Ladies and ginger snaps, it’s time for another episode of Digital Noise. So warm up your ear sockets! This week, we cover everything from Thor to Game of Thrones to Adventure Time…as well as titles that DON’T take place in awesome fantasy worlds. We have some Bad Dreams, discuss the reasons you really shouldn’t Beware the Batman, and fall hard for Gravity. On top of all this (is a cheesy pun sauce?), we giveaway not just one Jason Statham action movie, but a whole trio of Jason Statham action movies. The man has an around-the-clock shadow and more muscles than a seafood restaurant menu.
You gotta love it. Lock the doors, get comfortable, and prepare to crank up Da Noise!
“The arrogance of man is thinking that nature is in our control… and not the other way around.”
That quote uttered by Ken Wantanabe in the latest Godzilla trailer is probably the best hint as to how this movie will play out. It is the tone-setter, the theme, and the conflict… it’s also an astute prediction about the nature of the creature itself. I mean, this thing is HUGE and looking for blood, and anyone who gets it Godzilla’s way is certainly screwed. Check out this trailer and let’s discuss.
Did you hear that little purr Mr. Zilla gave at the end there? He’s basically telling us that this film is going to be just purrrrfect. Seriously, it really looks like they are trying to distance themselves as far away from Roland Emmerich’s film as possible. I really like the dark and serious tone that this Godzilla is taking, and it really looks like they are amping up the human element to it. I think that this is why they wanted Bryan Cranston on board. He is a serious actor, and a very dramatic one. This film means business, and god damn it, Gareth Edwards has got something to prove!
This trailer does raise a question for me, but perhaps that’s because I’m unfamiliar with the lore, so maybe you lovely folks can help me out!
They say they woke him up in 1954, and that the nuclear tests weren’t actually tests, but rather they were trying to kill it. Does that mean Godzilla isn’t the result of the nuclear tests? Where did he come from then? And how did they keep this huge lizard a secret for nearly 60 years (assuming this film takes place in modern day)?
So fellow USians, do you know the answers to my questions? What do you think of the trailer? Whatever your thoughts, comment below and let One of Us know!
When I was a little kid growing up, I gravitated toward certain characters and actors. Syndication was a big deal back then and I would plop my butt in front of the TV, turn on “Chicago’s Very Own” WGN and watch daily reruns of some of the the most memorable shows in my entire childhood. Simon & Simon was one of those shows, and ever since those days as a little boy, I’ve been a fan of the man who played Rick Simon, the very talented Gerald McRaney. To this day, tell me McRaney’s in it and I’ll probably give it a shot. It has filled me with nothing but joy to see one of my favorite actors start to get the recognition and screen time he deserves once again. There are many people who enjoy his work when they see him, but may not know much about the man. To combat this travesty, and hopefully drum up new fans, I submit to you, dear reader:
Five Reasons Gerald McRaney Is Awesome
5. The guy can go toe to toe on screen with Kevin Spacey and hold his own.
Even with a career as varied and celebrated as Kevin Spacey’s, you’d be hard pressed to find anybody who wouldn’t list his portrayal as corrupt politician and schemer Frank Underwood from House of Cards among his best work. When you have one of the finest actors in America turning in some of the most magnetic and compelling work of his life, you need to make sure that the entire cast is at least keeping pace, moreso for an individual in the role of the antagonist. Enter McRaney as Raymond Tusk, a man that has Congress and the White House wrapped around his finger until Frank comes around. McRaney’s Tusk is such a credible threat in this groundbreaking program, it could be argued that he is raising Spacey’s game.
4. He was last guest star to meet Marshal Matt Dillon in a gunfight on the TV version of Gunsmoke
In TV, being either the first or last of something in any series is very important. When the show in question is one of the most celebrated and important TV shows in history, this truth is amplified. The Gunsmoke franchise ran for 20 years on TV, and in 1975, in the episode Hard Labor, a young McRaney left his important mark on this landmark series as it was approaching its end.
3. The guy was on TV non-stop from 1981 to 1993 in 2 different series.
Simon & Simon ran from 1981 to 1989 and Major Dad ran from the fall of 1989 until 1993. That means that McRaney had to wrap up one successful series and move on to an entirely new one within the same year. 12 years straight between two shows? That is hard work worthy of a medal.
2. He is one of the main actors out there in the world making the ‘Western’ cool again.
McRaney’s career in westerns stretches well past his work on Gunsmoke. As the western has enjoyed a bit of a modern resurgence, McRaney has been there to add his presence and rightfully so. Deadwood, Justified, and Longmire have all had McRaney on at some point and he has been great in each one. Plus there is the undeniable fact that McRaney just looks snappy in a cowboy hat. Here is to more westerns and more McRaney!
1. He was Rick Simon.
Okay, so this last one is really just my own personal bit, but I love the hell out of Rick Simon. Growing up I wanted to be Rick Simon. Who doesn’t want to wear a cool hat, drive a beater truck, have a big cool dog, punch bad guys, solve mysteries, score with lovely ladies, and carry around a big gun. I was able to relate to the constant bickering between Rick and his brother AJ as it in some ways mirrors the relationship I had (and still do) with my little sister. I liked Rick’s laid back attitude towards life, he defied convention and lived how he wanted to. Plus the theme song was catchy as hell!
I love every part of this show, and I always will.
As always, we want to hear from you. Do you like Gerald McRaney as much as I do? Who are some of your favorite actors that you think don’t get there due accolades? Let your thoughts be known in the comments below!
Life lesson, everyone: if you receive an invitation to visit a group of suspiciously blissful people who have separated themselves on an island far away from the rest of the general population,
DON’T GO, IT’S A CULT.
The Wicker Man tried to warn us (twice), but some people just refuse to listen. Such is the case of the protagonists of The Sacrament, an upcoming horror film directed and written by Ti West and produced by Eli Roth. The film’s press release announcing the red band trailer, which came out last week, describes the premise in the following manner:
“THE SACRAMENT follows two Vice Media correspondents as they set out to document their friend’s journey to find his missing sister. They travel outside of the United States to an undisclosed location where they are welcomed into the world of ‘Eden Parish,’ a self-sustained rural utopia, comprised of nearly two hundred members. At the center of this small, religious, socialist community is a mysterious leader known only as ‘Father.’ As their friend reunites with his sister, it becomes apparent to the newcomers that this paradise may not be as it seems. What started as just another documentary shoot soon becomes a race to escape with their lives.”
Nope, definitely not a cult! You can check out the red band trailer for The Sacrament down below:
While the premise is not exceptionally original, the trailer leads me to believe this could be better than the average horror movie featuring a cult. It’s always interesting to watch movies involving tight-knit groups governed by a strict set of rules and the consequences that ensue when those rules crumble and fall. The Sacrament’s Eden Parish will apparently tear itself apart once the outsiders find out about its true nature and the trailer makes me think the commune’s two factions will resort to absolutely savage means to either escape or maintain order. Sounds a pretty great time at the movies!
The Sacrament stars Joe Swanberg (You’re Next), AJ Bowen (The House of the Devil), Kentucker Audley (Sun Don’t Shine), Amy Seimetz (The Killing), and Gene Jones (No Country For Old Men). The film will be released on iTunes/On Demand May 1, 2014 and in theaters on June 6.
Are you interested in seeing this film? Where would you place your remote cult commune and what tenets would you abide by to keep the peace? Share your plans for benevolent tyranny down below!
This week the THEOG honors an old tradition held over from our previous podcast, LEOG, by doing our Staple! Independent Media Expo preview show…
We called in Uncle Staple, and we all dug in about the cool stuff we’re looking forward to at this year’s show.
But, of course, that’s far from all.
This being The Original Gentlemen, we’ve got a job to do, and that’s to wax eloquent (ish) about the latest entertainment news, trailers, games, books, movies, etc.
This week the gang dives into Guardians of the Galaxy, The Fantastic Four, Game of Thrones, City of Thieves, “The Wolf Among Us”, Maron, and lots, lots more. We even find the time to answer a lot of your questions.
So without further ado, let’s get on with the show…
I don’t generally write about politics. I actually make it a rule not to. Thanks to my current career path I spend all day every day thinking about politics, and I look at this blog (and obviously all the television and movie watching that comes along with it) as my escape from that. This is where I get to focus on all the things that make me smile in life.
But just for today I’m going to break my rule. I have to. And I hope you can understand why.
A couple of years ago at DragonCon I was walking down a street in Atlanta and heard two men behind me talking. They were in town for the SEC opener and were clearly surprised to find 40,000+ Con-goers in town. One of the men asked the other why I had a badge on and he answered “oh she’s just here for that freak convention.” Now I’m a big girl and anyone who knows me will tell you that I can definitely stand up for myself, but in that one moment I felt like I wasn’t welcome there, and it was a terrible feeling. I wanted to disappear.
I can only imagine what it must be like to be made to feel like that all the time. Unfortunately, my state is trying to do just that to some of my friends and neighbors.
Indiana is not always an easy place to be a young (ok, young-ish) person. Outside of Indianapolis and a few other select pockets, this is a very religious, very conservative place that opposes change with every ounce of energy it can muster. You still can’t buy alcohol on Sundays here. Imagine deciding at the last minute to have friends over for the Colts game and then realizing that all you have to drink is some questionable milk.
But things like that you can get used to. Obviously we work around the alcohol sales problem by keeping so much beer on hand at all times that our parents start to worry. When people from ANYWHERE else in America ask about it, you just shake your head, shrug and say “that’s Indiana for you.”
Having one of these at home is just a matter of survival.
But now a group of people in Indiana, a relatively small group if the polls are to be believed, are trying to push it further. They believe that marriage needs to be protected in the Hoosier state, and I don’t mean from a divorce rate that remains somewhere north of 50%. They feel the need to protect it from two consenting adults who love each other and want to build a life together.
There is no danger of marriage equality happening any time soon in Indiana. Most likely nothing will change here until the US Supreme Court mandates it. So this current push to enshrine a ban in Indiana’s Constitution, the document meant to protect the rights of all residents of this state, comes across as nothing more than a personal vendetta against gay Hoosiers.
Over the past several weeks LGBT Hoosiers and their allies have packed the Statehouse and listened respectfully as they were told over and over again that they are sinners, that marriage equality will lead to the downfall of America, and that they aren’t fit to raise children. They’ve endured speeches from legislators that included gems like “I don’t have anything against those people.” They’ve been thrown out of the House Chamber gallery for giving a silent thumbs down in protest to some especially offensive testimony. And last week they watched as the Indiana Senate, a body elected to represent and protect all Hoosiers, once again voted to put discrimination in the Constitution.
A picture of one of the protests against House Joint Resolution 3. a proposed constitutional ban on gay marriage.
I don’t claim to understand how it feels to know that the people who make my laws don’t think I deserve the same treatment as everyone else. And I don’t know what it’s like to have people telling me I don’t have the right to marry the person I love. But I do know what it feels like to live in a state that is still doing this in 2014, and it doesn’t feel good.
As I said earlier, I know this isn’t a normal topic for Ash & Fern, and I promise this will be a rare thing from me. I just believe that we as geeks know, if in a very small way, what it’s like to be an outcast. To have people look at you like you don’t fit. To feel unwelcome. And at a time like this we need to remember that if we stop and truly think about how we would want to be treated if we were on the other side, we will realize that we really aren’t that far apart.
And with that I promise next week I’ll be back to writing about the other important things in life. Like how crazy it makes me that when Captain Jack Harkness comes back to life after being shot dozens of times his shirt doesn’t have holes in it.
We feel truly blessed to have some amazingly talented artists who count themselves as fans of ours. I know for me personally, starting out my career as a just another loudmouthed geek, I NEVER thought I would ever be featured in fan art…you know, because you have to have fans first.
And yet the last couple of years have brought an overwhelming and humbling number of artistic tributes from listeners/readers. This latest artwork is among my favorites. Listener Jordan Schwager created this image of (a few of) The Unusual Suspects from our Highly Suspect Reviews. I can’t…there just aren’t words.
Check it out…
The image came replete with Jordan’s breakdown of his characterizations of the group. You can read those descriptions below. I love that he even incorporated our beloved blue monster mascot into the mix.
Martin “The Elder One” Thomas – Ancient Time Wizard who directs the group from the shadows using his vast experience to help the group.
Beau “The Troll” Paul – with his mighty Club of Correction.
Ashley “Mind Crafter” Moreno– A master assassin who uses to her magic needles to get her POINT across. (strap in, there are more puns coming)
The Mighty Us-He is a gestalt entity made up of all the nerd rage spewed across the entire internet making him a powerful if unruly ally of the Unusual Suspects.
Chris “Cat Master” Cox – with his trusted companion Monkey the cat is a most formidable verbal martial artist, using fluid puns in quick succession to confuse and irritate his enemies and then turning their own words around making them believe they were agreeing with him the entire time.
Brian “The Beerbarian” Salisbury – A giant of a man. Using his beer fueled rants littered with puns and insightful obscure movie knowledge references, he easily overwhelm his opponents.
Luke “The Furbolg” Mullen – Not much is known about this strange and hirsute creature. He is a long time companion of the Brian and it is unclear if he is a bodyguard or pet, but what is known is that he is capable of wielding his beard with such precision and ferocity that only a fool would risk awakening his wrath.
It’s Sunday, and here at OneOfUs, that means it’s time for a trip to The Strip Club. No, not the one with the nudity and the dubious breakfast buffet. We’re talking about our new feature in which we feature reader-submitted comic strips. Check out this week’s offerings and enjoy your Sunday morning the old fashioned way. All that’s missing is the coffee.
by Jason Fisher
If you want to start submitting comics for our Sunday “Strip Club” features. and we’d love for you to, please contact us at oneofusnet@gmail.com
We love you guys, and we have come up with a way for you to participate! Just like the real NCAA Tournament, every year there is a play-in game. In that game, the winner is the poor soul chosen to be the sacrificial lamb for the perennial powers of the college basketball landscape.
Well this week, for our upcoming Die Hard rip-offs edition, one spot remains in our Sweet 16 lineup. We have come up with a list of upstart hopefuls, and it’s up to you guys to vote on which one you’d like to see in the tournament. After an intense planning session, we decided on 15 definite films, and four maybe films. The 15 won’t be revealed now, but you guys can tell us which of these four is worthy of fighting for the ultimate in cinematic glory.
As you might recall from my first piece about hip hop, I love almost every genre of music unabashedly and without shame or remorse. Mainstream or obscure, modern or classic, there’s a good chance that I’m a fan. However, it wasn’t always this way. What follows is the story of how I learned to set aside my musical pretensions and just like what I like.
I listened to a lot of metal when I was growing up. I was also one of those annoying metal kids who thought that metal was the ONLY music worth listening to. I’d say stuff like
“Oh, you listen to rap? I listen to Opeth. You probably haven’t heard of them.”
“You listen to country? I listen to Deicide. Their name literally means ‘the killing of a god.’ You probably haven’t heard of them.”
“Your favorite bands make it rain by throwing money on the crowd? My favorite bands make it rain with fake blood.”
” Your favorite bands sing and dance on stage? My favorite bands play real instruments. Let me talk to you about sweep picking. Let me talk to you about blast beats. Let me talk to you about 14 minute songs and changing time signatures every four bars.”
Yeah, I was the worst.
I liked the really technical stuff. The faster they played, and the more solos, the better. I even hated other heavy music for not living up to my standards. Killwhitneydead was too gimmicky. Glassjaw was too soft. Breakdowns were stupid and so was hardcore dancing. I would’ve hated me. It’s a wonder I had any friends at all.
My dad wanted to make sure he instilled his sense of music into me as a kid. I was mainly reared on a healthy diet of Pink Floyd and Rush, and to this day, those albums remain some of my favorites. It wasn’t difficult for a kid who was into Pink Floyd to make the jump to a band like Tool. It also wasn’t difficult to make the jump from Rush to Dream Theater. Yeah, I went through a Dream Theater stage. I was really into them at one point. I think most “Music Nerds/Metal Kids” listened to Dream Theater at one point. I’m not ashamed of it. These were the types of bands that got me into the really heavy stuff. Sure, I listened to some things that weren’t metal, but I either kept it a secret, or had some weird way of justifying it. Mostly, I identified as a metalhead. Imagine my surprise when I fell in love with a song by a mainstream band.
Sorry Luke, but it happened.
I used to drive around in my Honda playing metal as loud as I could. I wanted to scare old ladies when I pulled up to stop lights. But, sometimes I would get bored with my own music and flip through the radio stations. Much in the same way a liberal will occasionally watch Fox News, I used to listen to the Top 40 stations to see what the enemy was up to. The first time I heard “Sugar, We’re Going Down” on the radio I was driving home from work, and the song just caught me. It had real guitars, real drums, and real vocals which automatically made it better than everything else on the radio.
If I had known the song I was listening to was by Fall Out Boy, I would have changed it immediately. I had never really heard any of their songs but I knew that I didn’t like them. I especially didn’t like their fans with their eyeliner, and stupid haircuts, and girl-pants. To me, the band – and their fans – were what was wrong with rock music. The second time I heard the song I literally checked around me to make sure no one was around before I turned it up. It was just so damn catchy. Those drums!! The guitars were heavy!! The lyrics were so clever!! I wrote this one song off as a fluke; it didn’t mean anything. Plus, whoever did this song was probably an okay band.
My world came crashing down during Ms. Pohlig’s second-block Spanish class when a friend of mine walked into the room singing “Sugar, We’re Going Down.” I asked him who the song was by and he said “I’m not sure, but I think it’s Fall Out Boy.” My stomach dropped. I felt paralyzed and powerless. There was no way I could like a song by a band like “that.” I had not only spent countless hours railing against bands like “that,” but I aimed my hatred at Fall Out Boy specifically. What followed was a time of self-reflection and self-loathing. It may sound like I’m exaggerating, but the mind of a young and naive metalhead is strange place.
I had a friend burn me a mix with what he thought were the best Fall Out Boy songs. The only way out was through the fire. Ideally, I would hate all the songs and I could go back to metal. But, as these things tend to go, I listened to the CD endlessly. I sang along. I played air drums in my car. I had no shame. As it turns out, I was missing out on a lot of good music by writing off anything that wasn’t metal. Who knew that “Tell All Your Friends” by Taking Back Sunday was the ultimate drunken sing-along album? Who knew that I would one day call Brand New one of my favorite bands?
My new-found love of not-metal music eventually led me to the standard Top 40 pop music. It’s hard, if not impossible, to try to explain why I like the music that I like. A guy like myself probably shouldn’t have listened to Katy Perry’s “Teenage Dream” for 3 straight weeks. But, when that album came out, that’s exactly what I did. And I did it enthusiastically and un-ironically. Haters be damned. There’s no set formula that will determine which songs you like and which songs you hate. Sometimes, you’re going to like something that’s either mainstream or outside of your normal preferences or both. There is absolutely nothing wrong with that, so embrace it and if anyone gives you grief, screw ’em.
As Kanye was told by 50, if they hate, let ’em hate and watch the money pile up.
So here’s a huge thank you to Mr. Peter Wentz and his band. Your catchy songs and clever lyrics are responsible for tearing me down and building me back up again. Somewhere there’s a 16 year old version of myself wringing his hands in agony and shame. That kid needs to grow up and get over himself.
