Detective Pikachu

(Image used under: Fair Use doctrine)

Despite being quite the average geek, I've never been that much into Pokemon. It's not because I don't like it, but rather because it became popular when I was in undergrad and had a lot less time to devote to shows, games, etc. Still, I've always loved the characters and went into the movie with an open mind. My reaction? Awesome.

In my completely spoiler free review, Detective Pikachu shows us a world where humans and Pokemon live side by side and does it superbly. The animation is top notch and there are almost no points where the Pokemon don't seem so naturally part of the scene that you forget they're not actually there. Each one translated into 3D very smoothly and seemed (from my limited Pokemon background) to represent their particular traits authentically. There's little more important in a movie like this than to get the design and character right… as in "authentic to the established world"… as in NOT whatever the hell this is:

Kill it. With. FIRE.

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Point being, this was a really good movie and a good Pokemon movie from what I can see and I highly recommend it.

Bazinga! A graphic representation of one of the funnier moments in the Big Bang Theory show

(Image source is unknown)

This is my first post in a continuing series I'm going to call "Geek Culture". Like many other societal groups in the world, geeks have certain tendencies, traits, features, and history. I've decided that now might be a good time to begin sharing some with you.

First up: some fan art (artist unknown) from one of my all-time favorite shows – bbt

I don't know where this came from, but the furthest I can trace it so far is here.

Warcraft

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So you think all those online games rot your brain, make you slovenly, and are a complete waste of time? You're still right, but there are some unexpected benefits it seems.

A Norwegian boy who apparently plays the popular online game, World of Warcraft, used the skills he learned in the game to save his sister and then himself from an angry Moose.

Hans and his sister got into trouble after they had trespassed the territory of the moose during a walk in the forest near their home. When the moose attacked them, Hans knew the first thing he had to do was ‘taunt’ and provoke the animal so that it would leave his sister alone and she could run to safety. ‘Taunting’ is a move one uses in World of Warcraft to get monsters off of the less-well-armored team members.

Once Hans was a target, he remembered another skill he had picked up at level 30 in ‘World of Warcraft’ – he feigned death. The moose lost interest in the inanimate boy and wandered off into the woods. When he was safely alone Hans ran back home to share his tale of video game-inspired survival.

(Image is in the Public Domain)

This story of a couple who shined a green laser into the cockpit of a police helicopter is interesting. According to the article, they were just having fun flashing them into the sky like giant light-sabers (which sounds pretty fun to me). Unfortunately, it hit the cockpit of the helicopter which must have diffused and spread the light (or else this couple has some killer aim to be able to hit the retina of a helicopter pilot at 500 feet).

Sounds just like a CSI Miami episode I saw.

Life Game

(Image used under: Creative Commons 2.0 [SRC])

This stuff drives me crazy. I really, really hate companies who target kids in this way.

Aardman

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Apparently, Aardman studios had a falling out with Dreamworks going their separate ways after only 3 films out of a 5 picture deal. They have now signed with Sony to make more films and the world rejoices. Why? Because Aardman is brilliant!

Chicken Run was very well done, Curse of the Wererabbit was fun, and Flushed Away is one of the best animated films I've ever seen.

Let's just say they're a lot better than some alternative animations put out by so-called bigger studios. Including these stinkers from Dreamworks themselves.