A Christmas Carol
Directed by Robert Zemeckis
Starring Jim Carrey, Gary Oldman
Rated PG
Release date: November 6, 2009

It happens every year, almost without fail. Christmas day comes around and as I am tearing through my presents there is always that one gift. You know the one where the person giving it to you is so excited they hold it back so you have to open it last so they can make a big spectacle of it. Usually the bigger deal they make, the more I dread it. Not because I am ungrateful, but my appreciation hardly ever matches their excitement. Then there’s that whole awkward exchange where they think you don’t like it and you tell them you do but they don’t buy it because they were super excited but you weren’t as excited and… ugh. Robert Zemeckis’ adaptation of the Charles Dickens story, A Christmas Carol is that present. So impatient is he to show off his gift to us that he’s overlooked the fact that it’s little more than a big turd in fancy wrapping.

The story is the same as it’s been for the past 165 years. On Christmas Eve night, Ebenezer Scrooge (Jim Carrey) is visited by the ghosts of Christmas Past, Present, and Future during which time he experiences a moment of clarity and eventual redemption. As a story Zemeckis plays it by the book (literally), but as a movie, this thing is all over the place [...]

The classic 1960s television series The Prisoner, starring Patrick McGoohan, was recently released on Collector’s Edition DVD and Blu-ray. To coincide with this release, we here at Geeks of Doom have one (1) DVD edition and one (1) Blu-ray edition of The Prisoner Complete Series to give away to some lucky readers!

One (1) winner will receive:

One (1) The Prisoner Completed Series on DVD

One (1) winner will receive:

One (1) The Prisoner Completed Series on Blu-ray

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.

In the Optional Comments field, make sure you tell us whether you want the Blu-ray or DVD version OR put ‘Both’ if you’ll take either.

Good luck! [...]

The city of Boston has declared today Leonard Nimoy Day!

The Boston native is back in his hometown today as the headliner for New England Fan Experience for the convention’s Sci-Fi Experience.

The actor, famous for his role as the Vulcan Spock in Star Trek, will spend the day signing autographs and doing photo-ops with fans, as well as appearing at a Q&A panel.

Looking at the event’s schedule for today, it appears that Nimoy has already started some of the signing sessions, but there’s still more happening later. Tickets for today are still available at the door [...]

The MP3 deal of the day over at Amazon today is the album Candy-O by The Cars for only $2.99.

The quadruple-platinum album, originally released in 1979, was the sophomore effort for the Boston-based new wave pop band and included the popular tunes “Let’s Go,” “Dangerous Type,” and the title track — three great songs definitely worth the three bucks on their own.

Written by frontman Ric Ocasek with vocals by bassist Benjamin Orr, “Let’s Go” is probably the most recognizable by the general public, especially since its currently being used in TV ads for Lee Jeans.

Note, this sale is today only [...]

Schwarzenegger Collector’s Set
Directors: Walter Hill, Paul Michael Glaser, James Cameron, Paul Verhoeven
Starring: Arnold Schwarzenegger, James Belushi, Laurence Fishburne, Peter Boyle, Maria Conchita Alonso, Jim Brown, Jesse Ventura, Richard Dawson, Sharon Stone, Michael Ironside, Linda Hamilton, Edward Furlong, Robert Patrick
Lionsgate Home Video

You could make a case for Arnold Schwarzenegger as the greatest action movie superstars of all time. This is a case you would win every single time, because there is no one that tops this man when it comes to the genre. Regardless of what you think of him as a Governor, there is no arguing that his presence in movies has been missed for some years now; and thus, we retreat back to his best works to get our Schwarzenegger fix.

On the bright side, there’s sets like this one being released from time-to-time to help your binging needs. This particular set includes Red Heat, Terminator 2: Judgment Day, The Running Man, and Total Recall.

When I got the chance to review this new four-movie collector’s set of Schwarzenegger flicks, I jumped at the chance for a couple of reasons: One was because I shockingly had not seen two of them; and also because I even-more shockingly didn’t own any of them. [...]

Who loves Star Wars? We do too! So it’s with great pleasure that we here at Geeks of Doom have five (5) copies of Draw Star Wars: The Clone Wars to give away to some lucky readers!

One (1) winner grand-prize winner will receive:

– (1) autographed copy of Draw Star Wars: Clone Wars, signed by author Bonnie Burton

Four (4) winners will each receive:

— One (1) copy of Draw Star Wars: Clone Wars

Draw Star Wars: The Clone Wars is packed with tips and techniques, practice space to draw right in the book, and translucent overlays to make you a master of drawing. Start with stick figures, move onto basic shapes, and finish up with the details. Learn to draw 20 different Clone Wars characters. The book comes with everything you need, including a black marker, double-tipped metallic — colored pencils, and an always-sharp mechanical pencil. Of course, we also include perhaps the most essential tool for any artist… an eraser. Because sometimes even a Jedi Master could use a do-over. Appropriate for ages 8 and up [...]

The Gold Box deal of the day over at Amazon today is 59% off Doctor Who Complete Season DVDs.

Offered in this deal are the complete season DVDs for Seasons 1-4, which starred Christopher Eccleston and then David Tennant as the Doctor.

Each season comes out to only $32.49 each (down from the list price of $79.98).

I search around the Web and saw these DVDs at other vendors are going for between $64.99 and $72.86, so this deal is really a score! [...]

The heads up on this latest deal comes from GoD’s own pre-teen game reviewer LiLSyKo, who also happens to be my nephew. In my quest to acquire some Christmas gifts for him, I discovered the following specials. [Head's up family, I've confirmed with LiLSyKo that these items are on his Christmas wish list.]

Ok, so if you’re in the market for some of the latest video games, Amazon is offering $10 or $20 credit towards the future purchase of a video game after you pre-order or order any of the following titles:

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2
(Xbox 360, PS3, PC); $20 off future video game purchase

New Super Mario Bros
(Wii); $10 off future video game purchase
Release date: November 15, 2009

Assassins Creed II
(Xbox 360, PS3, PC); $10 off future video game purchase
Release date: March 16, 2010

Left 4 Dead 2
(Xbox 360); $10 off future video game purchase [...]

One of the greatest authors ever to live and master of the fictional realms, Ray Bradbury is set to begin shopping around a new mini-series pitch to television networks. The plan is to make a six-hour, six-part series based on six of his classic short stories, and to get six different directors to construct them.

Bradbury, who is now 89-years-old, embarks on this new journey after an agreement was reached with the newbie movie company White Oak Films. If a network decides that they want to be a part of the project, negotiations will begin and directors will be scouted. Supposedly, the directors brought onto the project will get to choose their favorite Bradbury story to adapt into one of the segments.

Now word on what stories will be turned into the hour-long episodes at this point. Bradbury has crafted so many timeless collections of short tales in works like The Illustrated Man, The Martian Chronicles, The October Country, and even TWO separate releases that contained two completely different sets of 100 of his short stories like The Day it Rained Forever, The Fog Horn, and The Small Assassin. [...]

If you’ve yet to hear the good news — yes, a third movie in the Focker franchise is on the way, and it is called Little Fockers…like you didn’t know this was going to happen. Stars Ben Stiller, Robert De Niro, Teri Polo, Blythe Danner, and Owen Wilson are all set to return to complete the trilogy which will obviously deal with the children of Stiller and Polo’s characters.

Now comes word that The Wolf himself, Harvey Keitel, has signed to join the project as a contractor working for Stiller. He joins other newcomers Jessica Alba and Laura Dern who arrived at the party a short time ago. Alba will be spreading her acting wings a bit by playing a super-hot pharmaceutical rep who…distracts the male character just a bit. Dern will be the headmistress of the school that little Focker is attending.

There is no word yet on whether or not the elder Fockers in Barbara Streisand and Dustin Hoffman will be returning, but so far, it’s not looking like they will. With Hoffman being the best part about Meet the Fockers and Babs being the worst, I’m a little torn on whether this is good news or bad news. [...]

We all should know the story by now: Matthew Vaughn — director of Layer Cake and Stardust — decided that a movie based on Mark Millar‘s ultra-violent graphic novel Kick-Ass needed to be made, and brought it to the money. Unfortunately, none of the studios had any interest in making a movie that would include an 11-year-old girl who is deadly surgical with a Katana blade. Instead of giving in, Vaughn went down another path and pulled the unthinkable: he went and got the money all by himself…all $75 Million of it. Since this bold move, Kick-Ass has been growing into a very popular project with many itching to see this “outside-the-box” superhero movie. After some footage at Comic Con was universally praised, the studios that had passed were now battling each other for the very right to distribute the film.

Now, finally, we the regular folk of the world are able to get our first peek at this curious and intriguing little flick with the release of the very first official trailer, and it was surely worth the wait. Kick-Ass promises to be a funny, fully-entertaining movie for adults, and it is fair to assume that it won’t take long to acquire a massive fan-following. [...]

The Gold Box deal of the day over at Amazon today is The Office – The Complete Collection BBC Edition on DVD for only $25.49 (that’s 36% off the list price of $39.98).

This 4-disc DVD collection includes Series One and Two of the hit British comedy (that’s Seasons One and Two for us Americans) along with The Office Special, which takes place three years after the series finale.

Bonus features on this set include an exclusive documentary, How I Made The Office; deleted scenes; video diary; outtakes; The Office: Closed for Business documentary; Golden Globes featurette; “If You Don’t Know Me By Now” full song and video; The making of “Freelove Freeway,” and director’s commentary [...]

Don’t be surprised if you see more and more ‘Deal’ posts here at Geeks of Doom for the next month or so, because not only am I in full-on Christmas bargain-hunting mode, but it appears that online retails are practically giving their merchandise away!

Therefore, whatever bargains I find, I’m going to pass on to you, dear readers, typically along with a little math to help you figure out its worth (I try my best, but please don’t hold my math accountable!).

Earlier this week, I wrote about the pre-order deal on Disney/Pixar’s Up; now, a new Pixar sale is happening from right now!

In this new Pixar DVD/Blu-ray Sale, there are three ways to save:

– Order Up on DVD and buy any other Pixar DVD from the list and save $7.50 off your total purchase at checkout.

– Order the Up DVD/Blu-ray Combo Pack and buy any other Pixar Blu-ray disc from the list and save $15 off your total purchase at checkout. To receive the $15 discount, enter the promo code UPBLURAY at checkout.

– Buy the Up DVD/Blu-ray Combo Pack and both Monsters, Inc and Cars on Blu-ray from the list and save $26 off your total purchase at checkout. To receive the $26 discount, enter the promo code PIXARBLU at checkout [...]

From the very moment that Joss Whedon‘s latest show, Dollhouse, debuted on Fox, people wondered how long it would be before the show was canceled. This is the crystal example of expectations when it comes to fan-favorite shows on the network, and it is really quite unfortunate. However, to many shocked eyes, the show beamed through its freshman season, gaining a solid core of fans along the way; and even more surprisingly, was able to acquire its very own second season order.

Sadly, on this day, the news is much more grim. It has been confirmed that Twentieth Century Fox has officially canceled Dollhouse, cutting off its head at around the half-way mark of its sophomore effort. This will surely infuriate the show’s many fans, especially if those fans were also lovers of Dollhouse‘s older brother, Firefly, which wasn’t even able to finish one season before the axe was dropped. Fox still hears an undying plea from the fans to bring back that show, even five years later…so expect fans of Dollhouse to fight the same fight. [...]

Mickey’s Magical Christmas
Snowed In at the House of Mouse
Directed by Burny Mattinson
Starring Robby Benson, Jodi Benson, John Cleese
Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment
Release Date: November 3, 2009

I’m not all that familiar with the Disney House of Mouse animated television show, which ran from 2001 to 2003, so I wasn’t quite sure what Mickey’s Magical Christmas: Snowed In at the House of Mouse would be like, aside from its obvious yuletide theme. We find Mickey Mouse as the owner of the House of Mouse, where he and his guests are snowed-in on Christmas. Gathered at the House of Mouse with Mickey and his lady love Minnie is a cast of over 35 memorable Disney characters, like members of the Mickey posse (Goofy, Donald), the princesses (Cinderella, Belle, Ariel), and Winnie the Pooh’s gang (Pooh, Tigger, Piglet, Eeyore), as well as many others. Since they can’t leave, they decide to have a Christmas party right where they are by showing their ‘home movies’ in an effort to try to get a crabby Donald Duck into the Christmas spirit.

At first Mickey’s Magical Christmas seems like an all-star ensemble feature, which I was totally looking forward too, especially when I spotted Hades from Hercules in the crowd. But then it switches gears to show us the aforementioned home movies, which are actually four previously released Disney cartoons shorts from three different decades. After each video, the ensemble is shown talking about their Christmas wishes and the things their thankful for, as well as short sequences on the science of Santa and how characters decorate their home, which is a nice way to tie together all of the older videos [...]

A group of what I can only assume to be awesomely geeky engineers has created a video illustrating the first steps of a robot based on Jamming Skin Enabled Locomotion (JSEL) — or in other words, a soft mechanical skin.

The video presents a soft-skinned robot blob that can roll around and change shape, which is both creepy and amazing to watch. The presenters state that it will be able to squeeze through tiny cracks in a wall when the project is finished.

Other than being ridiculously cool, I can’t help but think that this stuff could be used in the future to create the versions of Cylons from Battlestar Galactica that look like humans (a.k.a. “Skinjobs” for all you Cylon Racists) [...]

No one on this planet can make one argument against Steven Spielberg‘s Saving Private Ryan being the greatest World War II movie of all time. You may like others more than it, but there is just simply no other title that is better than it or more graphically realistic and accurate as it is. Very few movies can affect a human being as that movie has, especially for those who lived that hell in their youths. After Ryan, as we all know, Spielberg and Tom Hanks followed the movie up with one of those most respected and acclaimed mini-series of all time in the HBO special Band of Brothers, which returned them to the war fronts.

Now the duo is revving up for their long-awaited new WWII mini-series entitled The Pacific, which will also air on HBO. It will obviously have a very similar tone to the stories of Band of Brothers, but the two are not related at all, and are both based on separate real-life accounts. A couple of videos have been released so far that you can check out at HBO, but below is a brand new video that takes us behind-the-scenes for some information on the show, complete with words from Hanks and Spielberg themselves. [...]

For some reason it feels like this is earlier than expected, but without any one complaint from anyone, Yahoo! Movies has been given the honor of sharing with us the very first official teaser trailer for Louis Leterrier‘s brand new vision of the 1981 mythological fantasy classic, Clash of the Titans.

The movie follows Perseus (Sam Worthington), a man born from the gods, but who was raised as a regular mortal. He eventually discovers his true pedigree and finds out that Hades (Ralph Fiennes), God of the Underworld, is preparing to forcefully take over his brother Zeus’s (Liam Neeson) power and kingdom so that he can wreak havoc on the heavens and the Earth. Being Zeus’s child and with nothing else to solidify his legacy, Perseus volunteers to lead a mighty band of warriors through the unholiest of lands to fight some of the most evil beings known to man and try and stop Hades and his plans. [...]

The Box
Director Richard Kelly
Starring Cameron Diaz, James Marsden, Frank Langella
Rated PG-13
Release date: November 6, 2009 (wide)

Richard Kelly’s third film, The Box, is based on the short story Button, Button by Richard Matheson which later became a segment on an episode of The Twilight Zone. If you know nothing about the movies that Kelly has written and directed then you watched The Box because it has Cameron Diaz in it and you thought it looked interesting you will have the same reaction to it even if you’re already familiar with his movies and knew what you were getting in to. If you are part of the latter group, you know that reaction because you’ve been here before.

Living in fairly affluent Virginia suburb in 1976, Arthur (James Marsden) and Norma Lewis (Diaz) appear to be living the American dream. They have a nice house, good jobs, their son seems well behaved, and they even have a pre-midlife crisis Corvette. All is well in the house of Lewis, but things are starting to unravel behind the scenes. Norma finds out the discount program her job offers for their son’s private school tuition will be discontinued. The same day, Arthur finds out that he has been rejected from the astronaut program; something we get the impression everyone thought was a foregone conclusion [...]

It’s almost time for Disney’s newest princess, the exquisite Princess Tiana, to make her debut in Disney’s upcoming The Princess and The Frog. Like many wannabe princesses, I’m anxiously awaiting my chance to become acquainted with Tiana and her friends from the bayou of New Orleans, and we get a chance to do just that in this new video featuring Anika Noni Rose, the voice of Princess Tiana.

Check out the video here below.

Rose is truly lovely, and her love for her role shines brightly through as she talks about some of her favorite characters and music from the movie.

Fortunately, there’s no need to wait for the film’s November 25th limited release to hear the music that accompanies this latest Disney masterpiece! The Princess and the Frog Soundtrack is being released on November 23 and may be pre-ordered right now [...]