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The Geek-Off Tournament: Showdown!
Filed under: Comedy, Fandom, Comic/Superhero/Geek, Polls
Well, we've run the gamut from Rushmore to Revenge of the Nerds in this On-Screen Geek-Off Tournament of ours, and after your votes ruled out countless other endearing dweebs, dorks and dynamos, the final match-up seems as inevitable as it is personal. Why, it's a choice every bit as impossible and trying as Sophie choosing... whatever she did. (It's in the Queue!)
So, just before we jump into this, let me first thank our readers for making this a lively bit of fun, and a hearty thanks to Peter Hall for all of his help in keeping this thing alive.
And now, with no further ado or delay...
(After the jump...)
The Geek-Off Tournament: Round #5!
Filed under: Comedy, Fandom, Comic/Superhero/Geek, Polls
So it's the penultimate round of this On-Screen Geek-Off Tournament of ours, and we're down to two inevitable nail-biters after a series of increasingly close calls last week. We've got Ghostbusters, The Goonies, Back to the Future and Ferris Bueller's Day Off represented, but at the cost of beloved characters from Real Genius, Wayne's World, The 40-Year-Old Virgin and Office Space.
Alas, there can only be one, so let's get this fiendish round of voting underway and bring us all one step closer to having a crucial bit of closure in our lives.
The Geek-Off Tournament: Round #4!
Filed under: Comedy, Fandom, Comic/Superhero/Geek, Polls
Only eight geeks remain in Cinematical's first-ever On-Screen Geek-Off Tournament and it is, surprisingly, shaping up to be a real nail-biter Cine-Geek election. I expected some close calls throughout this wholly arbitrary tournament, but I wasn't expecting them to be this close.
As of this writing, the gap between Election's Tracy Flick and Real Genius' Chris Knight was a mere 122 votes. Louis Skolnick vs. Garth Algar? 86 votes. Napoleon Dynamite vs. Andy Stitzer? 76 votes. But the real bare-knuckle brawl came down between McLovin and Data by a margin of just four votes!
So please, spread the word for round four. We need as many votes as possible, if only because I don't think my frazzled geek nerves can take any more calls like Round 3 brought us.
Dr. Egon Spengler (Harold Ramis), Ghostbusters vs. Chris Knight (Val Kilmer), Real Genius
The Geek-Off Tournament: Round #3!
Filed under: Action, Comedy, Fandom, Comic/Superhero/Geek, Polls
Well, the first two rounds of Cinematical's On-Screen Geek-Off Tournament are behind us and one thing is clear: fans are very protective of their movie geeks. I know I came back to view the results more than a few times and came away disappointed that my picks were losing. But such are the whimsical woes of tournaments, so hop back to rounds one and two for the winners/losers, and then let's collectively pour one out for the likes of Rushmore's Max Fischer, Honey I Shrunk the Kids' Wayne Szalinski, and Pretty in Pink's "Ducky" before moving on to the next round.
And looking at the match-ups below, it becomes immediately apparent that I am, despite my mortgage and marriage, not an adult. How is it possible that I can make decisions about life-altering matters like home loans and yet freeze like Han Solo in carbonite when it comes to deciding if McLovin is more of a geek than Data?
Anyways, enough of my personal problems. To the polls!
Dr. Ian Malcolm (Jeff Goldblum), Jurassic Park vs. Dr. Egon Spengler (Harold Ramis), Ghostbusters
The Inaugural On-Screen Geek-Off Tournament: Round #2!
Filed under: Action, Comedy, Fandom, Comic/Superhero/Geek, Polls
Well, we got a hearty turn-out for the first round of our Geek-Off Tournament, and today, as promised, we present the other half of the slate for your picking pleasure.
Again, to prevent any sort of monopoly, we've only selected one character per movie -- the only pick this really seems to have any bearing on is Revenge of the Nerds (and, from the look of things, maybe The Goonies too), but your vote counts whether it's for the ensemble or just for that one character. (We honestly wouldn't know which one you're voting for anyway.)
So run down these match-ups, free free to link to this showdown on the social network of your choosing, and in a few days, Peter Hall will be bringing you the first of our elimination rounds based on the results. Let's get clicking!
Louis Skolnick (Robert Carradine), Revenge of the Nerds vs. Prof. Julius Kelp (Jerry Lewis), The Nutty Professor
The Inaugural On-Screen Geek-Off Tournament: Round #1!
Filed under: Action, Comedy, Fandom, James Bond, Comic/Superhero/Geek, Polls
In the time-honored tradition of last summer's Superhero Movie Tournament, Cinematical humbly presents its first ever Geek-Off, pitting the most endearingly nerdy characters of the silver screen against one another, armed with nothing but their wits and their pocket protectors.
As we mentioned yesterday, we've excluded the likes of Peter Parker because of his involvement with the above-mentioned superhero showdown, and after much discussion, we've decided to also leave out C-3PO on the grounds that he was programmed to be geeky as no other characters here have. Also, to prevent any sort of monopoly, we've only selected one character per movie -- the only pick this really seems to have any bearing on is Revenge of the Nerds, but your vote counts whether it's for the ensemble or just for that one character. (We honestly wouldn't know the difference.)
The first pairing out of sixteen characters is listed below, with more after the jump and even more coming over the weekend (so don't lose it if you don't see a fave -- there are sixteen more to come). Ready? Set... Vote!
Dr. Ian Malcolm (Jeff Goldblum), Jurassic Park vs. Erwin "Whistler" Emory (David Strathairn), Sneakers
Monday Night Poll: Do You Leave a Mess At the Movies?
On Christmas day, my mom and I hit the local mall multiplex to check out It's Complicated. Since the other movies showing were Sherlock Holmes, Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Squeakquel, Avatar in 3D, and other big office fare, the place was packed with couples, families, and teens (including one in a leopard-print Snuggie, Uggs, and reindeer horns - you go, girl). As we were snacking on our popcorn and soda, the usher struck up a conversation with us, noting that the messiest crowds so far had been to see Sherlock Holmes, somewhat more adult fare compared to, say, Alvin or The Princess and the Frog, which was also playing there.
There are a lot of things to complain about when it comes to the theater-going experience these days, especially when it comes to audience members who aren't respectful of others. But what about being respectful of the people who work at the theater and taking your own trash out? Admittedly, I don't always clean up after myself, especially if there's been a popcorn accident (I'm a little... clumsy), but I try not to make it a habit. Sure, there are people who are paid to clean up the theaters, but that's gotta be a sucky job, so I try not to make it any harder. (Unlike, say, the woman sitting in front of me during Bones a few years ago who vomited on the floor midway through the movie and then stayed until the end.)
So, what's the deal with you and your movie garbage?
Give Us Your Thoughts on 'Avatar'
Filed under: Action, Sci-Fi & Fantasy, New Releases, Fandom, Comic/Superhero/Geek, Polls
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So tonight is finally the night for you to stand on some crazy ass line and cram yourself into a packed sold out showing of James Cameron's mega-epic Avatar -- the film 20th Century Fox says will change EVERYTHING! But was it worth the hype? Our two reviewers at Cinematical were mixed. Todd Gilchrist liked the film, but admitted it wasn't exactly a groundbreaking masterpiece, whereas Peter Hall asbolutely fell in love with the thing.
From Todd's review: Ultimately, however, I do think that Cameron's latest is a terrific movie, and I look forward to watching and examining it again, even if some of its shortcomings require no more than one viewing to notice. The reason for this isn't because I hope that I'll some day overlook them, or excuse them among Avatar's more exceptional aspects, but because I realize that even if you aren't quite able to make something that qualifies as a game changer, at least in his case, it's still good enough just to be the best player on the field.
From Peter's review: Avatar is about transporting a viewer to the awe-inspiring alien world of Pandora and integrating them into its fantastic way of life for 150 minutes. That's the bullseye Cameron is aiming for, and that is the bullseye he obliterates.
Now it's your turn. Let us know what you thought of the film below by voting in our poll and sounding off in the comments section. Did it blow your mind, or did it just plain blow?
Monday Night Poll: Silliest Horror Villains
Filed under: Horror, Fandom, Polls
When it comes to making movies, few things are more subjective than horror. There's nothing that scares everyone, and even if your movie is about something that most people find frightening, that's no guarantee you'll depict it in a way that earns goosebumps. Meanwhile, plenty of good filmmakers have produced terror with things that audiences wouldn't have thought would scare them. (Before Psycho, was anyone ever afraid of showers?) So it's a crapshoot, basically.
Still, some horror films have had villains that they must have known -- or should have known -- wouldn't be scary, no matter how skilled the execution. (And the lousy execution of some of these didn't help.) The Child's Play films got intentionally goofy later in the series, but in the beginning Chucky the murderous doll was actually supposed to be scary, despite being 18 inches tall and weighing only a few pounds. Then there was the title character of Leprechaun, also diminutive and silly, AND he didn't even speak with an Irish accent! If I'm going to watch a movie about a leprechaun, that leprechaun had damn well better sound Irish. I'm just sayin'.
Or remember Darkness Falls, where the supernatural villain was the tooth fairy? Or the evil genie in the Wishmaster films, putting ironic, malevolent twists on people's wishes? Or Julian Sands' time-traveling he-witch in Warlock? The killer snowman in Jack Frost? What's your vote for the silliest horror villain? One of these, or someone else? Let us know in the comments.
Monday Night Poll: The Lamest Superhero Movie Villains
Filed under: Polls
I grew up loving all things Superman, but even as a lad of 13 I could tell that the villain in Superman IV -- Nuclear Man, created when Supes threw all the world's nuclear weapons into the sun -- was dumb. He had no personality. He didn't even have a name. "Nuclear Man" is what the closing credits called him, but no one in the film ever calls him anything. Rule No. 1 of being a supervillain: You must have a name. I cannot imagine any exceptions to that rule.
So Nuclear Man is probably my vote for the lamest villain in a superhero movie, but it's hardly a slam-dunk. He has a lot of competition. Arnold Schwarzenegger's campy Mr. Freeze in Batman & Robin is legendary. At the opposite end of the muscles scale, there's whiny Venom (Topher Grace) in Spider-Man 3 and emo-goth Blackheart (Wes Bentley) in Ghost Rider. And don't forget Faye Dunaway in Supergirl, Sharon Stone in Catwoman, and the completely useless Gambit (Taylor Kitsch) in the completely useless X-Men Origins: Wolverine. Or the ineffectual but well dressed Kingpin (Michael Clarke Duncan) in Daredevil.
We could go on forever, but we had to narrow it down for the poll. Now we seek your input. Who's the worst villain in a superhero movie? One of the choices below, or someone else? Feel free to explain your choices in the comments.
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