Nerd RoundTable Episode 3: Batman v Superman, What the Hell Happened?

Matthew, Jake and Laurel try to explain the entire plot of Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice to Kevin. 

Yes, it takes a full hour. Brace yourself.

(massive spoilers, of course)

Nerd RoundTable Episode 2: Star Wars Palooza!

Special guests Jake Martin and Matthew “Star Wars Grand Maester” Johnson join us to discuss the strengths and weaknesses of Star Wars, The Force Awakens (3:15) and the questionable background of the film’s main baddies, the First Order (14:23). Special guest Laurel Percival jumps in to tell us why we’re all being wet blankets about the whole thing (25:46).

We then move on to the upcoming spin-off film Rogue One (32:56), Rey’s aptitude for everything she touches (38:06), and the group’s complicated feelings for the prequels and George Lucas (44:05). 

NERD NEWS ROUND-UP: Week of April 8, 2016

by Matthew

Each podcast, Kevin and I look at several timely nerd topics and choose two or three of them to cover. This is mostly done to keep us focused; otherwise, our conversations would segue every tens seconds because we have the attention spans of five-year-olds.

That's where this series comes in! Every week, I'll be looking back over the  interesting geek culture tid-bits that we decided not to cover for whatever reason. Maybe it was too hard to discuss for twenty minutes. Maybe one of us didn't find it interesting enough, making the conversation too one-sided. Maybe we just forgot, because five-year-olds.

I'll also use this opportunity to utilize my complete lack of drawing skills and draw something in MS Paint for each topic, partly because I'm jealous of Kevin's natural gift for art and I hope to eventually even the playing field using the power of technology, and partly because my attempts at art are hilariously terrible.

Let's begin with some news that's actually important in the real world!

SPACE X SUCCESSFULLY LANDS 

ROCKET ON BARGE

HELL YEAH, SPACE STUFF. 

Elon "Actually Tony Stark" Musk and his Space X project have been making incredible progress on the Falcon IX reusable rocket. After just four years of development (including some demoralizing but awesome to watch failures), they've developed a rocket that can take important cargo to space and then return to Earth without crashing into the Atlantic. Though more tests are still needed, the speed with which they've accomplished this is mind-boggling to me. 

I mean, they landed the rocket on a barge. A barge. Barges sit on water, which is always moving. 

And they landed a rocket on that. FROM SPACE. 

The number one inhibition to space development is cost. Since the space shuttle program was discontinued, everything we've used to transport satellites, astronauts and other cargo into space could only be used once, and those one-use items are expensive. As long as the maintenance costs aren't outrageous, a rocket like Falcon IX that could be used multiple times will open up opportunities for space projects that were simply too cost-prohibitive before. 

So well done, Musk and Co. Keep up the good work so that space nuts like me can continue to geek out about the future of space exploration. 

BATMAN ANIMATED MOVIE RATED R, DOESN'T CARE

The upcoming animated movie Batman: The Killing Joke has a lot of nerd hype around it. Not only is it based on Alan Moore's massively influential and controversial graphic novel, but it'll feature the cast of the classic Batman animated series reprising their roles, with Kevin Conroy as Batman, Tara Strong as Batgirl and Mark "Intense Stare" Hamill as the Joker. The return of Hamill to the role after his "retirement" from the character was enough reason alone for Batman fanboys to lose their minds. 

Well, now the film has been rated R by the MPAA, confirming that the filmmakers haven't pulled any punches in their adaptation. The Killing Joke is full of the sort of violent and disturbing imagery that would make Adam West's Batman lose all faith in humanity, and it seems like we'll be getting much of the same in the film. 

Warner Bros. president Sam Register said in a statement that they didn't worry about the MPAA rating while they were making the movie, instead focusing on a faithful adaption of Moore's novel, and that there is no plan for an edited PG-13 release. Considering that The Killing Joke is getting a straight-to-DVD release, this seems like a good move. 

The Killing Joke will technically be the second R-rated Batman film after the extended cut of Batman v Superman, but it still has the chance to be the first R-rated Batman film that's actually enjoyable to watch. HEY-O! (high-fives self)

DOCTOR STRANGE TRAILER RELEASES, LOOKS LIKE HARRY POTTER/INCEPTION FANFICTION

Cheeky headline aside, Dr. Strange looks promising!

The trailer shows off a visual aesthetic unique to the Marvel Cinematic Universe, with MC Escher rooms and mind-bending cityscapes. It also features Tilda Swinton punching Benedict Cumberbatch's soul out of his body, and Cumberbatch's almost-but-not-quite-perfect American accent. As someone who knows next to nothing about Stephen Strange, that was enough to get me intrigued. 

No word yet on if the movie will include Dr. Strange's brilliantly awful job title: "Earth's Sorcerer Supreme." I will boo loudly during the credits if it's not.




That concludes the Nerd News Round-Up! If you see some interesting news you'd like us to cover either in the podcast or in our recaps, email us at brotherspercival@gmail.com. 

And look out for a podcast episode to drop sometime this weekend! Maybe.......Sunday? Yeah, let's go with Sunday. 

Nerd RoundTable Episode 1: Speed Racer Doesn't (Completely) Suck!

In the very first episode, the brothers discuss how entertaining this election year has been (2:48) and Kevin drops some life advice (14:57), before moving on to talk about Cartoon Network's planned revival of a cult anime classic (18:05). Then, the bros tackle their favorite bad movie (24:50), peeling back its layers to reveal the terrifying truth (50:19).

With special appearances by Laurel Percival and Gasket the Cat.