The Billionty-Oneth Geek: Older Than 8 Since 1991

By no means was this a great movie. At the same time, I don't think it deserves to be labeled as the atrocity that many in the geekdom claim it is. This movie was the first directorial effort by the Wachowski brothers in 5 years after their epic saga with The Matrix. During the last few years as the movie was being developed, it left many in the geek world confused as why the brothers were doing this film. The whole production and post-production was shrouded in secrecy, further mystifying the creation they would unleash on the mass public. When it finally arrived, it didn't arrive with a boom... it was more of a whimper... and it quietly went away with its tail between its legs. This movie was visual eye candy at its very best. The only way I can describe its style is this: imagine eating a large pack of Crayola Crayons, then vomitting, and filming everything that came out. Stick a few colourful Lego Men in the mess, and you have Speed Racer. That said, Speed Racer doe...

Y: The Last Man came to an end earlier this year with issue #60, concluding after a near 6 year run. The series was scribed by Brian K. Vaughan who is renowned for various comic series (notably Runaways, Ex Machina, Y:TLM) as well as writing for a handful of episodes on the TV megahit, Lost. YTLM follows the adventures of Yorick Brown, a struggling magician who one day after a mysterious global incident, is left as the only male (human or animal) alive on the planet. He is joined by his trustful helper monkey, Ampersand, a scientist, Dr. Mann, and a government agent, only known as 355. He and his friends travel around the world searching for answers as to why this incident had occured, and why he is the only man left alive. Yorick and his gang are also joined by a slew of cast and characters, some that help and others that hurt him along the way. Having read the complete series now, I found that the first half of the series was edge of your seat and gripping. The series then dragg...

Shit fuckin' ruled. You've probably seen it already.

Guillermo Del Toro is a fucking genius. This is soooo the movie I wanted Pan's Labyrinth to be. I'm quite sure that if Pan's expanded on its fantasy universe with all its creatures and dwellings, we would get what was presented in Hellboy 2: The Golden Army. Although I liked the first movie (liked, not loved), I had problems with it. The pacing seemed to slow the movie down especially in the large middle section. As well, the character I found the most fascinating, Abe Sapien, was hardly in the movie. It was fun, but hardly the rollercoaster action ride that this was. It seems that Del Toro has fined his craft with Pan's Labyrinth, and fixed the issues I had in HB1 with this movie. This movie was filled with non-stop action; the pace never slowed down. That said, there were mmoents where you were allowed to catch your breath before getting on the next rollercoaster. The CG work was fantastic, and all the battles were superb (Earth God and Final Boss in particular...

A smelly arena full of 2,000 sweating wrestling fans. The seats were filled and the fog machine was running... ROH made its live event debut in Toronto, Ontario. The event was held at Ted Reeves Arena... just 2 major intersections away from my house (a 10 minute walk, I was truly blessed). If you're a fan of pure wrestling action, and none of that bad storytelling bullshit which is frequent to WWE and TNA wrestling, then you must watch ROH. It's raw, aggressive, and sometimes bloody battles at its very best. Their style of wrestling is a lot stiffer than what you would expect to see on national TV. Here's a rundown of the results (winners in bold ): Chris Hero with Larry Sweeney vs. Ruckus This match was an excellent opener. More of a quick action and high flying short match. It was a great way to get the crowd started. Larry Sweeney and the Sweet and Sour Inc. were at ringside and were great at drawing heat. Delirious vs. Kenny Omega This was another fun match wit...

I had the distinct pleasure of visiting Goshen, Indiana, and its surrounding areas two weekends ago. It was a trip planned by the Community Cell Group at my church and I was invited to join them despite my non-membership. It was a good time of fellowship, of meeting new friends, and learning more about the Amish and Mennonite history. The Cell Group knew a fellow named Jeremy who from time to time would attend the cell group meetings in Toronto. He suggested to the group to visit Goshen (his home town) and over a short while, this trip came into fruition. Jeremy would serve as our personal tourguide over the weekend. We stayed at this place called Das Dutchman Essenhaus Inn (see here ). At $104 per night, I was expecting it to be something akin to a Super 8 Motel or some reasonable facsimile. To my surprise, it was quite the opposite. It was a Mennonite operated facility which includes the afforementioned inn, a bevy of shops, a mini-golf course, a large buffet restaurant, a bakery, am...

I'm behind in blog posting. I'll have an update on my adventures in Elkhart County, Indiana, a review for Hellboy 2, and ramblings on my trip to New York City. Well, I'm still in the Big Apple as I'm typing this. Later geeks.

53 6f 6d 65 74 69 6d 65 73 20 61 20 67 69 72 6c 20 63 61 6e 20 67 69 76 65 20 79 6f 75 20 61 20 6c 6f 6f 6b 20 61 6e 64 20 61 20 73 6d 69 6c 65 20 74 68 61 74 20 63 61 6e 20 6d 61 6b 65 20 79 6f 75 20 66 65 65 6c 20 6c 69 6b 65 20 61 20 6d 69 6c 6c 69 6f 6e 20 62 75 63 6b 73 2e 20 20 4f 72 20 69 6e 20 74 68 69 73 20 63 61 73 65 2c 20 61 20 62 69 6c 6c 69 6f 6e 2e

Today is a bit more serious than the usual geekery nonsense. I realize that this can be a sensitive subject, but understand that it's just my opinion, and you may not necessarily share it. On Thursday evening, I led the discussion at our church's Young Careers cell group. The basis of our discussion was on Ephesians 5:21-33; in short, it dealt with the need for wives to submit to their husbands with respect, and for husbands to love their wives. In this passage, Paul compares the relationship between the husband and wife to Jesus and the church; specifically, Jesus' headship to the church, and comparatively, the husband's headship to the wife. I brought up a scenario of a marriage where the wife takes on a more dominant role to the husband's more passive role. My question to the group was "is this right?" from a biblical standpoint. Should the man in the house take a backseat to the woman's leadership? It came down to two perspectives. The first view ...

On the evening of July 5th, I had the opportunity to see Kris Roe (of The Ataris fame) play an acoustic show at The Kathedral in downtown Toronto. It was something that felt very special because a) it was an acoustic performance, b) it's been 6 years since I've last seen him perform, and c) he was basically my highschool hero. His music was quite an inspiration and spirit lifter for me when I was in highschool and part of university (1999-2003). The show opened up with 4 local bands: Dead End Girl, The Knockouts, Future's Past, and Outspoken. None of them really stood out and at least for this particular night, it was clear that the crowd was here to see Kris Roe pick up the acoustic guitar and jam the night away. His set was filled with just about every fan favourite song. To top it all off, the last 4 songs were performed with Outspoken for a full rock out experience. I was surprised that they did "Boys of Summer" as I've heard that he loathed it for w...

This past Monday on Raw, CM Punk, the ROH alum, cashed in his money-in-the-bank briefcase to capture the World Heavyweight Championship belt. It was a move that shocked both casual fans and smart marks (smarks) of the wrestling community. Was it a good move? Is he just another 'transition' champion? We will see the next few weeks as this unfolds. But here's what we do know. CM Punk, since his win at Wrestlemania 24 for the money-in-the-bank briefcase has been rendered the most impotent winner of the MIIB since its inception. He's done jobs left and right for wrestlers who have no right going over (at least on him). Apparently backstage in the lockerroom and on the road, CM Punk is a bit of a dick. He rubs people the wrong way. Apparently. So if you're going to punish a guy by making him job all the time, fine. By why put the MIIB on him? The MIIB is supposed to elevate a superstar to the upper echelon. A clear path must be paved if the fans are to truly ...

This doesn't require a long review. See this movie. It is great. There is so much charm and heart filled in this 100 minute feature that it can hardly contain itself. Before seeing this movie, I read a few glowing reviews claiming that this was the best Pixar feature to date. I mean I knew it would be at least a decent feature, I don't think Pixar understands how to make a bad movie, but those were weighty statements given that Toy Story , Finding Nemo , and The Incredibles were amongst its successful repetoire. Having seen the movie now, I agree with those critics. As a geek, I should be marking for The Incredibles , which I did love, but Wall-E just had a ton of more heart, if not the same amount of charm and sophistication. If you've seen the trailers, you know the main plot: lonely robot works on Earth, one day meets a new sleek pretty robot, love at first sight occurs, lonely robot travels across the galaxy to reconnect with sleek pretty robot. The plot is simp...