Cinematical

• The Geek Beat: What We Learned in Summer 2008
  

  Filed under: Fandom, Lists, The Geek Beat

  
  
  

  The arrival of snow in the mountains in my neck of the woods means that summer really is on the way out. It seems like it was only yesterday that we were discussing what would be the hits and misses of the season. Now the talk is going to turn to Oscar buzz and Halloween horror. Are you freaked by how quickly time has flown by yet?
  
  Anyway, seeing as school is already in session, I've decided to pay homage to my Geek Beat predecessor, Mark Beall, and do a list of things we learned during the summer season....
  



• The Geek Beat: The Girls of Summer 2008
  

  Filed under: Action, Sci-Fi & Fantasy, Fandom, Family Films, Comic/Superhero/Geek, Remakes and Sequels, The Geek Beat

  
  
  

  With the end of summer drawing near, it's now time to begin the season's autopsy on the Beat. If you're totally burned out on discussing or reading anything to do with summer blockbusters, you may want to skip the next few columns - though I'd be terribly hurt if you did.
  
  This week, I want to discuss the girls of summer geekdom. At the beginning of the season, I complained about the lack of superheroines in film, a trend that not even...
  



• The Geek Beat: Take a Stand
  

  Filed under: Action, Fandom, Comic/Superhero/Geek, Remakes and Sequels, The Geek Beat

  
  
  

  If you're a faithful Beat reader, you may remember that one of the very first installments dealt with the nasty, critical side of fandom. You know the types - the ones who spend so much time hating that nothing could satisfy them. (Seth Rogen summed it up in a pithy quote that, somehow, I only just caught: "They could find out Jesus Christ was making a movie with Frank Miller and they'd say, 'That's a terrible combination!'") But now, I'd like to address the other side of the coin - and...
  



• The Geek Beat: The 'Dark Knight' Insanity
  

  Filed under: Action, Celebrities and Controversy, Comic/Superhero/Geek, Remakes and Sequels, The Geek Beat

  It's rare when geek culture and mainstream movie-goers unite together in barely suppressed excitement. It's so rare that, frankly, it's downright weird when it happens. I'm watching the breathless anticipation that is accompanying The Dark Knight from all corners of the media, from places as diverse as Jezebel and Slate, and wondering how did it come to this...
  
  
  Don't get me wrong. It's great. I haven't seen The Dark Knight yet (I seem to be the only internet writer who didn't catch a press screening), but I feel it...
  



• The Geek Beat: Solo Supervillains
  

  Filed under: Scripts, Comic/Superhero/Geek, Remakes and Sequels, The Geek Beat

  
  
  

  
  Happy day! Today, we get to talk about the Master of Magnetism and his origin movie! Or, at least, we get to discuss it via the script reviews, as two have popped up online, courtesy of Sal's Scripts and the Coventry Telegraph. A special thanks goes out to io9 for alerting me, and for their ever interesting commenters who spurred me into writing.
  
  You see, without getting into the spoilery aspects of the script reviews, a few people took issue with X-Men's archvillain being made sympathetic. To make a long review...
  



• The Geek Beat: Limited Edition
  

  Filed under: Fandom, Comic/Superhero/Geek, The Geek Beat

  
  
  

  Collectibles! Is there any word that can warm a geek heart so quickly? I haven't addressed them here on the Beat, and not only is it long overdue, it's also timely. San Diego ComicCon is only weeks away, and it's practically the Holy Land for collectors. Already, the list of con exclusives has hit the net, and you can smell the Preview Night stampede brewing.

  
  Every year, this buying frenzy fascinates me, and I find myself gaping at the shelves of action figures, statues, and busts. I covet very little in the way of memorabilia,...
  



• The Geek Beat: Super Careers
  

  Filed under: Fandom, Comic/Superhero/Geek, The Geek Beat

  
  
  

  
  

  It's almost a rule of comic-book adaptations: with each great superhero movie there must follow great amounts of bitching. With each 2008 summer release, there's a new editorial from some frayed writer, tired of the whole POW-SMASH-BOOM of it all.io9 is eagerly anticipating the end of the trend, while Entertainment Weekly's Chris Nashawaty bravely declared his hatred of all things superhero.I can understand their frustrations; I even share a little of the weariness. Try as I might, I can't wind myself up for Thor or Ant-Man.

  But I still find myself defending the genre,...
  




• The Geek Beat: The Touchiness of Geek Cred
  

  Filed under: Fandom, Comic/Superhero/Geek, The Geek Beat

  
  
  

  I fear this may be another weak installment, due to external suffering. As I mentioned in last Tuesday's column, this past weekend was the start of our Renaissance Faire. It is a punishing affair here in Colorado due to our heat and elevation, and there were many moments where I wished I was watching The Incredible Hulk instead of hiking mountainous terrain in a very small corset. And I didn't even particularly want to see Hulk, but felt compelled. After all, my job here is to write about movies, and every week I am given a platform to chatter...
  



• The Geek Beat: The Failure of Big Screen Fantasy
  

  Filed under: Sci-Fi & Fantasy, Fandom, The Geek Beat

  
  
  

  My thoughts are regrettably circling around one genre this month, as I'm in the middle of last minute Renaissance Faire scrambling. I swear, this happens every single year - I realize it's June, and that I have a week to procure buccaneer boots, or a new bodice. (Other girls need swimsuits for summer, I need pirate boots. Go figure.) In between (and inspired by) the fabric and hat shopping, I finally cracked open Children of Hurin for the first time. Revisiting Middle Earth made me nostalgic, not just for the recent years when we were eagerly awaiting each Lord...
  



• The Geek Beat: The Forgotten Sequel to 'Willow.'
  

  Filed under: Sci-Fi & Fantasy, Fandom, George Lucas, Remakes and Sequels, The Geek Beat

  
  
  

  This week's column is about George Lucas, a long absent figure in the Geek Beat. If you find your blood pressure easily raised by even the slightest mention of his name, then skip reading this week. However, be assured that I'm not going to trot out any of the old Lucas clichés; tell you he raped my childhood, or bring up that cringe-worthy site that analyzes his neck size. But I am going to examine one of his lesser known sins: the 1996 sequel to Willow.
  
  Thankfully, it...