Green Day — 21st Century Breakdown
CD | MP3
Producer: Butch Vig
Reprise Records
Released May 15, 2009

Five years after the release of American Idiot, Green Day returns with its latest studio album, 21st Century Breakdown.

2004 marked a huge change for Green Day. Four years after their last album, Warning, Billy Joe Armstrong, Mike Dirnt, and Tré Cool emerged a different band: black hair-dyed, eye-linered, and tie wearing. This new Green Day put down their bongs, took their hands out of their pants, and sung about politics. This met with a mixed reaction. They lost fans who thought they had sold out with their emo traits. They faced some curious older fans who weren’t sure if they approved or not and most interestingly, they welcomed a new, younger fanbase. I admired Green Day for having the guts to try something so different, even though I was not a fan of American Idiot. My main problem with the album was I felt they had lost their energy which was a major facet of their sound. I know album opener “American Idiot” has pace but I felt it had no soul, I felt the agenda got in the way.

21st Century Breakdown however combines the energy and philosophy with good effect [...]

My Name Is Bruce
Directed by Bruce Campbell
Starring Bruce Campbell, Taylor Sharpe, Ted Raimi
Image Entertainment
Available now

When you’re having as bad a week as I am a good movie can be like comfort food. It warms you up and lifts your spirits. When the movie ends you’re full of joy from being entertained and are ready to pick yourself up and get on with your life. Back in February I went through a bad break-up with my girlfriend Suzette. Since then things have cooled and she and I remain on good terms, but at the time I was devastated. I had the unconditional love and support of all my friends but I still needed a little more cheering up. Who better to cheer me up than the greatest of all B-movie actors, an icon and a living legend who even when it came to starring in loathsome direct-to-video schlock always looked and acted like he was having the time of his life? He is the man, the myth, the chin….Bruce Motherfucking Campbell!

This god among men is one of the truest honest-to-L. Ron Hubbard movie stars we have working these days. From the original The Evil Dead to the wonderfully heartfelt comic fantasy Bubba Ho-Tep, Bruce Campbell has built up a unique filmography with more than a few solid gold cult classics, a few too many turgid D-grade sci-fi and horror flicks, a handful of short-lived television series (I miss Jack of All Trades), and the occasional small (and instantly forgotten) part in a major Hollywood movie to pay the bills [...]

So, your guy Saturday JackBauerstein went to Day 1 of the Museum of Comic and Cartoon Art Festival in New York City yesterday and let me tell you, the event was pretty amazing.

Now for this year’s event, MoCCA had a location change. Once stationed at the Puck Building, the event had grown too big and just too awesome to be contained in such a small space. Enter: The 69th Regiment Armory at Lexington Avenue and 25th Street. This massive building would be perfect for such a large gathering of indie comic fans and as usual, I had to be front center, smack-dab in the middle of the event.

I arrived at the location 20 minutes before the event was about to begin and already there was a line in front of me [...]

The Muppet Show #3
Written and drawn by Roger Landridge
Boom Studios
Release date: June 3, 2009

When news came down the pipe that Boom! Studios was creating a line of child-friendly comics off some licensed properties, I was pretty surprised. I mean, it is tough enough for a smaller publisher to publish non superhero-centric books in this current market, let alone comics geared towards kids. It has the terms “no good deed goes unpunished” and “shoot yourself in the foot” written all over it. But, leave it to the crafty publisher to bring out several quality properties that not only have massive kids appeal, but also mainstream appeal such as The Muppet Show.

Kermit, Miss Piggy, Gonzo, Fozzy, and the rest of the Muppets are back in comic form once again. Following the pattern of the original variety show, readers are treated with an actual Muppet Show as seen on TV, filled with musical numbers, skits, and backstage shenanigans that you come to know and love. While the show is in session, readers are given a main story to follow that spotlights one member of the Muppet clan. So with any given issue, the focus is on a different Muppet and their story.

Writer/artist Roger Landridge does a great job creating a whole Muppet episode on paper [...]

My Bloody Valentine 3D
Directed by Patrick Lussier
Starring Jensen Ackles, Jaime King, Kerr Smith
Lionsgate Home Entertainment
Release Date: May 19, 2009

Watching My Bloody Valentine 3-D on the big screen back in January was a watershed moment in my movie going life. Never before have I seen a movie break from its celluloid constraints and literally get in my face. Having been an admirer of the original 1981 My Bloody Valentine I was also interested in what a remake could do to top the first one’s story and gore/violence content, especially in the wake of the release of the uncut original on DVD. I’m pleased to say My Bloody Valentine 3-D takes everything that made the original a standout among the early 1980′s assault of turgid Dead Teenager flicks and amps it up to the Nth degree. Best of all, it’s in fucking 3-D! Grab your pickaxe and let’s have some fun.

The town of Harmony lives and dies based on the success of the Hanniger Mines. The owner of the mines employs his cocksure son Tom (Jensen Ackles) to the dismay of the working stiffs who don’t have it that easy. One night Tom is derelict in his duties and a methane explosion causes a cave-in sealing several men inside. A rescue crew finds only one survivor, Harry Warden (Rich Walters), in a coma. It turns out Harry managed to survive by driving a pickaxe into the heads of his fellow trapped miners in order to conserve air. After one year Harry comes out of his coma and goes on a gruesome killing spree climaxing at the mines where it all began. While the youth of Harmony are having a party in the mines, Harry returns in his miner’s uniform with mass murder on his mind [...]

Evil Dead II: Dead by Dawn
Blu-ray Edition
Directed by Sam Raimi
Starring Bruce Campbell, Kassie DePaiva, Danny Hicks, Sarah Berry, Ted Raimi
Anchor Bay Entertainment
Available Now

Every once in a great while, a groundbreaking film comes along that redefines a genre and changes the way people think about film as a whole. Director Sam Raimi‘s Evil Dead II is the sequel to that film.

Generally considered to be the best out of the Evil Dead trilogy, Evil Dead II follows the chainsaw-wielding anti-hero Ash Williams Bruce Campbell as he fights his way through another nightmarish evening at that deadite-infested cabin in the woods. Filled with insane amounts of gore, self-mutilation, and laugh out loud humor, it has garnered a cult following that essentially overshadows most of Campbell’s other work. Campy and exaggerated, Evil Dead II originally proved that it is in fact possible to poke fun at a genre of film while still remaining in said genre. Sure it’s an acquired taste, but I have it, as evident by my signed and personalized picture of Campbell hanging next to my bed.

But the beauty of Evil Dead II on Blu-Ray is that none of the cheesy, low-budget effects lose their luster (or lack of). In fact, with the technology used to make this film look “better,” it succeeds in making it worse. But that’s the point. Raimi’s masterpiece isn’t meant to be perfect. It isn’t meant to be pristine. It’s meant to be a new type of horror/comedy that brings something new to the table. And in that area, it succeeds [...]

The NY Post was able to sit down with Spider-Man 4 producer Todd Black and get some answers to some of the big rumors that have been floating around the Internet for the past couple of months. Namely: the inclusion or departure of Kirsten Dunst; the use of the vampire Morbius as a villain; and something about a wedding for Peter Parker and Mary Jane. Black was able to handle all of these rumors with ease.

He announced that Kirsten Dunst was indeed on board, which isn’t too much of a shock as she seemed fairly confident in here return while out promoting How to Lose Friends and Alienate People (Read: Kirsten Dunst Unofficially In For ‘Spider-Man 4′). Many fans seemed intent on her not returning to the franchise, but I personally am all for it. The role hasn’t had to be anything that supports the movie and that we rely on, so whether you like her or not, she is Mary Jane — changing to a completely different actress would just be too annoying to be worth it. Black also cleared the air and admitted that he has heard nothing about any kind of wedding being involved. [...]

Last year we learned that the long-awaited new Heavy Metal movie adaptation was finally moving forward and that Watchmen director Zack Snyder had joined David Fincher (Se7en, Fight Club) and Gore Verbinski (Pirates of the Caribbean) as directors on the project (Read: Zack Snyder Joins David Fincher & Gore Verbinski For ‘Heavy Metal’). Heavy Metal consists of multiple different chapters or sections, and the goal was to find a team of top-notch talent to handle these various sections.

Fortunately for us, the party does not end there: Film School Rejects have spoken to Kevin Eastman (Owner of the Heavy Metal Magazine, as well as Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles co-creator) who dropped the bomb that now a one Mr. James Cameron would be executive producing on the project, and that he would be directing one of the segments as well!

Eastman also shared that Kung Fu Panda co-director Mark Osborne would be doing a comedy segment of the Heavy Metal project along with Jack Black. They are really putting together one of the — if not THE — greatest collection of filmmakers ever seen; and this is just the directors — they still need to cast what I’m assuming will be all kinds of big name stars for the project. [...]

The Matrix
10th Anniversary Blu-ray Edition
Directed by Andy Wachowski, Larry Wachowski
Starring Keanu Reeves, Hugo Weaving, Carrie-Anne Moss, Laurence Fishburne
Warner Home Entertainment
Release Date: March 31, 2009

Forget for a moment how you felt when you watched The Matrix Reloaded and then The Matrix Revolutions. Forget that those movies may have tainted your feeling on the original. Forget the pseudo-philosophical babble and the height of the story nearly causing the entire thing to collapse on top of itself. Forget that you ever knew the term “bullet time.” Forget all of that and try to remember how you felt back in 1999 when you sat in the movie theater and first saw a stranger new sci-fi action flick called The Matrix.

To call The Matrix a revolutionary film (even for the time) would be to completely miss the point. The Matrix wasn’t anything new — it was just a new way of bringing that style of story to audiences. Anyone that was fond of comics or anime was already familiar with the storytelling style of The Matrix. What it did was introduce that style to the masses. Remember, this was before ‘geek’ was considered cool, so being into comics or anime made you more of an outcast than trendy [...]

Recently we got our very first look at Australian actor Sam Worthington as Perseus in the upcoming Louis Leterrier-directed Greek Mythology adventure, Clash of the Titans (Read: Geek Peek: Sam Worthington As Perseus In ‘Clash Of The Titans’). That image ended up being straight from the pages of Empire Magazine, but now we have another new image from the pages of Entertainment Weekly!

The two images that we’ve seen so far are not too much different from one another, but both openly lay claim to a gritty, rugged, dark, and violent mythological adventure in our futures. We can only hope that the visuals that we are seeing here lead to a movie that’s as good as these look.

Clash of the Titans tells the tale of Perseus, the son of Zeus (Liam Neeson) who was born a god, but raised a man. When Hades (Ralph Fiennes), god of the underworld, sets off on a plan to over-throw his brother Zeus, claim power for himself, and destroy the Earth — Perseus volunteers to lead a group of warriors through endless amounts of horrible creatures to find and defeat Hades before it is too late. [...]

Make Love The Bruce Campbell Way
Written & Narrated by Bruce Campbell
St. Martin’s Griffin
Available Now

Bruce Campbell, exploitation movie stalwart and man-god to millions, has always secretly dreamed of transcending his B-flick actor trappings and hitting the Hollywood big time. One day after his literary agent Barry simultaneously rejects his proposal for a book about walking and proposes that he instead write a book about relationships, his acting agent — also named Barry — calls Bruce and informs him that he has been invited to audition for a major supporting role in an upcoming romantic comedy for Paramount Pictures starring Richard Gere and Renee Zellweger and directed by Mike Nichols called Let’s Make Love. Bruce is wary of the offer at first but a trip to New York City and a chance to meet a great director proves too irresistible to pass up.

At the audition he uncomfortably encounters just about every big name actor in the movie industry and when he reads for the role of Foyl Whipple, a salt-of-the-earth doorman at a high-end New York hotel always ready with sage advice and an open door, it does not go too well. Returning to his rural Oregon home in what he believes to be defeat, Bruce is surprised to get the news that he won the part. It turns out that Mike Nichols is a big fan of his and wants to be the one to give the struggling actor his big break in mainstream film. This gesture on the filmmaker’s part inspires the star of the Evil Dead trilogy and Assault on Dome 4 to prepare for this role the way a professional actor would [...]

A new set of images from Michael Bay‘s Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen have been released by Paramount Pictures. Most notably, you get a look at Devastator from a good distance away so you can feel the scale, and a shot of Optimus Prime with some ultra-heated God of War-like blades, which means he just ruined a few robots’ days.

The movie has been preparing for its massive charge, with tickets now officially on sale. At the moment, it is looking like a strong probability that this will be the King of Summer…especially after the less-than-impressive splash that Terminator Salvation made.

Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen returns us to Sam Witwicky (Shia LaBeouf) and his discovery of the ancient origins of the Transformers. Because of this discovery, the Decepticons go all-out in an attempt to capture him while Optimus Prime joins forces with the military to fight and save all humans.

The movie also stars Megan Fox, Josh Duhamel, John Turturro, Tyrese Gibson, and Rainn Wilson. [...]

We live in a time where Ghostbusters rumors are seemingly an every day norm between the oncoming video game and the long-time-coming Ghostbusters 3, which now appears to be well on its way. No one really knows how that third movie will eventually turn out; we hope for the best and fear the very worst, but we do know that the sad, depressing truth is that CG special effects will be featured heavily. With all of the luck in the world, they’ll use these effects in a smart way and the movie will still be great, but in the end, that original classic and the brilliant work that went into it will continue to be king of the Ghostbusters mountain.

To help refresh us on why the original movie was so great, a brand new all-things Ghostbusters website has been unleashed to the world. Perhaps the best thing that you’ll find at this website, is a collection of never-before-seen images, including a couple of screenshots and a bunch of behind-the-scenes pictures and a look at the great special effects that went into the classic. Also on the site, there’s links to the video game site and information on the Blu-ray/DVD release, message boards, a place to register for updates, a store to buy Ghostbusters goodies, and even a place where you can apply to be a Ghostbuster yourself. [...]

For those of us who own PS3’s, we’ve known that there is a selection of old PS1 games available for purchase on the Playstation Network. Now, I’ve never felt the need to buy any before, mostly because the selection is a little weak. Do I really need to relive 1996 by playing Jet Moto or Destruction Derby? No, not really (although I have been tempted to buy Castlevania: Symphony of the Night). But starting Tuesday night, you can now buy an absolute classic, Final Fantasy VII.

Ah, the Fall of 1997, I can remember it like it was yesterday. Staying up till 4 in the morning to beat one more boss, skipping class so I could get a few more levels, not eating so I could raise one more Chocobo, those were good times. Looking at the game now, some may scoff at the fairly crappy graphics, but you have to remember this was top of the line back in ’97. Having started it again, the version on Playstation Network is EXACTLY like the original. They didn’t go back and change any of the music, writing, or graphics which I like because it’s taking me back on the nostalgia trip. Unfortunately, they didn’t update anything to make it more in line with other games. There’s no analog stick control, you have to use the d-pad for all movement. You still use the circle button to confirm and the x button to go back, which is opposite of practically every other Playstation game. I suppose it would have taken a bit of rewriting the code to do these things, but it would have been nice [...]

Since Terminator Salvation was released a couple of weeks ago, it seemed like the unbelievable amounts of images, trailers, TV spots, and various others types of news would finally be coming to an end. Instead, in a bit of a surprise twist, Warner Brothers has decided to release at least one more new TV spot and throw us all off!

The newest TV spot is just like all of the others…until the end, that is. Toward the end, you will get a little peek (if you haven’t already seen the movie, of course) of what the digitally-added Arnold Schwarzenegger that they used looks like in action. As you’ll recall, the biggest question throughout production was: is Arnie involved, and if so, how? (Read: Is Digital Arnold Schwarzenegger A Good Move For ‘Terminator Salvation’?) Here is your definitive answer.

We knew there could be voice-over, and that they might even attempt a digital version of the California Governor in order to ensure his younger image from the original The Terminator. Actually, color me surprised, but he looks pretty decent — especially the very first image in this spot. The second is a little more fake looking, but better than I expected, all-around. [...]

While watching The Colbert Report, as I so often do, they let loose one of their great movie references as it relates to a real news story. This particular news story is from The Raw Story, who reported the announcement that a United States weapons laboratory has officially created a “super laser” which was capable of creating temperatures and pressure equal to that of a star or a large planet’s core. Naturally, this got people to thinking: do we have our very own Star Wars Death Star!?

While the exact damage this little baby would cause isn’t really known, it is expected to keep nuclear weapons in check, as well as offer a possible answer to safe fusion power. I wonder if this is how we would take out Texas-sized meteor that were threatening to hit Earth, instead of the standard oil drilling crew. Asteroids style.

Click over to the dark side to see the great video from The Colbert Report!

Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger spoke at a dedication ceremony for the weapons and energy breakthrough achievement, saying: [...]

Hey, Will Ferrell has a new movie coming out this week, have you heard? Yes, Land of the Lost comes out on Friday June 5, and of course he’s going around the normal talk show circuit. Sure, he’s been on Conan O’Brien this week, he hosted the season finale of Saturday Night Live, I’m sure he’s been on the Today Show, and a bunch of other ones, but the most interesting show for Will Ferrell to guest star on has got to be this week’s special episode of Man Vs Wild, this week called Men Vs Wild.

The episode premiered Tuesday on the Discovery Channel, but if you missed it, it will be re-airing tonight at 9pm and midnight ET/PT (get your TiVO/DVRs ready). Check out some videos from the episode here below.

For those who don’t know the show, Man Vs Wild follows British Special Forces badass Bear Grylls as he gets stranded in remote areas of the world and has to live off the land, find some form of local wildlife to eat, and show us normal folk how to survive our way back to civilization. In this special episode, Bear and Will are dropped into Sweden, and have to survive freezing temperatures, walking through snow drifts, and eating a reindeer. If you’re a fan of Will Ferrell, you’ll want to catch this episode and if you’re a fan of Man Vs Wild, well of course you’ll want to catch it, if only to see how a normal, fairly athletic guy deals with what Bear goes through. Plus, this has to be one of the best movie promo ideas I’ve ever seen [...]

X-Men Origins: Wolverine
Starring: Hugh Jackman, Liev Schreiber
Platform: XBox 360
Uncaged Edition
Developer: Raven Software
Publisher: Activision
Release Date: May 1, 2009

As much as I hate to go all cliche on you guys, it feels like this has to be mentioned every single time you’re dealing with a movie-related video game: they just never seem to work. With video games based on movies, and with movies based on video games, on most occasions, you will find yourself disappointed. On some rare occasions, however, you do find one that works out, and this is the case for X-Men Origins: Wolverine.

Keep in mind, this Wolverine game was in-development for quite a while by Raven Software, so while a good chunk of it inherited many components of the movie of the same name, the rest of the game follows a line that Raven had previously set. This along with the fact that the game runs a good 10-12 hours allowed the developers to make a movie-based game while still remaining as faithful as possible to this beloved character.

The game is set up in a sort of flashback style. The first level sees you running through the jungle after your helicopter goes down. After certain points throughout the game, you’ll find yourself back in the jungle again while recollecting what happened then. Surrounding the various jungle level flashbacks, you’ll find yourself escaping the Alkali lake facility, inside of a Cybernetics lab, outside Alkali lake, and many other locations. One of the cool features of the game is Wolverine’s ferel senses. With these senses, if you’re ever stuck or curious, you can turn them on and catch a scent on which direction you need to go, see objects that are of importance or are dangerous, and also which things in a location you can use against enemies [...]

CNN is reporting that David Carradine, the star of ’70s TV show Kung Fu and title character in Kill Bill, has been found dead in a Bangkok, Thailand hotel room. Sadly, Mr. Carradine was found hanging by a nylon rope in the closet of the room, leading authorities to believe the cause of death to be suicide. He was 72 years old.

Just coming down the wire from TMZ within in the past hour or so is word from a representative of Carradine’s who says that there is no way it was suicide, explaining “We can confirm 100% that he never would have committed suicide. It was an accidental death. Everybody is in shock.”

An autopsy was being performed in a Bangkok hospital which will hopefully shed more light on this all.

Carradine was perhaps best known as the Shaolin monk Caine on the TV show Kung Fu which ran from 1972 to 1975, but he also appeared in hundreds of other shows and movies including Gunsmoke, and Quentin Tarantino’s two-part Kill Bill, where he played the infamous Bill. In all, he has 222 IMDB listings, including six of which are in post-production. The last well-known movie he starred in was the sequel Crank: High Voltage. [...]

Tonight at 9, the USA Network show Burn Notice, starring Jeffrey Donovan, Gabrielle Anwar, and our featured dude of the week Bruce Campbell, returns for its third season. In conjunction with this event, we here at Geeks of Doom have a Burn Notice prize pack to give away to one (1) lucky reader!

One (1) winner will receive:
One (1) Burn Notice Tote Bag
One (1) Burn Notice Season 1 DVD
One (1) Burn Notice Season 2 DVD
One (1) Burn Notice T-shirt
One (1) Burn Notice Frisbee
One (1) Burn Notice Novel
One (1) Burn Notice Suntan Lotion Pack

What do you have to do to get a chance to win? Glad you asked ’cause it’s really easy. Just make sure you’re a subscriber to our email digest, and then go ahead and fill out the handy dandy form below. Done.

Good luck!

TO ENTER: There’s just two simple steps: (1) Make sure you’re subscribed to the Geeks of Doom email digest. If you’re not then click here and sign up. (If you’re already a subscriber, then go right to the next step.) (2) Fill out the entry form here below and submit [...]