Latest Targ's Up!

And the hits just keep on coming!  That ever-lasting testament to the fact that I should get out more, U62: The Targ, is coming at you with 20 watts of power!

For your listening pleasure this week, I serve up Episode 4.16: The Brass Ring, where I present my Oscar picks, rant about losing faith in my hero, and discuss movies to get you in the mood! 

For the stuff I do in every show, this week on Fishing in the Discount Bin I share the tale of the American Godzilla, and I share the Hollywood headlines of interest in the Weekly Movie News.

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Scarecrow's Oscar Picks!

Alright!  It's that time of year again!  The Academy Awards, aka the Oscars, are coming up on February 27, but the nominations were announced today!  And, being the movie loving geek that I am, it's time for me to announce my Oscar picks!

But, in a proud tradition that goes all the way back to my early days in college radio, I don't give you my picks in the big categories like Best Director and Best Actor and all that.  No!  I only give you the picks in the categories that I've always had a near-perfect track record in predicting!  So, let's get to it!  The first category with my near-perfect track record is:

Green Hornet Review

Hey, I got out and saw The Green Hornet over the weekend.  Capsule review:  meh.  It's good, but not great.

For the whole story, head on over to my main website and read the whole review!

Latest Targ's Up!

It's that time of the week again! Time to unleash my creative juices and bring you another episode of U62: The Targ!

This week, I bring you Episode 4.15: Sour Cream & Onion, and I rant about the big Batman casting, discuss luxury movie theatres, and football fandom! 


In all the regular stuff, we discuss the #1 movie of all time in Fishing in the Discount Bin, and I recount some of the week's biggest headlines (according to me) in the Weekly Movie News.

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Only Suckers Pay for Entertainment

OK.  This news came across my desk, and I've got to rant about it.

I once had this co-worker who constantly derided me for my love of movies.  "Movies is the lowest form of entertainment," he'd tell me.  "All you do is sit in the dark and stare straight ahead for two hours.  Why the heck would you pay $15 for a movie ticket when you can download that stuff for free?  Only suckers pay for entertainment in this day and age." 

No, according to him, the highest form of entertainment -- the pinnacle of humankind's achievement -- is sports.  Specifically, his beloved NFL.  He'd go on and on about his plans to visit every NFL stadium and watch a football game in each one. 

"Really?" I'd say.  "So you're planning on buying plane tickets, hotel rooms, and finally, a $500 football ticket?  Why the heck would you spend all that money when you can stay at home and watch that stuff on TV for free?"

"Sports is different," he'd grumble.

"Despite what you think, I have been to a few sporting events in my time," I continued, "and a lot of it seems to be, you know, people staring straight ahead in silence while they focus on the game."

"Sports is just different."  He was starting to get flustered now.

"Yeah, it is," I said.  "In sports, you stare straight ahead in silence for FOUR hours." 

"SPORTS IS DIFFERENT!" and he'd walk away in a huff. 

Eventually, the only argument he'd come up with that I couldn't counter is that sports is unpredictable...you never know the outcome.  I had to give him that one. 

However, his arguments were enough to start me off on a side project.  I'm now looking for evidence to show that sports fans are the biggest, whiniest fanboys on the planet.  Seriously.  When you want to talk about "suckers paying for entertainment," sports fans are the biggest suckers out there.

For example, the news that came across my desk today.  For the SuperBowl this  year, the NFL is looking to charge fans $200...to stand in the parking lot at the stadium. 

Well, not the parking lot.  A patch of grass next to the stadium.  And you get to watch the game on an HDTV.  Oh, and you have to buy a minimum of four tickets to get in. 

So, let me get this straight.  I'm sure most sports fans have upgraded to HDTV so they can fully enjoy the game.  But still, NFL fans are lining up around the block to fly down to Dallas, book an overpriced hotel room, and then spend $800 (remember, you have to buy 4 tickets at $200 each) to stand outside...and watch the game on HDTV. 

Yeah, that's right.  You keep buying your expensive travel packages for the privilege of standing next to a big event and watching it on TV.  I'll keep being a sucker and spending $15 on a movie ticket. 

Here's the original article

Catwoman and X-Men

I often feel like I'm neglecting this blog.  It probably has to do a lot with the fact that I've fully embraced Twitter, and I'm a lazy person.  It's much easier to just tweet, "d00d!  Anne Hathaway is Catwoman!" rather than sit down and write a whole blog entry about how Anne Hathaway is playing Catwoman.
Hey!  Did you hear?  In the next Batman movie, Anne Hathaway is playing Catwoman. 

First let me say, I'm thrilled that they're doing Catwoman for the next Batman film.  That was always my dream for the next film, as we can finally erase the memory of that horrible Halle Berry film.  That being said though, I question whether Hathaway has enough..."bad ass-itude" to be Catwoman.  But  hey, we all scoffed when Heath Ledger was announced as the Joker, and look how well that turned out. 

But she's not the only villain in the forthcoming Batman film.  It was also announced that Tom Hardy will be playing Bane.  You may remember Hardy as Eames, the suave, bald, British dude in Leondardo diCaprio's gang in Inception.  (My fellow trekkies probably remember him as Shinzon, Picard's evil clone in Star Trek Nemesis.)  Of course, this has the geeks scratching their  heads as, in the comics, Bane is an 8-foot tall hulking mass of muscle, and Hardy is not. 

The next Batman movie is entitled The Dark Knight Rises.  Christopher Nolan, who did Batman Begins, The Dark Knight, and Inception, is back as director.  It's scheduled to hit theatres in June of 2012. 

But that's not all!  As we skip across the street from DC Comics to Marvel, we have our first picture of the cast of X-Men: First Class.  Yup, another X-Men movie.  This prequel tale, set in the 1960s, follows the adventures of a young Professor Charles Xavier and Magneto, as the found the School for the Gifted, do battle with the villainous Hellfire Club, and eventually set out on the paths that turn them into arch-enemies. 

So here's the pic!

From left to right:

Michael Fassbender as Young Magneto

Rose Byrne as Moira McTaggert

January Jones as Emma Frost

Jason Flemyng as Azazel (Nightcrawler's father)

Nicholas Hoult as Young Beast

Lucas Till as Havoc

Zoe Kravitz as Angel Salvadore

Jennifer Lawrence as Young Mystique

James MacAvoy as Young Charles Xavier

I'm actually kind of giddy that this is set in the 1960s.  One of the concepts I love is "period superheroes," and it's why The Rocketeer and The Shadow are two of my favourite guilty pleasures.  That being said though, I've already heard from lots of folks that the X-Men franchise may have run its course. 

Matthew Vaughn, director of Stardust and Kick-Ass, is the director of this one.  Bryan Singer, director of the first two X-Men films, is on board as a producer.  It hits theatres this June.

And hey!  Help encourage my laziness.  Click here to follow me on Twitter.

Statistics show that 50% of bloggers have two or more blogs.  I originally posted this on my work blog, which you can click here to read.

Latest Targ's Up!

It's that time of the week again! Time to unleash my creative juices and bring you another episode of U62: The Targ!

Episode 4.14: 100 Tacos for $100 gives you some rants about kitchen appliances, the pitfalls of pre-ordering, and why o why can't we get a live-action adaptation of Wonder Woman?

For the regular stuff, we whine about pick-up trucks in What's Wrong with Society, we do that Marilyn Monroe in Jasper movie River of No Return in Fishing in the Discount Bin, and we recount some of the top headlines in the Weekly Movie News.

Give it a listen!

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Head here to subscribe in iTunes!

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Latest Targ's Up!

I took far too much time off for my Christmas break, but Christmas and New Years are done, so it's time to get back to U62: The Targ!

Episode 4.13: Normalcy is a return to normalcy, in which we rant about nerd culture, the World Juniors, and the announcement of Star Wars on Blu-Ray! Plus, I unveil a brand-new regular feature.

Give it a listen!

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Head here to subscribe in iTunes!

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