It is summertime and that brings the heat plus Con Season. We made our trip back to the original mothership that is SDCC 2022! Derek is joined by Bobby Bexar from A Toy Kinda Mood and the Burger Lord, Greg Mucino to give their take on four (and a half) days of the Geektastic Wonderland. We dive into panels, offsites, signings, comics, toys, and embracing the feeling of being back after so many years. Geeeeekkkkssss.
With SDCC upon us what a perfect time to look back on all the fun we had at Wondercon 2022! Derek is joined by Ana Mendoza as they reminisce about all their favorite highlights from the convention and how great it was to be back in Anaheim. Plus we add a bonus segment of Derek and Ana's appearance on The Stuff & Junk Show. And if that's not quite enough, Derek got to sit in on a Press junket for Amazon Prime's show Undone! So whether you were there or wish you had been hope you enjoy our recap.
We are BACK! This is the first show in the new time era of P.M. (Post-Myke) so I had to bring in some solid folks to begin our next phase of TGF. Ana Mendoza and Greg Mucino joined to share their thoughts on HBO's Euphoria Season 2. This is a spoiler filled review so if you haven't seen Euphoria stop at (23:40) but jump back in at (1:01:45). We talk what other shows that keep our butts on the couch.
Great friend of the pod Albert recently had Derek on The Stuff and Junk show to talk about this year's Comic Con Special Edition - featuring our other great friend Ana from PopPrismPower. Albert so graciously allowed us to cross-post the episode on this feed so our subscribers don't miss it! As always, listen to The Stuff and Junk show wherever you find our podcast, and check out Albert's other shows and blogs at https://www.whowhatwhereswhy.com/
Here's the more detailed description of the episode via Stuff and Junk:
Episode 515 (53 mins 58 secs) Still more to say about Comic-Con Special Edition, including Scott Shaw’s commentary about the show. Albert is joined by Derek of the Geekdom Fancast, and Ana of Pop Prism Power, to share their thoughts and experience from this scaled down Comic-Con. Was it a pop-up convention?
Pac-Man To Squid Game, A Few Shots Of San Diego Comic-Con Day One
No One Told Us We Couldn't - The Founders Of San Diego Comic-Con
——-
Wild Bill's Craft Beverage Co. - Premium Olde Fashioned Soda Pop
Yeesh, if you think the episode title was a mouthful, wait until you hear the episode! But in a good way! In Myke's penultimate episode we wanted to catch up with all our favorite guests who haven't been on in awhile and see what they've been watching, reading, and playing in general! It's a round robin conference call with people who've been with us from almost the very beginning to our newest and most favoritest humans. First we talk with our Texans Ryan and Robert, then our south of LA peeps from other podcasts: Albert, Jiaming, and Ana, and finally with some of our most frequent guests and good friends Dana, Sherice, and Greg!
If for some reason you want to skip to different people, here's some time stamps!
Ryan and Robert @ 00:09:07
Jiaming, Albert, Ana @ 00:57:40
Greg, Sherice, Dana @ 1:31:30
In honor of this year's Asian American Pacific Islander Heritage Month we had the honor of talking to TWO amazing Filipino artists in the fields of illustration, graphic design, and more! Since we can't go to Artist's Alley at SDCC, or any other con, for awhile - we decided to bring it to you! We sat down with Patrick Ballesteros to talk about his con experiences, combining his nerd fandoms with his art, and the upcoming LUMPIA Movie comic book!
Then we talk to Leah Abucayan about how she was inspired by the Sistine Chapel AND the Disney Channel, what it's like to work as a professional graphic designer for CNN, and how she's getting into puppets!
Patrick's Carpenter Kids Piece
Buy Patrick's prints, stickers, and more here.
Find Patrick on Instagram @patrickballesteros
Check out Leah's Instagram.
Find out more about here.
There couldn't be a more appropriate movie for the last DC Boys appearance on this version of the podcast than Zack Snyder's Justice League. DJ, James, and Gabe return to tackle The Snyder Cut in its full form, beat by beat, chapter by chapter. We actually go into so many tangents, there isn't really the threat of any real spoilers, not that you haven't had 4 years to watch either cut of this movie.
BUT, have no fear, most of the discussion is born from the Snyder cut, but goes into comics, other movies (a random segue into BvS again for some reason), video games and more.
As referenced in the episode:
While Zack Snyder has just delivered his cut of 'Justice League' this weekend, we decided to spare ourselves 2 more hours (for now - we will be doing a ZS JL episode in the future) and check out Benedict Cumberbatch delivering film of his own - as a businessman turn spy in his new film 'The Courier'. We get into how this differs from a lot of other Cold War thrillers, the surprises of Cumberbatch's performance, and how 'The Courier' turns the spy thriller on its head in subtle ways.
After our heroes' zany antics with the dastardly villain Thanos, Wanda and Vision find themselves in the most unlikely place - our television sets! Comic book fan, artist, writer, and old geek friend Guy Copes join us to recap the madcap antics of the soon to be Scarlet Witch. Listeners beware, spoilers abound as we break down how most of the fan theories wouldn't work and how the weekly release schedule whipped us all into a frenzy.
Follow Guy on Twitter @GuyCopes3 and check out his art here.
...or how to survive a pandemic as a geek.
Even though we didn't get to see half of the movies promised to us in 2020, we did end up watching a lot of television! It wouldn't be a 2020 wrap up episode if we didn't get into the random binges that we got into during the pandemic, and whatever else we did to fill the time being stuck inside (more than usual).
Through an unprecedented rift in the major motion picture studio system, we were able to transport back into the DCEU during a global pandemic in order to catch up with Diana Prince in Wonder Woman 1984, which was mostly cool because it gave us a chance to reunite with our Metasquid Studios bros, the DC Boys! Gabe, DJ, and James return to navigate the cloudy return of the Trinity's demi-god. We also discover which DC boy is which member of the Justice League, unwrap how Geoff John's could do us like this, and James yells!!!
Check out Gamesters Pairofdice, and our eventual appearance on Jamesflix at Metasquid Studios on your podcast feed!
In an episode that was a long time coming, we finally get to sit down with the founders of the Pod Clubhouse, Paul Daley and Caroline Kupstas Daley to talk about meeting Derek at the ATX Festival, starting a podcast to save their family, and the television that really got them into television media. We hear about them raising children with special needs while seeing various successes on different tv shows about their same situation, how certain geek communities can be bad for your mental health, and also nerd out with us about all the shows we watched in 2020!
Find their show, and the other PCH crew at podclubhouse.com!
It's good to know that even a pandemic can't stop a certain Mandalorian from his quest to deliver a certain Child to the sorcerer's known as the Jedi, because it was almost a year without a Marvel and/or a Star War! Greg Mucino and Lance Paul return to show to talk about the adventures of Grogu and his metal dad! Most specifically we wax poetic about the (as of recording) latest, Robert Rodriguez episode, but we spare no time getting into the entire season itself.
SPOILER WARNING!!!!
What better way to distract yourself from the current events than by listening to us talk about the newest political courtroom drama from Aaron Sorkin, The Trial of the Chicago 7. In a movie that no way mirrors the exact issues we're going through right now, Robert Bexar joins us to talk about the themes of this newest effort from the guy who brought you The American President, The West Wing, and The Newsroom. We're not a political podcast and we would never do anything like give you a live look into the moment where four swing states were in the balance.
A real life pandemic was apparently not enough to derail the release of the sequel to the cult-favorite Korean horror-action zombie flick Train to Busan: Peninsula so we decided to brave the outbreak in order to watch another one! Not only that, but in preparation Derek and our guest watched the original Train to Busan for the first time (finally)! Of course this particular set of movies gave us the perfect excuse to bring back our friend from MAActionCinema.com - David Vo! We get into their impression of the first movie, then dive into a spoiler free review of Peninsula!
Although there isn't going to be a DC movie out for awhile (if those rumors about Wonder Woman being pushed back are to be believed), DC made a big enough splash in the news with their huge media event DC Fandome that happened a week after an unfortunate round of layoffs. It was a one two punch that made us reach out to our DC Boys from Metasquid Studios - DJ, Gabe, and James - for an emergency episode to unpack it all. Gabe brings us the industry insider perspective, James seeks compensation for his ideas, and DJ saves the day by steering the ship as usual.
We specifically touch on all the major trailers, the DC shows DJ has been watching (Harley Quinn and Doom Patrol), and the two blockbuster DC games that were announced.
Check out their shows Jamesflix and the Gamesters Pairofdice wherever you get your podcasts by searching 'Metasquid Studios'.
It's a Gareth Evans triple feature! Earlier this year the acclaimed action director made his television series showrunner and directorial debut with the hit Sky Atlantic show 'Gangs of London' (which will premiere in the US on October 1st) and Derek was hooked from the very beginning! After much prodding he finally got Myke to check out the show. In this special episode we talk (without spoilers) about the entire first season of Gangs of London - then as an added bonus - get into spoiler thoughts at the end.
But first Derek finally caught up with, and we finally review The Raid Redemption & The Raid 2: Berandal!
If you want to just skip to the 'Gangs of London' review it starts at exactly 54 minutes into the podcast.
FULL SPOILER WARNING FOR THE LAST OF US PART II
We may have not gotten any big movie blockbusters this year, but in video games it has been a huge year - and this might be at the top list. That's right, Fancast and Gamescast friend of the show Dana Keels and our new, but now regular, Gamescast guest Dee Assassina join Myke to talk about the entire experience that is The Last of Us Part II. This is a full spoiler episode from the get-go, and because of the polish of a game this caliber, we mainly talk about the artistic merits of the game: the narrative, the themes, the characters, and the overall story.
We continue catching up with our friends over Zoom this week with our old pal, and new writer for ScreenRant, JL. We find out what he's been filling the time with (Bond, of course), his thoughts on what he's caught on SDCC @ Home this year, and we finally get into our thoughts about the Emmy nominations!
We've all done crazy things in this COVID Quarantine, the least crazy of which is Myke reuniting with his old brothers Leo, Raph, Donnie, and Mikey - the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles! As a special treat to himself he enlisted the help of his fellow SDCC Scooter Gang member Kevin Palma, #1 TMNT fan and huge comic book aficionado. Together they talk about EVERYTHING green from the 1990 live action movie to Kevin Eastman's 2012 IDW run and everything in between and ever since! It's a shell of a time!
We continue our Safer-At-Home check-ins with our favorite guests with one of the first friend's of show, Greg Mucino, and one of our busiest pals Jason Avalos! Greg and Derek talk about their recent trip to the Mooby's Pop-Up in West Hollywood, we find out how Jason is coping with Hollywood on lockdown, get into our feelings about this year's SDCC, and get into what we've been consuming in the meantime!
There may be nothing but takes flying around on the internet during the pandemic, about all sorts of geek things, but the one thing that most geeks (who have seen it) tend to agree upon is that the second season of 'What We Do in the Shadows' is really good, so we brought two of our most vocal friends, and favorite guests, Dana and Sherice on to talk about it!
We also get into what everyone has been up to since we've been on hiatus, and since we've seen Dana and Sherice last!
As Derek continues his discovery of Mr. Bong Joon-Ho, TBS has finally premiered its long gestated TV show adaptation of his 2013 cult-hit Snowpiercer and what an appropriate time to ingest a movie about class warfare and the end of the world! We first get into Derek's thoughts on the movie (after 7 years), the changes made to the show, and our thoughts on the show in general. SPOILERS THROUGHOUT - mostly for the movie, but if you wanted to watch the show completely fresh, beware!