Los Angeles Archives - GeeksHaveGame

August 24, 2015August 24, 2015

FEAR THE WALKING DEAD [Series Premiere Review]: Pretty Ugly.

"Sister" Sarah G @DarthHistory / "Saint" Patrick Obloy @OffTheGeekEnd — “Sister” Sarah G
@DarthHistory /
“Saint” Patrick Obloy
@OffTheGeekEnd

What better way to cover AMC’s new spin-off series of the smash-hit The Walking Dead, Fear the Walking Dead, than a pair of reviews from…a married Los Angeles couple?

Scary.

Into a world where people have not yet learned to walk into abandoned buildings shouting “Hello, anyone here?” (or, go near people you have already hit with your car but have gotten up…) comes Fear the Walking Dead.

Set in a pre-Walking Dead United States where Zombies are still just something you run from at Horror Nights, FTWD promises to take viewers on a ride, showing them what happened before Rick Grimes woke up. The first 3-minutes should lull viewer into a false sense of familiarity: abandoned buildings, spooky noises, and the familiar groans of the dead. Soon after, it becomes obvious that the characters are not in Kansas – I mean Georgia – anymore…

The premise is strong, and as a loyal TWD viewer, I was excited to see the early stages of the zombie apocalypse descend on my home state. The big problem with the initial hook of FTWD is that instead of being drawn in by the initial character’s experience, I kept wondering how this junkie dude got a hold of my sister’s cardigan.

Fun fact! Apparently when they wake up, tired junkies move just like zombies. Beware, zombie hunters, that next walker you try to put down could just be a guy looking for his next fix – and an espresso.

The father-son dynamic of TWD has been expanded to encompass a larger, more dystopian family unit: mother, children, mother’s live-in boyfriend, and, by extension, his old family. It will be interesting to see how a high school teacher and counselor will fare against the burgeoning numbers of walkers.

There isn’t a stalwart lawman or survivalist among the group, so the viewer is left to wonder: will any of the soft and squishy characters we are introduced to be molded by this new world into a hardcore, kickass slayer of the dead?

Finding that out is worth the watch alone. 3.5/5 Bloody Bibles. – “Sister” Sarah

What was it like in the beginning? Did people understand what was happening? How did it spread so easily? Fear The Walking Dead will try to answer those questions and more…

"Mr. Romero, I thought I told you to stop calling this number." — “Mr. Romero, I thought I told you to stop calling this number.”

The show opens with a young man waking up from loud noises as well as complete silence, worried that something isn’t right. His movement is erratic and his surrounding is that of a dilapidated church, boarded up to protect the inhabitants. He stumbles around walking past a body and bloody piano, unsure of what is going on, and eventually comes across a situation of what seems to be a girl he knows attacking another person. He runs out of the building and into the streets, feeling safe until *wham* a car tries to stop but hits him anyways and knocks him to the ground.

Have the undead already taken over? The camera pans out from above as various people come to his aid and others come to gawk at the accident. Clearly the shit has not yet been introduced to the fan. Without spoiling the rest, we get to see a family, the Clarks — played by Kim Dickens, Frank Dillane, Alycia Debnam-Carey, (boyfriend) Cliff Curtis — come to grips with the strange occurances; trying to understand what all is going on..

And that's why we use Lyft. — And that’s why we use Lyft.

FTWD‘s premiere/pilot episode is an hour-and-a-half long (or an hour if you take in mind commercials) and primarily spends time getting to know the family, their situation, and show the very start of how things play out at the beginning of the end. At times it seems to feel drawn out; but I had that same feeling with some episodes of The Walking Dead, so comparitively it doesn’t lose any points. There are times when you wonder why no one is reacting more to a scene or what a character is telling/showing others, which just shows the level of writing. I have hopes things will get better.

On the other hand, it was great that FTWD didnt just give a 5-minute introduction to life before zombies–and then throw us into the chaos that we are already familiar with on its older sibling’s show. And the preview for episode two definitely tells us that shit is getting real and that our protagonists will have to make some quick decisions on how to handle this new “LA” together. Despite some big boot to fill, this clergygeek is interested in the spin-off and want to see how it plays out, so long as they find a better title theme song. 3.5/5 Bloody Bibles. – “Saint” Patrick

October 27, 2014October 27, 2014

NIGHTCRAWLER [Review]: Don’t let this one BAMF! away.

The present day/night Los Angeles depicted in Dan Gilroy’s Nightcrawler (2014), directly mirrors the sinister, melting plastic pot it can often seem to be: A shallow reflecting pool brimming with all flavors of ultra-violence; pressed against our faces; forcing our nostrils to run red until we taste the copper in the back of our throats. Shot in surgically crisp HD video, I initially found myself awash in visual conundrum. At first glance, the digital artifice of the “film” pushed me back, because it looked too uncomfortably real; yet that dead-on portrayal of Angel City, in all its super-saturated polychrome and sharp lighting, pulled me right back into my own voyeuristic narcissism. I felt abjectly dislocated; yet recognized familiar ground under foot. Gilroy’s lens kept my polarity shifting throughout the film.

Nightcrawler’s pacing runs counter to its name. The brass knuckles are laid down to the teeth in the opening scene; near the L.A. River front, under the shine of neon-infused moon and LED flashlight. The glint on one man’s wrist, matching the sparkle in Louis Bloom’s (Jake Gyllenhaal) eye. We see right off, Lou’s gonna take us on a dark and winding slither. He soon slips onto the scene of some disaster porn, near the 110 and 10 freeway interchange. It’s here, with metal and rubber melting into asphalt that Bloom finds his calling..

Jakey G’s Lou Bloom, definitely ain’t got no chain of daisies sprouting up from his murky soul. He’s a thief, a hustler, a liar, a calculating manipulator. Some would say he’s entrepreneurial; donning the colors of a true predatory capitalist. He speaks in the rapid-fire staccato of a motivational speaker cum corporate strategist. Every word pinpointed precisely on the target he wills himself to acquire.. Lou Bloom is Dan Gilroyian muck, stacked six feet high. He is a shallow reflecting pool. He is a stringer. He trades in human suffering for personal profit. A freelance “newsman” of sorts; who sells digital video content of car crashes, fires, crimes, mayhem, and murders, to KWLA 6 TV News.

As a potential colleague and/or rival stringer, Joe Loder (Bill Paxton), tells Lou in their first encounter: Being a stringer is “..a flaming asshole of a job.” As always, Paxton proves his acting mettle; and I couldn’t help but laugh my ass off when Bill’s Loder dropped this line — as I was reminded of his role as the comically abusive brother, Chet, in Weird Science, where he was ultimately transformed into a human pile of fly-ridden turdslop, by Kelly LeBrock! Riz Ahmed’s Rick, a good-hearted and hungry, couch-surfing kid, answers Lou’s call for a video news intern and becomes a slightly unwilling accomplice along for Lou’s slip and slide.

Rick is the counter morality weight to Lou’s dark hubris; perhaps one of few characters here, possessing any level of spiritual purity.. Rene Russo’s Nina Romina, an Alpha Female news room editor some twenty years older than Lou, makes her a formidable mentor, uneasy business colleague, and eventual symbiote. Nina’s It-Bleeds-It-Leads-style of news addiction and lack of moral compass, may be even more diabolical than Lou’s own.

-Gilroy’s dialogue is peppered with a brilliant combination of feints, body blows, rope-a-dopes, and haymakers that bell-ring true to the authenticity of the characters portrayed in his film.

-Gyllenhaal delivers a sociopath in Lou Bloom you cannot help but identify with, and may/may not actually even admire in some respects, especially if you’re living the L.A. hustle.

–Performances a la Russo, Paxton, and Ahmed further tease out delightfully visceral shades you’ll experience here in sinister spectrum, and otherwise..

-The only rotten stink I really whiffed in this Denmark is the fact that the plot, although exciting and adeptly paced, is often predictably formulaic in most respects. I’m still pondering whether this was totally intentional on Gilroy’s part; and I think it may be, as this predictability seemed to add another layer of meta-noir familiarity upon the whole film, pulling me in deeper to that voyeuristic narcissism I mentioned earlier.

The entire experience for me was a constant shifting between my own reality, being an Angeleno, in conjunction with watching a brilliantly performed meta-noir crime film, set in a plastic L.A., that happened to push my brainpan further into some cinematic sandbox, by encompassing visual tropes and structures from the nightly news– populated with many of the actual newscasters who we see on TV every night here in Lost Angeles..

If I were you, I’d underbelly up to the box office next week when Nightcrawler (2014) opens, and I’d open my wallet. Drop some plastic on this one. You’ll be glad you did. And after you see it, you might just wanna break out your smartphone, run some red lights, and maybe find a little murder and mayhem of your own. There’s plenty of it out there.. I’m going out tonight, after sundown, to stir up the muck; and see if I can find some sensationalistic grimy grit, to string onto my own Video News Production channel.

And even though we know this Nightcrawler ain’t outta the Kurt Wagner gene pool, and you find you’re gonna ixnay this flick entirely; maybe you’ll wanna check out Stan Lee’s Annihilator (2015), that Dan Gilroy just finished banging the screenplay out for.. They’re supposedly dropping $100 Million on it, and I heard Stan might hire Lou Bloom to be the D.P.

Open Road Films’ Nightcrawer sneaks onto theaters this Friday, October 31st.

September 23, 2013September 23, 2013

GRAND THEFT AUTO V [Podcast]: It’s a 1-8-7 on a Next-Gen Console!!!

You’ve seen the pictures. You’ve read the reviews. GTA V is undoubtedly the best in the legendary video game series. But, shit…is it the greatest game of all time? Does it fair to the PS3’s mega-hit of 2013, The Last of Us? What exactly seperates this open-world sandbox shooter from the rest?

Allow GodHatesGeeks to settle alladat.

gta-v-trevor-hillbilly — I know SOMEBODY around here stole my goddam Fruity Pebbles!!!

With featured radio guest, hip-hop emcee “The Deacon E” himself, Esko, in the house — or on the Hollyhood roof, to be more exact — there’s no doubt this Grand Theft Podcast is about to get heavy. Joining him is our resident gamer, the “Reverend” Jose Rivera, “Monsignor” Travis Moody, and even a special appearance by the wrestling “Bishop” Richard Zom.

Get your swag right, your whip tuned, and your clips ready, cause this is one Tinseltown podcast you don’t want to miss (other than the annoying patio umbrella rocking in the wind, but fuggit, yo!).

[soundcloud url=”http://api.soundcloud.com/tracks/112117203″ params=”” width=” 100%” height=”166″ iframe=”true” /]

If the above Soundcloud isn’t working, download the GTA V Podcast here, or stream it live through mediafire here.

Rockstar’s Grand Theft Auto V, for the Xbox 360 & PlayStation 3, in stores now.

November 14, 2012

Call of Duty – Black Ops II: Buy it, Breath it, Love it, F*&# it.

One of the year’s most obvious gaming choices just so happens to end up one of its biggest surprises.

This Call of Duty is the shit, kids.

Why a surprise? Hey, despite witnessing one of the most impressive demos at E3 last June, I never thought Call of Duty: Black Ops II would be better than Halo 4, Borderlands 2, or, hell, even Assassin’s Creed III. But it is. COD: BO2 is a lot like a star-vehicle for George Clooney.

Sure, the man is sure to fine-tune his acting chops every year (see: Good Night, and Good Luck to Syriana to Michael Clayton to Up in the Air), but doesn’t it tend to be predictable? Hell, that obviousness of classic core gameplay is consistently what makes Call of Duty the best-selling on the market. Gamers just tend to have a soft spot for Call of Duty that they just don’t have with other games. Every year, without fail, thousands upon thousands of gamers invest in the new Call of Duty game to play against each other online, with many even using online tools such as Aiming.Pro to make their aiming skills better for when they come up against other players in virtual battle.

And we still all love Clooney, don’t we?

Call of Duty: Black Ops — Never liked them Lakers, anyway.

But imagine if George finally went all Taxi Driver/Road to Perdition/Gangs of New York on that ass. BO2 is that game. It’s dark, fast, furious, gritty, gory…and actually makes a lot of sense in its story (David S. Goyer, The Dark Knight), music (Trent Reznor) and voice-acting (Sam Worthington, Avatar; Michael “Merle” Rooker, “The Walking Dead”). Most of those elements in past COD’s didn’t matter, honestly, since you knew you were going to run through hordes of nameless Russian, German, Vietnamese or Middle Eastern foes for the better of America. Thankfully — despite an intriguing plot that interweaves missions involving father and son marines — Black Ops II makes its antagonist the star and is all the better for it.

Raul Menendez doesn’t just appear out of anywhere either. We follow this cataclysmic character’s origin through some initial drug-running exploits and involvement with a legendary political figure. You actually get to play as characters on his side, as well. The game does a great job of mixing up gameplay theatrics (i.e. futuristic tactics/vehicles/weapons used in the Army, Navy, Air Force and Marines) without being overtly redundant or predictable. One level, you’re in a hot mid-1980s summer of Somalia trading bullets in huts and rain-forests, and, next, you’re paragliding your way through Beijing.

The single-player campaign itself is your usual 10-hour Call of Duty time frame, but this reviewer swears it to be at least an hour longer than Modern Warfare 3. Or, more than likely I just enjoyed the heck out of this one more and remember every damn mission. That’s with the shock of the mission sequence, too. To my surprise, the game is hardly based on the destruction of Tinseltown. Sure, the exclusive E3 demo gave fans (and locals) a reason to think the majority of the game would take place in a war torn Los Angeles, when in fact only one level shows the shop-and-eat area surrounding the Staples Center — LA Live — blown to ashes.

Still cool and frightening as all hell.

The only time campaign continuity stalls, shit frustrates you, and momentum is lost is through Strike Force. No, not your daddy’s high-flying duo of Rick Martel and Tito Santana, but more like missions that require a vicious juggle of tactical strikes that don’t always go as planned. While it’s cool to “switch it up” from the usual running-and-gunning, I didn’t buy Black Ops to play XCOM. While players still have the ability to control their own patriots on the ground, the rest of those runners controlled by the AI just can’t help but get mowed down. Controlling all of the units while ensuring yourself a legitimate force inside those units is insanely tough, but possible.

But highly unnecessary. Then again, these disparate missions make the campaign lengthier, and more black ops is more Black Ops.

Another nice thing about the sequel is the gun and armor customization. Much like the aforementioned Borderlands 2 and Halo 4, the weapons have improved (like the RPG’s/millimeter cloak-scanners). More importantly, the loadout menu in BO2 is super clean and allows for a far easier way to get equipped than past COD’s. There’s a wide range assortment of new scanners, grenades, and clips that won’t make your head hurt, either. The reason people enjoy playing Call of Duty games are because they are simply easy to pick up and play. Of course, Treyarch doesn’t bother to try and reinvent the wheel; they just try to get your head spinning from all the explosive sequencing. There’s S.E.A.L. scubaing, paratrooper landing, drone patrolling, aircraft diving/skyscraper dodging, and even ending-changing.

Yup. That’s right. Fail to make the “right” decision ala Mass Effect 3 and shit can go awry real fast. You’ll have about 4 or 5 chances to alter the stakes and end game with your actions, something no Call of Duty game has done before. And, hey, at least unlike Halo 4, you don’t press only one button during the final boss QTE sequence.

You press two.

5Bibles-e1335893292786-285x300 — 4.5 (out of 5) Bibles. Borderlands 2 has some competition. Easily, the best COD yet. Great, moderately lengthy campaign for a COD game, with excellent voice acting, a nice script and cool adrenaline-flowing direction. You never know where the game is heading and that spontaneity is what carries the greatness of COD: BO II. Tech of 2025 is both enjoying and realistic. Moral decisions and Strike Force missions boost the replay value of the main campaign. Multiplayer and Zombie mode views coming soon. You didn’t want to wait for the consensus on this now, did you? (Possibility of 5 Bibles if those parts of the game REALLY impress…)

August 6, 2012August 6, 2012

Hold the presses: This “Moody” turns 32.

Or 42.

One year out of “vacation mode” in Los Angeles sure can beat you down. I was warned. I didn’t believe it. And it happened.

But for all the roller-coaster ride of emotions one has to endure in this City of Not-So-Angelic Clusterfucks, the few highlights sure are worth it: E3. Comic Con. Exclusive screenings of Avengers & Spider-Man. Watching my Wolverines snikt the Buckeyes at, well, my Ohio State bar of employment. Not getting pulled over by the LAPD has been a good thing, too.

Don’t forget I beasted over 70 pushups in front of a live TV show audience.

Oh, you missed that one? Don’t worry; no one saw me on “Desperate Housewives”, either. (Or “Criminal Minds”, or “Breaking In”, or… you catch the drift.)

And hopefully no one will see me on a pair of consecutive make-a-complete-jack-ass-out-of-yourself-in-wet-briefs-for-a-few-hundred-buckeroos this coming fall, too.

Hey, I auditioned for that when I thought I was 21.

Why do we do this? Why do we live day-to-day on Craigslist, searching for the next minimum wage to petty flatrate gig? To avoid doing what most good-natured U.S. Citizens would call real work? To pursue the dreams we once had before stepping onto this pile of goo, choking our no-med-insurance-selves out to smog? Wait, why did we move here in the first place anyway?

I forgot.

But it sure is purrty ourside. Clear blue skies. Easy breeze. Palmtrees. Mexicanos wacking our cigarette-infested sidewalks. Lucky people shredding some Goodyear on their way to work (ha, who am I kidding; nobody in this town works.) persistently tooting all the way down Franklin Ave. A Runyan hike does sound nice later, sure; but why get bowled over by a fake screenplay-reading Henry Cavill clone who just doused himself his first overpriced spray tan?

la1 — Ha! Just wait until Black Ops 2 gets their hands on this.

God, I love L.A.

While my neck turns from what to do on such a beautiful, lonely birthday (oh, shit. I gots to get ready for my lunchdate with a San Fernando couguh..), the High Priest of Popular Geek Culture ponders not only his overall lack of a dating life, but the overall lack of news and material we can present to our ever-growing and lovely congregation.

Thankfully, my lazy ass is saved once again by fellow clergypersons who plan on giving this month a piledriving Total Recall podcast and a Marvelous pair of personal pieces. Despite this August lull, God Hates Geeks promises to reflect on much of the cool shit we missed covering SDCC and TDKR like no one else with a low budget, no advertising and last-minute assembled Fantastic Four staff could as only we have.

Yes, I like hot cookie butter on my English toast.

But before I gives a heads up on what to give a flaming shit about in August, just remember the Moody man’s only doing this missionary for you. Fo’ da keeds. We want your Bridezilla-watching, Katy Perry Kardashian-loving asses turned over to the dark side. You know, where being a geek is now considered “cool.” Or, exactly the reason why I’m trying to gain back the 25 lbs. I lost living when I moved here nearly 2-years ago I can “ungeek” myself once again.

But, hell, we all know that ain’t happening. The ungeek part.

Regardless of where this next year will take me, I’d like to thank everyone for the birthday wishes (even if you send the same generic HBD messages to all 2,359 of your Facebook “friends” all year-round). Let’s see how many heartwarming, nonspeaking roles I can land on generic television the next 365 days; how many different “eclectic” restaurants I can work at in a 6-month span; and how many females I can meet who only want my broke Beantown ass to “further” their career.

Hey, like my beloved Red Sox Nation say, “there’s always next year.”

Tootles,

Reverend Moody

Oh, you didn’t think I was going to actually talk about real stuff? Like video games, superhero strips and sci-fi/fantasy movies? Come on! Here’s what the rest of August has in store for all you wannabe-nerds out there:

Oh, this one’s too easy.

August 14, 15, 17: Sleeping Dogs (Square Enix) and Darksiders II (THQ). If all things go according to plan — they probably won’t — GHG should be the first to review Death’s mission to prove brother War’s innocence (I got the hookup, holla if ya hear me). Four Horsemen platformer, cometh. And the crime-saga formerly known as True Crime: Hong Kong is a game only bound to hear groans from Family Harmony. You’re in for a thrill if spinkicking streetwalking broads is your thing. But, hey, to make ya feel a little better, you’re also able to go all Lost in Translation on that ass, crooning the very best 80s New Wave karoake at will. That should make up for 10-12-plus hours of intense violence, I’m sure. Just a few months ago, Captain America scribe Ed Brubaker complained during a Hollywood Reporter Q&A that he wasn’t getting any Olivier Coipel art. Well, Avengers vs. X-Men #10 features both just in time to throw us into high-gear before the MarvelNOW redux. Hope and Scarlett Witch join forces; red-headed aspiring actress mutants rejoice! The Expendables 2 vs. ParaNorman? I’m guessing the animated take on Sixth Sense will plummet those nursing home grunts straight back to B-movieland, Metacritically-speaking, of course.

August 21, 22: Transformers: Fall to Cybertron (Activision). Despite my love for nearly all things Decepticon and Autobot, I couldn’t help but feel a little unimpressed with the demos I played at both E3 and SDCC. The graphics engine is as dated as the almond milk by roommate fails to throw away, with the multiplayer reminding more of Nintendo’s Gradius than anything Mr. Bay unapologetically whopped onto the silverscreen. But everyone else seems to love it, so who the hell knows. The conclusion to Geoff Johns amazing first year on Aquaman (#12) sees Vinny Chase finally getting his revenge. Who is Black Manta working for? Probably Namor. That would just be cool. Then, let’s celebrate an Amazing 50th Anniversary of Spider-Man with an overpriced issue (#692) filled with back-up stories you won’t care to read!

It’s a Hard Knock Life.

August 28, 29: Madden NFL ’13 (EA Sports). But don’t get too excited. Aside from the middling review XBOX Magazine threw up in their new issue (the journalist thought the Vikings won the Super Bowl last year — nice one!), I was more pleased with my current copy of NCAA 13 than the Mad-shit I played at E3. Though, it must be said that quarterbacking will be a whole lot more fun this year. It just feels more intuitive. There’s also several hundreds (so they claim) of ways to catch the ball, but hopefully that doesn’t mean Julian Edelman will start snagging balls one-handed over impeccable Ravens coverage. Also, XBOX Mag commented once again on how droll the commentary and presentation is, and those are the minor things that seperates NBA 2K, NHL, and FIFA from all the rest. Why football and baseball video games constantly can’t get this aspect right defeats me. Though, there’s no way the commentary — even if Phil Simms talks about Tom Brady the whole game (hey, realism at its finest!) — can be worse than Gus Johnson’s name-butchering that was last year. Here’s also to praying for custom stadium music, too. How many times can one person listen to Lil’ Wayne’s “6 Foot 7 Foot” in one hour? Green Lantern Annual #1: “Everything changes! Everything!” That means Ryan Reynolds is back once again in the tidy greens for the Blackest Night-inspired film sequel, just with a new writing team, we hope.