Fanboys Anonymous

Want to know what happened the past few days in nerd culture? WEEK IN GEEK is your quick fix to catch up with the rest of the Fanboys and Fangirls out there.


MOVIES

Final Week Before Captain America: The Winter Soldier.

My take: After an exhausting promotional year for this film, I'll be damn happy to have it finally released. TV spots will go from a minute down to 12 seconds and the endless release of featurettes and promotional posters will finally stop.

Frozen Hits it Big.

My take: Frozen became not only the top grossing animated film of all time at a billion dollars last week but is also now the 10th highest-grossing film of all-time. That's amazing for A) a cartoon, B) a musical, and C) a film starring two female leads. The story, which I did enjoy, broke several holds for Disney's cliched storytelling and hopefully this forces a new norm.

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Trailer.

My take: I saw the original TMNT in the theatre back in 1990 and loved it. Saw it again years later and was bored to tears. Although the designs, new origin, and Megan Fox will take getting used to, I at least have high hopes for the action in this film. The turtles are larger than life and a ridiculous concept that lends itself to any kind of nonsense. Let's hope the man-child that is Michael Bay let the child part out to take the helm on this one. Remember, Fanboys and -girls, this movie is primarily targeted at children. Sometimes we forget this.

Toby Kebbell as Doctor Doom.

My take: When I'm impersonating a pretend super villain, my go-to voice is either Megamind or Julian McMahon as Dr. Doom. His voice as Doom was the wimpiest thing I'd ever heard, the way he emphasized "Richards!" sounded like a child after a tantrum.

TELEVISION

Final Pre-Game of Thrones Week.

My take: This is the final week before Game of Thrones season 4 starts and we enter a whole new world of TV obsession. Enjoy the rest. Savor the tension.

The Riddler Added to Gotham Cast.

My take: Full disclosure, The Riddler is my favorite Batman villain. He was ruined by his portrayal in Batman & Robin but done well in the comics (the recent New 52 and a long ago tale called "Dark Knight, Dark City"). My issue with all these characters being introduced so early is it not only places them 10–20 years older than Bruce Wayne but it undermines their positions later in life. Bruce will train for a decade before becoming Batman, but by that time, Nygma, Cobblepot, and the rest are still up-and-coming super villains? Hopefully the play this in a way that shows a Gotham that needs Batman, taking out the long-standing question of whether Batman's existence helps create these villains.

Amazon FireTV Released.

My take: At $99, you basically have to decide whether you want to charge your TV watching to your Amazon account or Apple ID. They're the same price. With no HBO GO, though, Amazon is at a disadvantage, despite the 2GB memory option. It will be interesting to see who wins this war among Amazon, Apple, Roku, or Chromecast. My money is on the first two.

COMIC BOOKS

Guardians of the Galaxy Prelude Comics.

My take: I've mentioned on this editorial before that reading the prequel comic to JJ's Star Trek helped immensely to flesh out Spock's story. From that book on, I have been a fan of these prequel comics. Considering the upcoming books are done by the amazing DnA team, I highly suggest picking them up for entertainment value alone.

The Amazing Spider-Man #1 Preorder Hits Record at 500,000+ Copies.

My take: For a comic hitting 500,000+ copies on preorder to be considered such a huge event speaks negatively about the industry. If a book hits 100,000 copies these days it's a top seller. If the publishers are concerned with numbers, drop your prices! They're the reason I dropped over a dozen books from my pull box. If you halve your prices, I'll quadruple my orders. Let me know.

VIDEO GAMES

Titanfall Anticheat Enforcement.

My take: I missed this the previous week but PC cheaters for Titanfall who use mods like aimbot are now semi-banned. By "banned" I mean "banished"—to battle other cheaters. This is awesome. It levels the playing field and deters cheating as well as the creation of software for that specific purpose. It also garnered the game plenty of additional promotion.

Goat Simulator.

My take: I don't play a lot of video games, I don't do PC, I rarely play on my phone but do try to make time for the Xbox. I don't really get the point of sim games or Minecraft, but damn if this Goat Simulator team didn't knock it out of the park with this trailer. An otherwise forgettable game has hit "must-have" status and in the vein of rewarding for creativity, kudos to these guys.

TECHNOLOGY

Rosetta Stone - Learn to Speak Klingon.

My take: April Fool's is a horrible day, especially online on a Tuesday when many real announcements are made weekly. This Rosetta Stone offering got a huge response and may end up in reality soon. Thinkgeek had a hit on their hands a couple years ago with the Taun Taun Sleeping Bag. It started out as a joke and quickly became real—and a top seller!

NASA Z-2 Spacesuit Designs.

My take: I had never seen the Z-1 back from 2012 that looks like a Buzz Lightyear suit. Now that I have, I think this is awesome. The suits appear a little more modern cosmetically but are still bulky as hell. Surely science fiction has inspired the scientists more than they're letting on.

Microsoft Producing Office for iPad.

My take: When it comes to leading the charge, Microsoft is seriously falling behind. This news should have been made ages ago. Now it comes out but falls on deaf ears of those who have moved on to open-source software.

Suspended Animation For Realz?

My take: The FDA has approved new medical procedures where 10 critical-condition subjects will undergo a chemical freezing while operations are done to save them. The success of this will change medical history and redefine our view of death.