioner Gordon were those two venerable character actors.
In the past few years, I have truly appreciated the personal touches given to well known comic book properties by some pretty skilled filmmakers. Directors like Sam Raimi (Spider-Man), Kenneth Branaugh (Thor), Joss Whedon (The Avengers), and especially Christopher Nolan (the aforementioned Batman series) have put a stamp on their movies that have made these big budget tent-poles seem at home within their film credits. Unfortunately, that can have an adverse effect, as in the case of Joel Schumacher, whose past as an interior and set decorator allowed him the “vision” to turn the once dark city of Gotham into a Day-Glo Rave. Gone were the gritty street fights, replaced with battles that would start with somebody crashing a tank into the 30th floor of a building (???), eventually result in a battle over 500 feet above said building, and end on the top of a giant, logistically impossible to exist, statue overlooking the entire city.
Much was made in Schumacher’s previous entry, Batman Forever, about the inclusion of nipples on the Bat-Suit, and not in a good way. In Batman & Robin, the nipples are still there, but were also paired with comically large codpieces, tight buttocked pants, and for Batgirl, stiletto boots, molded vinyl corset, and thong…which, I should add, was designed by her elderly uncle! The villains didn’t fare any better in the costume department either. Mr. Freeze’s outfit was large, clumsy, and didn’t make a whole lot of sense to the character. It was pretty hard to screw up Poison Ivy’s leaf-themed leotard, but the extreme eyebrows didn’t help!
As with the previous Schumacher film, the script was written by Akiva Goldsman, who would go on to win an Oscar four years later for A Beautiful Mind. Any evidence that we were listening to the words of a future award winner weren’t noticeable. If I didn’t know any better, I’d have to guess that most of the dialogue was improvised, as only somebody like Arnold Schwarzenegger would find a line like “What killed the dinosaurs? The Ice Age” would be amusing…especially since the dinosaurs were extinct long, long, long, before the Ice Age occurred! And terrible dialogue and one-dimensional characterizations go hand-in-hand with actors who look like they’re only there to collect a paycheck!
For the first time since the 1989 Tim Burton directed Batman, the actor playing the villain top lined the movie over the actor playing Batman. In this case, Arnold Schwarzenegger took top billing over George Clooney. He also pocketed $25 million for his troubles in the role of Mr. Freeze. Schwarzenegger could possibly be the worst choice for the role, as Mr. Freeze has always been depicted as a lean, mean, scientific machine! Schumacher thought that the character should look like he was chiseled out of a glacier (thanks IMDB!), with alternative casting choices being Sylvester Stallone and Hulk Hogan. All that is demanded of Schwarzenegger is to stand around, look menacing, and utter ice-related puns. Unfortunately, he seemed more interested in amusing himself with his performance that to amuse the audience.
And speaking of the worst choice for the role, why anybody who just watched Clueless would point to the screen and say “That’s it! We’ve found our Batgirl!” in regards to Alicia Silverstone should have their urine screened. Apart from the unforgivable deviation from the original stories that Batgirl is now Alfred’s niece instead of Commissioner Gordon’s daughter, she has also been cast as a thrill seeking tomboy instead of a brainy shut-in that Batman fans have known and loved for decades. “Suit me up, Uncle Alfred!” indeed!
Chris O’Donnell’s Dick Grayson/Robin was unwelcome in Batman Forever….moving on…
As to the two headliners who we knew could act, George Clooney and Uma Thurman, it seems that they’re suffering from the opposite problems. Clooney dialed down his role as Bruce Wayne/Batman to the point where they should have CTRL+F’ed the character’s name and replaced it with “George Clooney.” Thurman went in the opposite direction and dialed the performance of Poison Ivy up way too much! There’s so much scenery being chewed that we (almost) don’t notice that she’s somehow adopted Mae West’s inflection halfway through the movie (“Continuity? What’s that?”-Joel Schumacher, circa 1996).
There are also a series of supporting characters that, if Goldsman and Schumacher were meaning to create the most despicable, annoying, moronic people in the history of the Silver Screen, do a competent job in their roles. Search YouTube for any scenes involving Gossip Gertie or the “Dirty Fighter” scientist in the Gotham Observatory for more evidence!
Batman & Robin holds the distinction of a “Franchise Killer,” as the once profitable series was reduced to middling box office returns, and universal ridicule from fans and casual viewers alike. And in the history of awful comic-book based movies, Batman & Robin stands atop the heap due to its gigantic budget, marquee stars, and huge expectations left over from Batman Forever. The closest that a movie based on a superhero may have come to missing the mark this badly is Superman IV: The Quest for Peace, but that’ll have to wait until we see how Man of Steel is! It also may be the perfect “Bad Movie,” as there is nothing enjoyable about it!
Well, I’ve said my peace and given Batman & Robin the birthday present is likely deserves! Now here’s hoping that the post-Nolan iteration of Batman will fit in with some sort of Justice League scheme!
Go forth and be nerdful!
Andy
Geek Salad
Tuesday Jun 26, 2012
Tuesday Jun 26, 2012
Geek Salad is working blue tonight, and the admission is a two drink minimum! Have a seat as Andy, Mike, and Jim discuss their favorite stand up comedians, including the likes of Patton Oswalt, Maria Bamford, Bill Engvall, Stephen Lynch, as well as some of the worst of all time!
Geek Salad is available at www.geeksalad.podbean.com, or can be subscribed to at the iTunes store by using keyword “geek salad.” Geek Salad is also part of the Stitcher family. Download the app for your Android, iPhone, or Blackberry at www.stitcher.com!
Contact Geek Salad at geeksalad@yahoo.com. Geek Salad is also available on Facebook under the group heading “Geek Salad Podcast.” Please subscribe to their Twitter feed: @geeksaladradio
Geek Salad is intended for adult listeners and contains coarse language and profanity. Listener discretion is advised.
Friday Jun 08, 2012
Friday Jun 08, 2012
Geek Salad was working as a waitress in a cocktail bar...then they started talking about the biggest hits of 1982! Join Andy, Mike, and Jim as they discuss the 30th anniversary of the most mixed-up musical decade ever in Episode 68: Put Another Dime in the Jukebox, Baby! With a mix of new wave, country, pop, and Moustache Rock, you'd agree with the boys that 1982 stands out among the years of music!
Then stay tuned as they discuss Disney's "Wreck It Ralph" in Trailer Park, the REAL reason "GI JOE 2: The Apology got delayed, and a healthy dose of Salad Shills featuring Skyrim, Man Lab, and Yacht Rock!
Geek Salad is available at www.geeksalad.podbean.com, or can be subscribed to at the iTunes store by using keyword “geek salad.” Geek Salad is also part of the Stitcher family. Download the app for your Android, iPhone, or Blackberry at www.stitcher.com!
Contact Geek Salad at geeksalad@yahoo.com. Geek Salad is also available on Facebook under the group heading “Geek Salad Podcast.” Please subscribe to their Twitter feed: @geeksaladradio
Geek Salad is intended for adult listeners and contains coarse language and profanity. Listener discretion is advised.
Friday Jun 08, 2012
Friday Jun 08, 2012
Wednesday Jun 06, 2012
Monday May 28, 2012
Monday May 28, 2012
In 1963, a science fiction television show premiered in England which would go on to gain millions of fans all around the world and which is still going on to this day. Yes, Geek Salad is hopping in their blue police box and bringing you a discussion in all things Doctor Who with Episode 67: You Need A Doctor. Pull out your sonic screwdrivers and join Andy and Mike as they talk about the Doctor in all his incarnations, some of his companions, and some of his most dreaded foes. Then stick around for Trailer Park where they chat about Pixar's "Brave", Stupid Stupid shows the limitless stupidity of Hollywood producers and their love affair with 3D, and then the boys recount Andy's own near-regeneration.
Geek Salad is available at www.geeksalad.podbean.com, or can be subscribed to at the iTunes store by using keyword “geek salad.” Geek Salad is also part of the Stitcher family. Download the app for your Android, iPhone, or Blackberry at www.stitcher.com!
Contact Geek Salad at geeksalad@yahoo.com. Geek Salad is also available on Facebook under the group heading “Geek Salad Podcast.” Please subscribe to their Twitter feed: @geeksaladradio
Geek Salad is intended for adult listeners and contains coarse language and profanity. Listener discretion is advised.