Geeks and Jocks: Episode 83

 New episode

https://anchor.fm/ryan-sullivan1gaj/episodes/Episode-83-Rolling-the-64th-Way-e181l74

Super Mario ManBabies

I always have the impression of The Legend of Zelda or Super Smash Bros. fans being the biggest babies for Nintendo franchises. I think Super Mario might have just eclipsed it for the time being. There have been plans for an animated Super Mario movie for quite a bit of time. Going back to around 2017 or 2018 did I hear something about it. Illumination and Universal have their cast. Chris Pratt and Charlie Day are Mario and Luigi. Anya Taylor-Joy I believe is the Princess. Bowser will have Jack Black's voice, and Seth Rogen will be Donkey Kong.

I've seen worst casting, but it's not a slam dunk. The only one I'd feel any confidence in is Black. He could seriously give Bowser a menacing presence. Rogen seems like a very weird choice for Donkey Kong. I can't comment on Taylor-Joy, but at 25 years old, maybe her voice is suitable for the Princess. Day, I hope the production crew are looking beyond just the Charlie Kelly personas that he does on Always Sunny. Maybe he does a surprisingly good job, but I need to see a trailer first before being critical.

Pratt being Mario I'm not sure I like. Sure, he's done Parks and Recreation, but when's the last time he did anything that was full on comedy? The problem is the fans being the absolute worst in reacting to the casting. Almost universally panned. A lot of them wanted the game series' voice actor, Charles Martinet, to do the role. I know he's had a very long tenure as it, but Martinet's voice of Mario is very awful and has been since the GameCube days. It is the definition of very generic and trying to be very high pitched. Mickey Mouse, he is not. And it is very grating to hear. There was a sweet spot during the Nintendo 64 days, but that was long ago.

Voice actors are also not recognizable outside of the gaming community. Cartoons, maybe, but not in video games. And Martinet doesn't have a huge resume, either. Not to mention he is in his mid-60s. It's like asking Mel Blanc to keep doing Yosemite Sam into his 70s and 80s. I can't imagine him doing Mario's voice for 90-100 minutes. Also, who can you get that is recognizable and do the voice? Not saying Pratt is the best choice, but fans don't seem to want to see other alternatives beyond Martinet.

My final word is this. Let's wait for a freaking trailer to drop before we fly off the rails. If the trailer doesn't impress you, don't see the film and vice versa. But the fans are acting like the most spoiled rotten children on the planet. Let's hold off on the rage meter before we even get a shred of footage. It's just a kids film. I'm sure Nintendo is paying attention to what Universal and Illumination are doing, casting or not.

YouTube Videos: Sep 17-23

 

Geeks and Jocks: Episode 82

 New episode.

https://anchor.fm/ryan-sullivan1gaj/episodes/Episode-82-Blind-OJ-e17mfsq

MacDonald's Cancer

Last week's news came out of nowhere and you wouldn't think this would have happened. We hear stories more of celebrities with cancer. This one stung with the passing of comedian Norm MacDonald at the age of 61. Tributes from many comedians, talk show hosts, it has been pouring in throughout the week. It brings up the story of keeping the cancer private and a glimpse of what he had been doing for a long time.

From stories on many websites, MacDonald started doing stand up in the 80s in his home nation of Canada. One of his major TV breakthroughs was working on Roseanne, something I had no idea he was involved in. He was part of the production as a writer and helped with stories. That was in 1992 and a year later, he was on Saturday Night Live. On NBC's sketch comedy show, he was part of the transition of the very few people to return and to be with a newer cast in 1995. His notoriety was being the Weekend Update anchor, which some speculate was why he was fired in early 1998. The reason supposedly was NBC executive Don Ohlmeyer being friends with O.J. Simpson and him getting tired of the jokes. Some say MacDonald was the best Weekend Update anchor ever.

MacDonald did try to do a show of his own and it only lasted a couple of years. Films where he was the main star failed and ones where he wasn't varied in success. There was still a lot of respect towards him and he was still a notable name to have. A staple on late night shows with Conan O'Brien, David Letterman. Voice over work on stuff like Fairly OddParents. Guest starring for shows like The Middle. Something about his presence I would assume made people comfortable due to the way he delivered on his comedy.

There was a lot of love for him altogether. But this brings up the whole thing about cancer. From all reports, he kept it private for nine years. That's his right. Same thing that happened with both Chadwick Boseman and Kelly Preston last year. That had to have been draining. I believe they're saying acute leukemia. I'm going to have to assume MacDonald had health issues in his childhood unless this is something you can get later on in life. Celebrities take a lot of crap from people and it's nice to see them keep it private. That way no tabloid and trash like TMZ make false stories. Either way, sad to see him go. Comedy lost one of the greats.

YouTube Videos: Sep 10-16

 

Geeks and Jocks: Episode 81

First new episode of the season. Here you go.

https://anchor.fm/ryan-sullivan1gaj/episodes/Episode-81-Feeling-Old-e17bjon

Surprise, Shang-Chi!

I wonder if anybody expected Shang-Chi to do as well as analysts predicted over these last two weeks. From Box Office Mojo, it dominated its second weekend with over 35 million dollars. A 50 percent drop, but the next closest film made just over five million. Domestically, it's grossed 145 million and altogether worldwide, 257 mil. I kind of thought this would underperform due to the characters and not having any big names attached to this project.

What I think has helped is that you can only see this in theaters. It is part of Disney CEO Bob Chapek's experiment to see what happens when there is only one avenue of seeing a film. You can argue it has paid off. Free Guy has been a hit since it came out last month and should make a small but tidy profit. Shang-Chi should be able to carve itself a nice profit given the hunger for something different out of Marvel and having to stick around of seeing the whole film and not watching on Disney Plus. The main star of the film also blasted Chapek for calling it an experiment. Maybe part of that has played into the film being a huge success so far.

That being said, this film could add extra fuel to the fire of the Scarlett Johansson lawsuit she has against Disney. I don't know how many more countries Shang-Chi has yet to debut in, but it should rest near the worldwide numbers of Black Widow or do just a tad better. Right now, Marvel is in a bind. Supposedly, Kevin Feige is not pleased with Disney. Wall Street Journal had an article a week ago about the Russo Brothers potentially not returning because of how Johansson has been treated. The fact that this is still news and support for her from them and Elizabeth Olsen. The Disney Must Pay group as well backing her. I don't care for this Cinematic Universe, but Shang-Chi will be both a bright spot and dark spot for Marvel. Eternals might be the bow for a bad year and I don't think it's going to find success or be a surprise like Shang-Chi.

Were you surprised by this film doing way better than expected? Is there implications on what could happen to Marvel? Share your thoughts.

YouTube Videos: Sep 3-9

 

Golden Axe Doom

Almost twenty eight years later, and there are still people that are making mods for Doom. This was at the end of August, but is interesting to see. For many years, there have been modifications. Goldeneye was converted into Doom. Aliens was another one. But Golden Axe seems like the last choice of game you'd want being converted into a first person shooter. As of now, it is a work in progress. It's still cool though.

From watching a video that was uploaded about a week ago, there is a Heretic type of feel to it. It's in that line of the Sega classic, though. This has to be a painstakingly effort to get that to work on a computer and the engine. You have to figure out what needs to be implemented and to make textures and objects work around the engine, too. Those are my assumptions.

What I'll end with is that Doom is still a testament to how loyal fans can be. The last couple of years have shown it still going strong. Putting the game into household items, including a pregnancy test. Modders upping the ante with their own original levels. I can't wait to see what entails as people keep finding ways to make it stay in tune with the game and be fresh for newcomers to these hacks and mods.

The Dumpster of LA Baseball

The Los Angeles Angels are a dumpster fire of a team and haven't been a contender in the last 12 years. Reports of minor league farm systems failing and many other things make it one of the worst teams in baseball. Not the absolute worst, but still filled with huge mediocrity. I'm willing to bet they didn't want the Feds involved. This is two years in the making since the passing of the team's pitcher, Tyler Skaggs. Skaggs passed away from a drug overdose in July of 2019. Prosecution is now trying to pin the death on ex-employee Eric Kay.

Supposedly and according to articles from sites like CBS 2 and KCAL 9, Kay was also handing out drugs to a handful of other players. I'm assuming Angel players and that handful are looking to testify in court if they haven't already. Kay was indicted last year and trying to get the trail in motion has had times of delay. One of the drugs that was allegedly supplied was oxycodone along with fentanyl. Oxycodone is legal and can be used as a prescription. I don't know what prices are for it, but not going the legal method is a very serious matter.

I'm no legal expert, but the testimonies of those players I think will land Kay in jail for a very long time. This is no slap on the wrist with it being a federal thing. You add in those guys and Skaggs' death, he's not seeing freedom for the rest of his life if found guilty. This is a slap in the face for the team, who got a no-hitter on Skaggs' birthday not too long after the passing. I'm sure there are other teams that do this sort of stuff and not just baseball. For baseball, they've had to deal with steroids for the last 15 plus years. With all sports, there have been big name players who got caught and suspended hugely.

Fentanyl is very, very lethal. I just heard of a story in my neck of the woods of it being laced into other drugs, killing a couple of people. There has to be a way to get this stuff off the streets as best as law enforcement can do. This is not going to look pretty on Kay. It's part of a huge black eye for Major League Baseball, the Angels, and Los Angeles. I hope Skaggs' death can be used as a lesson to keep kids from doing drugs. Staying clean is worth living a full life.

YouTube Videos: Aug 28-Sep 2

 

No More PlayStation Movies

This is more of a take on why I think this happened. Yesterday was the last day you could buy movies, TV shows, and specials on PlayStation 4 and 5. With PS3 and Vita, I'm not sure. I can assume yes, but will have to look into it deeper. Sony announced the disbanding back in the spring. I'm not sure there is an honest answer you can find in why this occurred. Digital is a big thing now these days. This was in service for a long time. If there was a big guess, probably competition.

With PlayStation and Xbox, you have access to many services. Those services have gotten bigger and bigger within the last decade. Hulu is a great example. Small potatoes ten years ago and now are one of the biggest names for streaming with acquired content and new stuff coming in. Obviously Netflix is still one of the kings of it, though its lost some steam. The major prime time networks and conglomerates have their hand in the pie. Disney, NBC, Viacom. You're getting more meatier content and much more access compared to PlayStation.

I don't know how digital renting worked for it. If I had to assume, a couple days and that was it. I'm not sure many people liked that idea. Even with digital, you want to have a film or show and keep it and re-download whenever. And probably the selection was not a strong point despite having big name properties. Why buy Fast and Furious when I can see all of them on Peacock?  Probably back in the late 2000s, it was serviceable and there wasn't much to worry about. Now these days, Sony saw the writing on the wall.

Does that mean Sony has given up on the concept? Maybe. If nothing new materializes in a year, I would say yes. That's not to say they won't return to this, but they'd probably would choose the right time to do a video store again. The PS4, I can kind of understand, but not PS5. For now, Xbox kind of has a slight advantage despite having other streaming services on that console. This however will not dictate a console war that some people obsess about.