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Welcome one and all to the Pre-Weekend Recap for the week of June 20, 2014! Do you love geek-0riented blog posts, movie reviews, and podcasts? Have you been too busy to sit down and enjoy all of the content that was featured on the site this week? Well friend, you’re in the right place.

Here, you’ll find a fine selection of posts that debuted this week, with descriptions and links leading you directly to the content. Easy enough, right?

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Review: Coherence

So far, this summer has been absolutely stacked with incredible blockbusters. Films like Captain America: The Winter Soldier, X-Men: Days of Future Past, Edge of Tomorrow are what most people like to see during these halcyon summer days. However, if you prefer a more subtle, thought-provoking film in lieu of the superhero movies, Chris Herman says there might be another option for you. Check out his review of Coherence, a movie about a group of feuding friends who have to put their personal drama aside to survive an interstellar horror. Even in a season with some many successful action films, a great thriller is always welcome.

World of UScast: Wayward Podcast – The Two-Parter

The latest edition of the World of UScast podcast, the show where we feature a podcast from an international partner, is so big it had to be cut into two parts. Thus, the name. Wayward Podcast’s hosts, Toshi and Sarah, wax on and on about Michael Bay, medicine, X-Men: Days of Future Past and of course, Supernatural. You can access part one here and part two here.

If you live outside the United States and you have or would like to create a quality podcast for the World of Us show family, please get in touch with us at oneofusnet@gmail.com. Your podcast could be on the next episode!

Digital Noise Episode 48: The Secret Visitors of Zombie Detectives

Richard and Chris have returned to tell you more about the best and worst of the latest home releases. This week’s selections include the first season of True Detective, the adventures of Liam Neeson: Air Marshal in Non-Stop, the hilarious Alan Partridge, and Tim’s Vermeer, a documentary directed by the silent half of the infamous duo, Penn & Teller. There’s also a part where Richard and Chris adamantly disagree about the film Visitors and of course, there’s a giveaway! All the Digital Noise that you know and love, so don’t delay, hit play.

Highly Suspect Reviews: Jersey Boys, Cold in July, and Borgman

The Unusual Suspects, One of Us’ lean, mean movie review crew, have a trio of reviews for you this week. First on the list is Jersey Boys, Clint Eastwood’s film adaptation of the wildly successful Broadway musical about the trials and tribulations of Frankie Valli and The Four Seasons. Let Beau, JC, and Chris tell you if this movie is a showstopper or if it should be shuttered after opening night.

Then, in the first double-header the Suspects have ever done, Richard and Chris talk about two smaller films debuting in theaters this week, Cold In July and Borgman. The former is an adaption of a book by one of the site’s favorite authors, Joe Lansdale. The latter is a Dutch thriller about a strange group of homeless people who encounter a family and bring the supernatural into an otherwise normal scenario. Certainly a strange pairing, but definitely one worth hearing.

Pod-A-Thon 2014!

MAJOR SITE EVENT! Brian and Chris are heading to San Diego Comic Con this year! Of course, travel and lodging can be costly affairs. In addition, being the feeble flesh sacks that they are, they’d like to sustain themselves with food and water and not die of starvation/dehydration. Weird, right?

That’s why next Saturday, June 28th, we’re hosting a 12-hour video livestream fundraiser, the first ever One of Us Pod-A-Thon! From noon to midnight, your favorite site personalities will entertain you in their quest to raise 2,000 American dollars. Watch as they play drinking games, give away free stuff to you viewers, and accept embarrassing challenges for money! There will be tons of guest appearances from other beloved geek sites and major announcements about huge changes coming to One of Us. All of this and more will be occurring next week, so be sure to click on the image above for all the details.

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If you like what you’ve seen here, please be sure to share our stuff with others who might enjoy it. In addition, please consider becoming one of our proud subscribers! There are plenty of benefits for those who are generous enough to contribute to the site each month, so don’t miss out on your chance to earn some exclusive rewards! Have a great weekend!

The gauntlet is set, it was set by those who threw it down. We have been talking for a while about whether we had the stones, the intestinal fortitude, and the complete lack of regard for our personal health to host an epic marathon recording session.

The answer today is a resounding, if a bit secretly terrified, HELL YES!

The date: June 28th!
The place: Broadcasting from right here in Austin to wherever you are!
The time: ALL OF IT!!!!!!!!!

That is, at least 12hrs of it. Starting at NOON CST, we are going to be broadcasting for twelve uninterrupted hours and hosting our first ever Pod-A-Thon fundraiser! The funds will not only help Brian and Chris get to/survive San Diego Comic-Con, but will also go toward a giant end-of-summer bash here in Austin celebrating the site’s one-year anniversary!

This event is going to make Blue Christmas like Blue’s Clues. I DON’T EVEN KNOW WHAT THAT MEANS!!!

What you can expect to see/hear…

All of this is a build up for not only a few pub meet-ups during SDCC, but if we hit our $2K goal, we’ll also be putting together an end-of-summer bash that we’ve dubbed Fest Of Us! Of course, if we raise more than $2K, we’ll get to steadily add more and more features to that party. We will announce date and location when/if we reach our goal.

And that’s where you guys come in! Thank you in advance for all your support, all your subscribing and shirt-buying. All your drum-beating and word-of-mouthing. We need your help to push One Of Us into the next phase, and we are confident that you will be thrilled with that new era.

Join us starting at noon. We won’t stop until the stroke of midnight, even if we’re so plastered by then that we can’t see straight. The show must go on, because Us Nation demands it!

“War has begun.”

Rise of the Planet of the Apes was one of the most entertaining and important movies of 2011. It not only revitalized interest in a franchise that many considered to be dead, but it demonstrated once again that individuals who inhabit a digital character are just as deserving of acclaim and recognition as any actor.

Now with the final trailer released for Dawn of the Planet of the Apes, my excitement for this sequel is at an all-time high. You have drama, action, and a chimp riding on a horse while firing two machine guns. What more could you possibly ask for?

Ten years after the events of the first film, Caesar, the leader of the genetically evolved apes, has established a prosperous and peaceful society for his kind. Humanity, having gone through a catastrophic plague and multiple global conflicts, is on the brink of extinction. A small colony of humans, attempting to survive in a post-apocalyptic San Francisco, comes across Caesar’s community. Caesar and Malcom, one of the human leaders, work tirelessly to prevent an all-out war from breaking out between the two groups. Conflict seems inevitable though, as members on both sides attempt to escalate the growing tension.

Arriving in theatres on July 11, Dawn of the Planet of the Apes has Matt Reeves (Cloverfield, Let Me In) sitting in the director’s chair this time around. Andy Serkis has returned to his award winning role as Caesar, while series newcomers Jason Clarke, Gary Oldman, Kerry Russell and Judy Greer round out the rest of the main cast.

Taking over the reins of the Apes franchise from director Rupert Wyatt, Reeves seems to have a pretty solid grasp on what made the first film so memorable. The trailer shows some impressive acting between Serkis and Clarke, while providing plenty of glorious battle scenes. The drama in this particular trailer really ratchets up the obvious social tensions between the two societies. Yes, the trailer shows the inevitable conflict between man and ape, but it also provides hints as to what set off the powder keg.

One of the things that worked so well about Rise was the fact that Wyatt took the time to establish the personalities of Caesar and the other apes. Maurice, the gentle and intelligent orangutan, and Koba, the violent and cunning chimp, were notable stand outs. Again, this trailer shows that many of the apes not only have distinct personalities, but are also able to talk, an ability that only Caesar possessed in the original film. Koba gets a significant amount of screen time in this trailer. Being one of the more aggressive apes in the simian community, Koba is clearly being set-up as a rival to Caesar’s power.

The CGI and special effects continue to look astounding. Weta Digital, who have provided motion capture for Avatar, Lord of the Rings, King Kong and Rise of the Planet of the Apes, continue to prove themselves to be the best in business when it comes to digital effects. The slightest change of expression can be seen on Caesar’s face, and the way the rain runs down his body looks so natural. Caesar’s eyes, which always looked so expressive, look even better now. There’s almost a weariness, even a bitterness to them. I can’t think of a film that captures the emotion on a digital character’s face better than this trailer does.

With a strong cast, a more than competent director and a terrific leading man, Dawn of the Planet of the Apes might be my most anticipated movie of the summer. If they can repeat the same success that they had with the original, I would be more than satisfied. I will say that I might be slightly disappointed if at least one of apes doesn’t throw their own feces at a human. They may be evolved, but old habits tend to die hard. Until then…Hail, Caesar!

What about you reader? Excited for Dawn of the Planet of the Apes? Check out the trailer and let us know in the comments below!

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Richard and Chris talk about two of the more interesting art house releases this month:

Cold in July, based on the book by the always-intense Joe Lansdale, stars Michael C. Hall as a small Texas town family man in the 80’s whose understanding of what it is to ‘be a man’ is thrown into a complex web of violence and moral grey areas when he kills a midnight intruder in his home. Don Johnson and Sam Shepard also star.

Borgman is a Dutch thriller about a strange society of homeless folk who invade the lives of a family in…an uncertain and presumably supernatural manner…and slowly point their co-existence to a crisis point. Weird, weird stuff, man.

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And now, ladies and gentlemen, the all-singing, all-dancing, greatest show on Earth…THE UNUSUAL SUSPECTS…reviewing an adaptation of an extremely popular musical that cinematically feels more like a standard rock bio.

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Beau, JC and Chris take on Clint Eastwood’s latest cinematic outing and probably are going to piss off some Clint fans along the way. Check out the outrage…

Conceptually, The Expendables sounds like a great idea. Teaming up the greatest action icons of the 1980s taps into the beloved nostalgia factor studios love to milk dry. However, after two films, both of which were met with less than favorable reviews, that concept seems to only work on paper.

Enter the recent trailer for The Expendables 3. It features an “all-star” cast of senior citizens pretending to fire guns bigger than they are. Opening August 15, The Expendables 3, directed by Patrick Hughs (Red Hill), showcases some of the returning cast members to the series. Franchise veterans include Sylvester Stallone, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Jason Statham, Dolph Lundgren, Randy Couture, Terry Crews and Jet Li. Recent additions to the cast feature Antonio Banderas, Wesley Snipes, Mel Gibson, Harrison Ford, Kelsey Grammer, Ronda Rousey, Kellan Lutz and Victor Ortiz.

As the trailer points out, Barney (Stallone) and his team of steroid abusers are being hunted by arms dealer Conrad Stonebanks (Gibson). Years ago, Barney and Stonebanks formed the Expendables, but bad blood between the two mercenaries forced them into an awkward situation involving the use of assorted dangerous armaments on one another. Believing Stonebanks to be dead, Barney is shocked to see that he is actually very much alive. In order to protect his team, Barney recruits additional members that no one really cares about to take out Stonebanks for good.

BRAY_20130903_EXP3_7700.dng — *The featured image of this month’s AARP newsletter.*

Even with a cast of many recognizable names, this trailer doesn’t provide much hope for those wanting to see an action film with even a semblance of intelligence and competent acting. I know it seems like I’m asking for too much and perhaps I am, given who is involved with this film. As Stallone, Schwarzenegger and many other action stars have proven over the decades, acting isn’t exactly their forte. Still, this particular film features a few MMA fighters. I’m sure they’ll just light up the screen with their acting abilities.

One of the trailer’s few bright spots, and I say this with much trepidation, is Mel Gibson. Outside of his occasional racist and sexist rants, Gibson has always proven himself to be a pretty good actor. For The Expendables 3, he’s playing the villain. If there’s one thing that Gibson can pull off in spades, it’s being completely out of his mind. While the trailer doesn’t feature him doing anything particularly crazy, I’m willing to bet he’ll have a few moments of Martin Riggs-like insanity.

The action itself doesn’t look bad necessarily. Does it look unrealistic? Sure, but it’s not terrible looking. You have some quick shots of a couple of fight scenes, and an odd amount of attention paid to a motocross bike. These clips might have been able to generate excitement at one time, but in a world where films like The Raid: Redemption, Skyfall and Taken exist, the action in films like The Expendables just comes off being goofy and trite.

Look, I love movies like Conan the Barbarian, Predator and First Blood as much as anyone, but the reason why I like them is because they have a little intelligence to them. There was some actual effort put into those movies, and that’s why they continue to be so popular today. This trailer, much like the previous two Expendables movies, is trying to re-create the success of those classic films, but with little of the effort or creativity involved in their creation.

The marketing for the film points out that this will be the last hurrah for this team of arthritis-afflicted action stars, but with so few of their other cinematic endeavors pulling in the money, I doubt they’ll abandon this franchise after three movies. Who knows? Maybe OneOfUs.net’s resident senior-in-chief, Martin Thomas, can exchange fisticuffs with the Austrian Oak and Italian Stallion in Expendables 4. It would certainly be a more realistic fight scene than anything featured in this trailer.

What are your thoughts about the trailer for The Expendables 3? How could the franchise revitalize itself while retaining its core concept? Share your suggestions in the comments!

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Richard and Chris are back with a whole slew of titles this week for review, ranging from the truly spectacular to the craptastic and everything in between. We discuss the grim and beautiful True Detective: Season One, the very funny Alan Partridge, The intriguing Tim’s Vermeer and, well, disagree COMPLETELY about Visitors.

Those and many more reviews on this week’s episode of DIGITAL NOISE!!!!

Please do consider using our links below to make all of your Amazon purchases! Much appreciated!

HOW TO WIN THIS WEEK’S GIVEAWAY:

1) Follow @oneofusnet on Twitter

2) Tweet at us with your answer of who your zombie apocalypse buddy would be and why

3) Add #killzombiegiveaway

4) We’ll select our two favorite answers and contact those winners via Twitter (open to U.S. residents only).

Follow Digital Noise on Twitter and make sure to review us on iTunes.

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Toshi and Sarah return with the second half of their podcast from Tokyo and delve in head first to the most recent season of Supernatural. So, ya know, spoiler warning and all that.

One of the good things about this gig is that I get the chance to go back and correct mistakes and oversights from earlier in my life. Despite being damn near perfect (*cough* yeah right *cough*), I do occasionally fall short on things or miss an opportunity.

Case in point, I let both Mother’s and Father’s Day roll around without doing anything here on One Of Us for those worthy folk who bear those titles! I am hanging my head in shame, because supportive parents deserve all the accolades and respect we can possibly muster.

Ben&JakeSisko2375 — *Ben Sisko, Proudest Papa In Starfleet*

Many of us loud and proud geeks today wouldn’t be geeks at all if our parents hadn’t supported our passions, whether they understood them or not. When I think of all the time, effort, and let’s be honest, money (bein’ geeky ain’t cheap, yo!) my parents spent on me exploring my passion for books (comic or otherwise), TV, movies, and video games, it’s enough to bring a tear to my eye.

My folks may not share the same level of love that I do for these things, but my happiness fills their hearts with joy which in turn fills my heart with even more joy. I know that’s sappy, but a great deal of you know exactly what I’m talking about, so suck it!

So here’s what I’m thinking, I’d like everybody to leave comments about all the cool stuff their parents have done for them in the name of their geeky passions. Let’s turn this page into one giant thank you card to the people who allowed us to play and dream.

To Mom and Dad.

saga-promo-cover — *You think their life is a Saga, remember your parents had to raise you!*

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We kind of ran our mouths this episode and ended up talking for nearly 2 hours, but dammit Season 9 of Supernatural is over and we need to talk about it. Fortunately, to save people from massive, massive spoilers, we’ve divided this episode into two parts.
In part 1, we have some random talk about medicine, movies, the bubble era, and Michael Bay wanting to direct a live-action adaptation of one of Japan’s iconic anime series.

Note: In this episode, we spoil Evangelion, a bit of X-Men Days of Future Past and its ending stinger clip for what’s to come.

COMING TOMORROW: Wayward Podcast: The Part-Twoer, which is devoted entirely to talking about “Supernatural”.

The Pre-Weekend Recap: June 20, 2014

Are You Ready For Pod-A-Thon?! June 28th!

Monkey See, Monkey Kill: The Final Trailer For ‘Dawn of the Planet of the Apes’

Highly Suspect Reviews: ‘Cold in July’ and ‘Borgman’

Highly Suspect Reviews: ‘Jersey Boys’

‘Expendables 3’ Trailer Reaction: Packing More AK’s and Aging Action Stars

Digital Noise: Episode 48: The Secret Visitors of Zombie Detectives

HOW TO WIN THIS WEEK’S GIVEAWAY:

1) Follow @oneofusnet on Twitter

2) Tweet at us with your answer of who your zombie apocalypse buddy would be and why

3) Add #killzombiegiveaway

4) We’ll select our two favorite answers and contact those winners via Twitter (open to U.S. residents only).

Follow Digital Noise on Twitter and make sure to review us on iTunes.

World of UScast: Wayward Podcast: The Part Twoer

A Little Love For the Parents

World of UScast: Wayward Podcast: The Two-Parter