Category: Blog Posts

Hey Somethings, PCR here!

Well, the rotation lands on me for the final blog post of our 11 year run.

11 years…

I feel like I’m in the last 10 minutes of “Cheers”, where Sam is walking around the bar, and memories just hit me… some good, some bad…

…the sound of Hatton’s voice on the phone every time I told him about an interview we scored…

…the admittedly ugly tension that happened on a particular LOST episode recording…

…the first time we tried remote recording, catching him off guard with “The Hatton Episode”, our attempt at an MST3K style episode…

…our radio dramas, our Dramatic-Ish readings…

Hatton likes to say that we never would have made it 11 years if it wasn’t for the way I pushed us and tried to keep us on track.  While that may be true, we never would have gotten out of the starting gate if it wasn’t for James asking me in the first place.

We’ve hashed out and retold our origin story more times than Batman’s, so I won’t go in to it yet again, but that fateful night in a swanky little dive bar that doesn’t even exist anymore set these wheels in motion, and for those of you who’ve been a part of it… Thank You.

Watch this space.  There’s new things to come.

-PCR

Given this is my last blog of this era – instead of writing out a list of thank yous which I’m sure you guys are sick of hearing from us self-indulgently blather on about this month, I thought I’d take a minute to talk about my history with podcasting – what I’ve gotten out of it and what I may do with it in time to come.

For those who know, I started writing over at Inside Pulse/Comic Nexus a long time ago, doing comic reviews and then wrestling reviews.. then one of my Rabble crew, Erik had been listening to our local radio station and the talking heads were blathering on about how it isn’t easy to do what they do and Erik asked if I wanted to try it out… well, the Rabblecast was born (and is still running, although I believe they are now a general pop culture thing now  – but it is nice to see one of my babies lives on without me)

It took two years before the bug bit me again and I needed to find a microphone and a friend. The problem was, and to a big degree, still is – I love nothing enough to focus on one thing. When I focus on something too hard, I get bored of it real quick. I stopped doing comic reviews because I knew what the storylines were a year ahead of time, I stopped watching wrestling because there were no surprises (and the product sucked at the time), so walking into a new show, it couldn’t be about any one particular thing… and therein lies the rub.  I love gaming and horror movies and puzzles and a thousand things… but none of them enough to be very good at being a critic of them. When I meet a horror fan and they say something like ‘Oh, did you hear Roger Kablingkin is revitalizing Phantasm after he won the lawsuit against Bloody Moon Studios? Aren’t you excited? OH, and Tabitha McWhazzerface will be back as Carmine’s mom!’ or when a gamer sees one of my video game tattoos and starts talking to me about deep lore of games I truly love… and I have absolutely NO idea what the hell they’re talking about. Yes, I love Final Fantasy 9 – no I have no recollection of the second act of that game.

You can hear me audibly blinking in response to these things.  I LOVE the things I love, I obsess over absolutely nothing, so whatever the podcast was going to be, it couldn’t be about a THING. It had to kind of be about EVERYTHING.. or more specifically a lot of ..somethings..  The good of that is there is always more to talk about. The bad of that is people tend to listen to podcasts about those things they get nitty gritty about or have some weekly hook. It was never a concern for us, but the podbubble expanded so big in the last decade that our non-specific nature definitely made us easier to get lost in the sea.

So, now that this chapter ends – what’s next? We’ve made allusions to things being on the burners, and there are – but truthfully, I expect you’ll get more from Rob and I individually as well as in tandem after we’ve caught our breath – because, truly, we can’t not want people to notice us. It’s the curse of thinking you’re entertaining and built into your bones. You don’t turn off the microphones for the last time and go ‘Ah, time to stare the wall..’ all we did was free up some time and brainspace for something new to grow.

Whatever it ends up being, where ever it ends up being, we hope to see you there.

Sound off in all the places one last time.  – Hatton

Big Matt here!

Hey Somethings, PCR here!

So… I recently watched ‘Madam Web’ and… wow do I have thoughts…

For starters, I knew nothing about this character going in.  While she first appeared in 1980 in the comics, I didn’t start collecting until later, and when I was into the hobby the deepest, Spider-Man wasn’t much of my weekly pull…  so I won’t be talking about things like story arcs or how close they came to the comic portrayal.. this is strictly on the merits of the movie.

It is not good.

I don’t have anything against Dakota Johnson (though, looking through her filmography, I can’t say I’ve seen any of her movies.. but I’m aware of who she is and what she’s done), and.. I’m not sure her acting was really the issue here.  The story overall seemed…  Meh, the effects of Las Arañas doing their spider-walk stuff felt right out of the Batman TV show of the ’60s, I couldn’t get over the fact that the main villain looked like TEMU Matt Hardy from his “Delete! Delete!” era…  but the most annoying part of the movie to me was Julia, Mattie and Anya who’s characters seemed more based on showing off navels and seeing how many times in one scene can they flip personalities and motivations.

The action sequences were filled with frantic jump-cuts, which is usually a terrible sign that none of them were really smooth or cohesive so they had to splice them all together.  The way Cassandra’s power first starts getting revealed was jarring and giving me “Vantage Point” flashbacks (an action/thriller that consisted of roughly 39 minutes of footage), and was just…   eh?  I can see why in the comics she was more of a supporting role but.. what was the point of making a full-blown movie with her as the lead?  Sony just doesn’t seem to have a good grasp of what works and what doesn’t when it comes to comic movies and are just looking for properties that are tangential to the MCU to hype, which might not be the best call since the MCU’s glory days are behind them and they’re clearly trying to figure out how to transition into a ‘post Tony/Steve/likely Thor’ world.

Overall, if you want to watch it just to watch it and check it out, make sure you set your expectations to “Morbius” levels and you might be ok…

– PCR

Hey All, PCR here!

So, late to the party here, but just re-subbed to Netflix with the sole intent of watching ‘Godzilla Minus One’.. and I have some thoughts.

I watched it once, but will be watching it a second time with a different audio option.  On first watch through, I watched it dubbed… mostly because it was late, I wanted to watch it, but was lazy enough that I didn’t want to split focus between watching and reading.

First.. the cons…

– The main character of Shikishima is honestly, kind of a dick.  Yes, I get the PTSD aspect and that his inner war ‘isn’t over’, but until the very end, I didn’t feel he had a whole lot of depth and range.

–  One of the main things I found most jarring was that it felt very cliche to the Late 70s Godzilla movies, which, if that is what it was going for.. was spot on.  But combining the sort of ‘trope’ “Godzilla humans” in a movie that had such amazing effects.. it almost felt off putting to me at times.

–  Speaking of effects, the only thing I *didn’t* like was how he moved on land sometimes.  On Odo Island, he was a formidable beast.  Then, later, in Ginza, he was a thrashing, tail-bashing, city-destroyer.  Once we get to Tokyo, he was walking around the city like a guy at 3am up to take a piss with the lights off and trying not to step on his son’s LEGOs.  It felt very reminiscent of the rubber suit, which made me a bit sad based off how amazing the visuals were.

…and let’s talk about those visuals…

Pros…

–  The visual effects of Godzilla were absolutely amazing.  The scene where he’s chasing the boat… him powering up the heat-ray…  the effects of the warships exploding..  I mean.. there were more than a few times where I sat bolt upright, eyes wide going ‘holy shit…’.  Honestly, I can’t think of one flaw in the visuals of the movie at all, it was an amazingly stunning piece of cinema.

Not really a pro or a con, but the one thing I guess I personally didn’t need was the ‘flashback’ of Tachibana explaining the ejector seat to Shikishima.  When he showed him the ‘safety lever’ for the bombs, and to ‘pull it just before’, I knew exactly where it was headed, and felt like going back and explaining it wasn’t giving the audience enough credit for following along.

All and all though, certainly worth a watch if you haven’t seen it yet.

What are YOUR thoughts?  Sound off on our socials!

–  PCR

Hatton here – with Netflix’s drop of Godzilla Minus Zero, my wife and I have gone deep into the monster universe the last two weeks. Starting at 2014 American Godzilla, and working our way up to the newest of Godzilla x Kong: Round 2.  Along the way, we’ve also started watching the Apple TV ‘Monarch’ about the secret covert organization that lives beneath all of the movies and will take a Tokyo Drift over to the Toho Godzilla series that was relaunched with Shin Godzilla.

Now, I could go and simply make a list of our favorites, but I think I’d like just throw out some high and low points because, honestly, if you are a monster movie fan.. good or bad, you’re going to watch them much like I’d watch the animated series SAW: TRAPS ARE MAGIC and Rob would watch FAST & THE FURRY’OUS: TOKYO YIFF.

Firstly, our favorite has been Kong: Skull Island by a mile. The initial Godzilla feels fun, but dark, like they really didn’t trust the CGI to not look a bit silly.  With Kong, you are 15 minutes into the movie and you are seeing a giant f’n monkey swat at helicopters. That movie, a period piece in a post-Vietnam 70’s feels like a true to life adventure movie with big weird creatures, comedy beats, and a strong ending that leaves you knowing there could be more stories told there.  It’s just a lived in kind of movie and I recommend it above all the others.

The rest are fun. They are ‘check your brain at the door’ fun and it all feels like it leads up to the moment in Godzilla x Kong: One where they are fighting in the neon neo-Japan and Kong gets to do parkour of of giant skyscrapers. The plot? Oh, I called the plot before I even saw the movie because it is the archtype of every CHARACTER v CHARACTER story in comic books. We fight over misunderstanding, we have a common enemy, we lose separately, we win together. – jazzhands –

Here’s where I’m going to get hatemail…. I didn’t like Shin Godzilla.  I KNOW… I KNOW.. stop yelling, I know.  You don’t have to tell me how poignant it is talking about how the government failed to protect its people during natural disasters or how it is being utilized the same way Gojira was used to comment about WWII.  I get it. Of course I get it. How could you not get it, 80% of that movie is people in sterile rooms telling each other ‘we need to do something’ ‘we can’t do something’. Over. And. Over. AND I KNOWWW… there’s an aspect where there is homage to the old rubber suit monsters with all of the lengthy talking segments, but even when little Timmy was trying to tell us that Godzilla is his friend, there felt like there was plot movement.  We jumped 45 minutes forward of this 2 hour movie and felt like we didn’t miss a single damned thing.

Last point, I am deeply saddened that we only see Mothra briefly as she is the best monster and we’ve not seen Gamera at all. I know he’s a different franchise, but I don’t care. I need my cartwheeling turtlemeat, dammit.

So, what are you thinking of the new monsterverse? How bad is my take on Shin Godzilla… let me know in all the places.

Hey Somethings!  PCR here…

So.. I managed to get my hands on a key for ‘Killer Klowns from Outer Space : The Game’ and decided to give it a shot.

Now, admittedly, I’ve never seen the movie (I’ll wait…     ok, done screaming?  Continue), and I only ever played the ‘survivor’ side of things but.. after putting in over 1500 hours into Dead By Daylight, I feel even having only played a bit of KK, I have some insights.

For those unaware, Killer Klowns is an(other) asymmetrical killer/survivor, cat/mouse game.  It shakes things up a bit by there being 7 survivors vs 3 klowns in a match, and each match has multiple exit points, but each point will only allow so many survivors to leave, forcing the other survivors to find another way out.  When you get caught by a klown, they wrap you up in cotton candy and hang you on a hook.  Other survivors can attempt to free you, or if you have certain weapons you can free yourself.  Where KK differs from DBD (but is similar to other types) the survivors can acquire weapons to fight back.  That’s the gist of it.

Is it bright?  Sure.  Are the survivors all bland?  Yes.  Can you customize your survivor’s look?  Eventually.  “What about the gameplay?”  So glad you asked…   after all those hours of DBD, it’s hard NOT to compare every other asymmetrical game I’ve played to DBD.  Let me clarify.. DBD is NOT a perfect game… not by a long shot.. but in my opinion, KK misses on a bunch of the things that even DBD gets right.

The survivor movement feels way too slow and lethargic…not just in walking/running, but in ALL movements.  The aiming feels atrocious and the running didn’t feel much faster than walking (although it made more noise to alert the klowns).  Searching things felt like it took way too long, and then there would be an annoying cameras angle change for the game to swing around and focus on the inside of whatever you searched.. thereby taking away your ability to keep an eye on your surroundings.

Out of the 7 games I played (2 solo, 5 with other friends) I managed to escape once and that was by complete accident.

When you’re ‘out of the game’ (either dead or escaped), you can play was IGN calls “humorous carnival-based mini games” (not sure what game they were playing.. only 1 was barely ‘carnival based’ and none of them were humorous…) that allow you to choose a ‘fate card’ that can grant a player still in the game something to help them with their continued attempt.  None of the games felt like there was a ‘set score/win’ point at which you could choose a card, and was more ‘oh, you’ve been doing this for 20 seconds…cool!’ as even games I did absolutely terrible at, the game would let me choose a Fate Card.

All of this said, I would venture to guess that if I had watched the movie and been a fan of the franchise, I might be inclined to be more forgiving in my take on the game… but since I haven’t and aren’t.. I won’t.  I got the code for free and even factoring that in, it’s been uninstalled.

If you’re a fan, it might be worth checking out.. just keep in mind your gameplay time and Steam’s return policy if you’re going into with a 50/50 mindset.

Have you played?  What did you think?  Hit us on socials and let us know!

-PCR

Hey folks, Big Matt here,

My take on the current state of AI…

So everyone is worried about AI right now, right? With good reason, I would say, but at the same time, will it benefit us? This blog isn’t about that. This blog is about how it will end us all. Will AI and automation put people out of jobs? Sure. Will that be a bad thing? I’m not sure. Do I like being able to ask extremely silly questions about nonsensical scenarios and get serious, calculated answers from ChatGPT? I really do.

Do I love asking ChatGPT what would happen if Gandalf was dropped righht in the middle of the battle for Hogwarts in book 8? Hell yes I do. Have I asked how the ending to Fiddler on the Roof would have been different if Tevye had a “Predator movie style hand carried mini gun?” You’re god damn right I have. Have I asked what kind of bits would come from a meeting of Abbot & Costello and Sam Kinison? Hehe, oh yes, and there was a lot of screaming involved, but not from who you think.

And that extremely worthless type of questioning is why I love AI right now. Will it always be this useful yet fun? Probably not, so we should probably enjoy it while we can, before it enslaves us all.

– Big Matt

Hey Somethings, PCR here!

Been chatting with a friend of mien across the pond recently as she’s been posting a lot of KISS content to her socials, and it brought me back to the heyday of my youth.

Two of the first vinyl albums I ever bought was KISS Alive : II and the Gene Simmons solo album.  I was a HUGE fan of the band… dressed as Gene for Halloween multiple times, hell, even got kicked out of Webster Hall one Halloween dressed as him (that’s.. a long and humorous story), so I wanted to take this time to touch on some of my favorite KISS songs…

Radioactive : Gene Simmons Solo Album

I will fully admit now, KISS is an.. interesting band.  Listed on Wikipedia as “Hard Rock”, “Heavy Metal”, “Shock Rock” and “Glam Rock”… I’m not really KISS can be pigeon-holed into a category.  They’ve gone into Soft Rock (See You Tonight : Gene’s solo album), Disco (I Was Made For Lovin’ You : Dynasty), even ProgRock (the entirety of Music from : The Elder).  Radioactive had Rock elements and, a surprising amount of piano on support for a “hard rock” band.  While a Gene solo album song, hearing it again for the first time in years brought me right back to ’78.

God of Thunder : Destroyer

When most people think of a KISS album, this is the one they think of (or Love Gun), and while this album is chock-a-block full of absolute bangers, God of Thunder stands out to me the most.  Also, local bar band “The Goatmen” did a pretty amazing cover of it which you can find here.

Music From “The Elder”

Concept Album designed to reinvigorate the band and brand after lagging sales from “Unmasked”?  Soundtrack to a never filmed/unreleased movie?  Regardless of the actual truth, and regardless that it’s been listed at #44 on “The 50 Worst Albums Ever Recorded”, I absolutely LOVE this album.  The whole thing.  “Under the Rose” and “The Oath” feel right back to their roots, “World Without Heroes” is deep in message, and even “Odyssey” with Paul Stanley’s distinct voice doing such a romantic ballad-esque song makes me crack a smile.  Definitely worth a listen.

Beth : Destroyer

The quintessential ballad.  Peter Criss doesn’t have the best voice, but that adds to the honesty and gravity of the lyrics.  If you don’t like this song, you’re not a fan of music.

What about YOU Somethings?  Hit our socials and let us know your thoughts on KISS!

-PCR

Hatton here…

This past week, I saw Late Night With The Devil – which is a found footage movie that takes place on an old Carson-esque talk show. It does every part of it amazing.. the sets, the color scheme, the slight fuzz to the camera at certain angles.  I can’t recommend it enough.  But that got me to thinking of all of the other shows I’ve watched and loved that really go out of their way to position themselves as a faux program. Some do it with more intent than others, but they all really do try and emulate the original war of the worlds, and in two instances was on the same day!

WNUF HALLOWEEN SPECIAL – This is one that is worth the watch, but only the once. A local news program that is doing a haunted house expose’. There is a lot to love in it, from the disgruntled newscaster to the authenticity of the commercials in between each news segment. But… it is not without its flaws and lack of feeling and direction. Good, yes. Great, sadly no.

WITHOUT WARNING – I saw this live when it was on tv in 1994 and I was riveted as it may have been my first exposure to this kind of idea. In this one, we are watching news reports and special reports and experts all about a meteor that may hit the earth. It’s a great watch, albeit and you can find it on Youtube.

..and now – the things you must watch…

GHOST WATCH – Out of all of the ones on this list, Ghost Watch is the best of them. In 1992, the BBC put on a talk show about a haunting on Halloween and we walk through a woman’s house, meet her kids, and there is enough not going wrong that it feels like it may just be real. Then, as it goes, it starts using every camera trick in the world to make you feel like you saw something that just couldn’t be there until the big ending. If any one of these inspired Late Night With the Devil – it is this one.

INSIDE NO. 9 – Lastly I’d like to give you one you may not know about. This is a BBC show that, from my limited exposure, feels like a Twilight Zone’esque anthology show. Well, they had one episode that I just happened to bump into online that is framed like a british gameshow… with no breaks or notes or explanations that it isn’t other than the people are a tad odd.  Then it gets very uncomfortable, so much that you really have a hard time figuring out if it is real or not… and then it pops.  Check it out. It is worth the experience.

Or, better yet, show these to a friend and DON’T tell them they aren’t real. Sound off with ones I may have missed in all the places.