GEEK THIS!

Surprise! Another bonus episode! This time, Dave digs into anime via the new Netflix film, Death Note, which is an adaption of a well-received anime and manga of the same name. He also shares how his opinion changed after watching the first couple episodes of the anime.

This episode was sponsored by Geek Fuel! Get 25% off your first box.

I split this episode into two sections: "Before the Anime" and "After the Anime". I wanted my opinion of the film adaptation to be as unbiased as possible, but I also wanted to share how watching some of the television show added to my opinion.

Before the Anime

Light Turner - a high school student - comes across a mysterious notebook that gives him the ability to kill anyone whose name he writes. He turns into a hidden vigilante known as “Kira”, taking down criminals one after another while a god of death named Ryuk watches him. Eventually an enigmatic detective known only by the name “L” shows up and makes it his mission to take down Kira (Light) who is now considered a mass murderer

Expectations

I had high hopes for what it could be. I didn’t know anything about the manga or anime it was based on, but the premise was extremely interesting. When a film poses the question, “What would you do with this power”, it’s hard to resist checking it out.

Reaction

I enjoyed the first half of the movie. It kept me intrigued, trying to figure out where the story would go next. The longer the movie went, the more it fell apart. There were too many unanswered questions about the overall plot, as well as some details about the characters. In the end, I didn’t really care about any of the characters except for Ryuk. He was mysterious and Willem Dafoe's voice-over just seemed to fit him perfectly.

After the Anime

First of all, so many of the details from the anime (which I’ve only watched two episodes of so far) are left out. For starters, I’m upset that the film was (insert overused phrase) white-washed. They inexplicably moved the setting from Japan to Seattle. I understand the need to get people interested and set it in a more familiar place, but I feel like they’re alienating the audience that loved the source material.

They started the movie off with an extremely gory scene. The anime (as far as I’ve seen) hasn’t done that. I understand that they have to convey the power of the Death Note in a very short time span, but they way they did it was graphic and totally un-needed. The anime explicitly states that names written without a specific death will die of a heart attack. Why couldn’t we do that?

As I mentioned before, I enjoyed the setup for the movie. If that tone and energy had gone through the movie, I would have been much happier. Things start to fall apart when Light decides to hook up with Mia, a romance that it seems like the director/writers through in just for giggles. It doesn’t drive the story, it just makes it all the more confusing to follow in the end.

Light himself isn’t likeable, even from the start. You can almost see that the power the Death Note has will go to his head. This is different from the anime, because he honestly feels that he is doing good in the world until L comes and challenges him, then you see the morality of the character start to change. The Americanized version of Light comes off as a moody teenager, not some smart kid who happened upon a powerful book. He’s just a brat.

The ending of the movie has a bad case of sequel-itis. I cannot stand this, even if I know there is going to be a sequel, I want a full movie. Don’t just leave something unanswered until the next time we visit the world you’ve created!

Final Thoughts

Surprise! Another bonus episode! This time, Dave digs into anime via the new Netflix film, Death Note, which is an adaption of a well-received anime and manga of the same name. He also shares how his opinion changed after watching the first couple episodes of the anime.

This episode was sponsored by Geek Fuel! Get 25% off your first box.

I split this episode into two sections: "Before the Anime" and "After the Anime". I wanted my opinion of the film adaptation to be as unbiased as possible, but I also wanted to share how watching some of the television show added to my opinion.

Before the Anime

Light Turner - a high school student - comes across a mysterious notebook that gives him the ability to kill anyone whose name he writes. He turns into a hidden vigilante known as “Kira”, taking down criminals one after another while a god of death named Ryuk watches him. Eventually an enigmatic detective known only by the name “L” shows up and makes it his mission to take down Kira (Light) who is now considered a mass murderer

Expectations

I had high hopes for what it could be. I didn’t know anything about the manga or anime it was based on, but the premise was extremely interesting. When a film poses the question, “What would you do with this power”, it’s hard to resist checking it out.

Reaction

I enjoyed the first half of the movie. It kept me intrigued, trying to figure out where the story would go next. The longer the movie went, the more it fell apart. There were too many unanswered questions about the overall plot, as well as some details about the characters. In the end, I didn’t really care about any of the characters except for Ryuk. He was mysterious and Willem Dafoe's voice-over just seemed to fit him perfectly.

After the Anime

First of all, so many of the details from the anime (which I’ve only watched two episodes of so far) are left out. For starters, I’m upset that the film was (insert overused phrase) white-washed. They inexplicably moved the setting from Japan to Seattle. I understand the need to get people interested and set it in a more familiar place, but I feel like they’re alienating the audience that loved the source material.

They started the movie off with an extremely gory scene. The anime (as far as I’ve seen) hasn’t done that. I understand that they have to convey the power of the Death Note in a very short time span, but they way they did it was graphic and totally un-needed. The anime explicitly states that names written without a specific death will die of a heart attack. Why couldn’t we do that?

As I mentioned before, I enjoyed the setup for the movie. If that tone and energy had gone through the movie, I would have been much happier. Things start to fall apart when Light decides to hook up with Mia, a romance that it seems like the director/writers through in just for giggles. It doesn’t drive the story, it just makes it all the more confusing to follow in the end.

Light himself isn’t likeable, even from the start. You can almost see that the power the Death Note has will go to his head. This is different from the anime, because he honestly feels that he is doing good in the world until L comes and challenges him, then you see the morality of the character start to change. The Americanized version of Light comes off as a moody teenager, not some smart kid who happened upon a powerful book. He’s just a brat.

The ending of the movie has a bad case of sequel-itis. I cannot stand this, even if I know there is going to be a sequel, I want a full movie. Don’t just leave something unanswered until the next time we visit the world you’ve created!

Final Thoughts

I’m glad that I decided to watch the movie on Netflix, but I’m sad that I’m just now finding out about the anime.

Dave's love for podcasts started around late 2010, but it doesn't come close to the love the people in The Messengers: A Podcast Documentary have for the industry. Watch the film to get a better understanding of the people behind the microphone... or listen to Dave talk about his reaction to it.

This episode was sponsored by Geek Fuel! Get 25% off your first mystery box.

Dave's love for podcasts started around late 2010, but it doesn't come close to the love the people in The Messengers: A Podcast Documentary have for the industry. Watch the film to get a better understanding of the people behind the microphone... or listen to Dave talk about his reaction to it.

Mentioned in this episode:

* Buy a copy of The Messengers

* Dave Jackson (School of Podcasting)

* Daniel J Lewis (The Audacity to Podcast)

* Lee Silverstein's Messengers Q&A

* Glenn the Geek's Messengers Q&A

I mentioned at the end of this episode that I'm going to be created a new spin-off podcast called Rec'd: The Recommended Podcast. If you're a creator of any kind - digital or analog - I would love to get to know you and interview you on Rec'd. If you're just as interested, please fill out this form.

This episode was sponsored by Geek Fuel! Get 25% off your first mystery box.

Dave's love for podcasts started around late 2010, but it doesn't come close to the love the people in The Messengers: A Podcast Documentary have for the industry. Watch the film to get a better understanding of the people behind the microphone... or listen to Dave talk about his reaction to it.

Mentioned in this episode:

* Buy a copy of The Messengers

* Dave Jackson (School of Podcasting)

* Daniel J Lewis (The Audacity to Podcast)

* Lee Silverstein's Messengers Q&A

* Glenn the Geek's Messengers Q&A

I mentioned at the end of this episode that I'm going to be created a new spin-off podcast called Rec'd: The Recommended Podcast. If you're a creator of any kind - digital or analog - I would love to get to know you and interview you on Rec'd. If you're just as interested, please fill out this form.

Dave discusses the audiobook Ready Player One written by Ernest Cline and read by Wil Wheaton.

Dave discusses the audiobook Ready Player One written by Ernest Cline and read by Wil Wheaton.

This episode is sponsored by Geek Fuel - Get 25% off your first Geek Fuel mystery box!

Last month we got a glimpse of Steven Spielberg’s upcoming film, Ready Player One, which is based on a novel by Ernest Cline and due to release in 2018. I just finished the audiobook, which is brilliantly read by Wil Wheaton. If you’re unfamiliar with the book, let me cover the overall plot.

In the year 2045, there is a super-realistic MMO-style game called the OASIS that people play to escape the dystopian world they live in. The creator of the OASIS, James Halliday, has died and left his entire fortune to anyone who can find the three keys he has hidden throughout the digital landscape. These keys unlock an easter egg that holds the fortune. The clues, however are based on deep knowledge of 1980s pop culture. The protagonist of the story is Wade Watts (called Parzival inside the OASIS), an 18-year old with an encyclopaedic mind when it comes to the 80s.

As you may have heard, there are loads of references in this book. A lot of them are extremely obscure and some may sound familiar if you grew up in the 80s or 90s. I personally wanted to go back and make an index of everything mentioned, but that might take forever.

The book released in 2011, but I heard about it a couple of years later and never had the chance to check it out until now. Seeing the teaser trailer for the film triggered the thought of, “Oh, I haven’t read that yet. I really need to!” I quickly went to Audible, tracked down the book and was pleasantly surprised to find a version read by Wil Wheaton. (You might know him from Star Trek, Stand By Me, or his YouTube show, Tabletop.)

The world Cline created in RP1 is massive. Given that the majority (say 95%) of the book takes place in the OASIS, that’s not surprising. The descriptions and details given to set up the OASIS itself is somewhat overwhelming, too. Nevertheless, it’s a world built for us - the pop culture geeks and nerds. As I mentioned before, there are more references in the book than you can shake a wand at. And the references are really the plot device in RP1. Without them you still have a fun adventure, but it would make it less special.

It’s very easy to see that Cline is writing about his favorite parts of 80s pop culture and when you really think about it, he, himself is James Halliday, the master creator in the book. I read an article recently that talked about how self-indulgent the book as a whole is. Do I agree? Maybe a little, but what I find fascinating is how these thousands of references piqued my own interest in a lot of video games, movies and television shows that I never had the chance to experience or even the desire to until now. Essentially, it’s a nostalgia fest.

As good as the book is and as good as it made me feel with all of the references, I have to say there were a couple of issues that bothered me. I don’t think these are too spoilery, but if you’re waiting to read the book or watch the movie next year, feel free to skip this.

In some ways, I feel that the book could be a kind of warning for what society could be with the rise of social media. We’re getting consumed by our own selfishness and the digital worlds and avatars that we’re creating for ourselves. That’s essentially what the OASIS is - an escape from an otherwise terrible existence.

Another aspect of this is: will we really be living glamorous, digital lives like this when so much of the world is as dystopian as Cline presents it? How is it affordable? Sure, that’s not a question some people may usually ask, but it was a constant in my mind while listening to the book.

Overall,

If you're a typical moviegoer in the US, you've absolutely seen a "green band" trailer. On occasion, you may have even seen a "red band" trailer. What are these bands, what do they mean, and are they all created equal?

If you're a typical moviegoer in the US, you've absolutely seen a "green band" trailer. On occasion, you may have even seen a "red band" trailer. What are these bands, what do they mean, and are they all created equal? Dave shares his personal preferences when it comes to R-rated films and why/why not you should be judgemental of other's choices.

This episode was sponsored by Geek Fuel

Get 25% off your first mystery box from Geek Fuel by going to http://geekfuel.com/25geekthis

They ship out a mystery box for geeks and gamers each month that has at least $50 worth of value for around $15 + S&H. Think Comic Con in a box with great curation and lots of exclusive items. Every box has an exclusive t-shirt, a full downloadable game, and a total of 5-7 geeky items. Frequently featured brands include Marvel, D.C., Star Wars, Firefly, Star Trek, Harry Potter, South Park, etc.

If you're a typical moviegoer in the US, you've absolutely seen a "green band" trailer. On occasion, you may have even seen a "red band" trailer. What are these bands, what do they mean, and are they all created equal? Dave shares his personal preferences when it comes to R-rated films and why/why not you should be judgemental of other's choices.

This episode was sponsored by Geek Fuel

Get 25% off your first mystery box from Geek Fuel by going to http://geekfuel.com/25geekthis

They ship out a mystery box for geeks and gamers each month that has at least $50 worth of value for around $15 + S&H. Think Comic Con in a box with great curation and lots of exclusive items. Every box has an exclusive t-shirt, a full downloadable game, and a total of 5-7 geeky items. Frequently featured brands include Marvel, D.C., Star Wars, Firefly, Star Trek, Harry Potter, South Park, etc.