The Nerding Out About Podcast

Nerding Out About Movies is a weekly show that celebrates film and its impact on geeky pop culture. Featuring in-depth film reviews, interviews with the people involved with the films we love, and live event hosting, the Nerding Out About crew is not afraid to ask the tough questions, like: Why is Captain Kirk climbing a mountain? Does Wolfman have nards? Who shot first? All these questions and more on Nerding Out About Movies Podcast!

The Shining (1980) 10/18/2019

Nerding Out About: Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom (1984) 02/09/2018

Nerding Out About: Rogue One 01/25/2018

Nerding Out About: The Lost World (1997) 01/17/2018

Star Wars: The Last Jedi (2017) 01/08/2018

Nerding Out About: Pleasantville (1998) 11/15/2016

Nerding Out About: Stranger Things Episode 1 (2016) 11/08/2016

Nerding Out About: Constantine (2005) 08/17/2016

Nerding Out About: Constantine (2005) Contact us on our website, Call in to the show (929) 279-1701 Crew Directed by Francis Lawrence Did a lot of music Videos, including Jennifer Lopez, Britney Spears, Lady Gaga. Did direct Water for Elephants & I Am Legend Directed the Hunger Games, Catching Fire, Mockingjay. I really wish I gave a shit about those movies. Originally the film was to be directed by Tarsem Singh, who directed The Cell, Mirror Mirror I think the visual style of Tarsem would have worked well in this film, especially from an Indian director. I love the Indian style of colors Cast Keanu Reeves - John Constantine Nicholas Cage was originally slated to star in this film. I WANT TO SEE THIS MOVIE Mel Gibson and Kevin Spacey were also considered? I’m guessing Reeves is a fan of sugar, judging by the number of fillings he has! yikes! Rachel Weisz - Angela Dodson / Isabel Dodson Shia LaBeouf - Chas Kramer I said it then, I’ve said it now, and I’ll say it again.. I hate Shia LaBeouf, and I think it’s ridiculous this fuck head has a career. I imagine getting slammed from ceiling to floor repeatedly was what it was like working with LaBeouf on the set of Fury.. Pruitt Taylor Vince - Father Hennessy Such an interesting character actor. Played Otis in The Walking Dead, was on the X-Files, Deadwood, but he will always be Malcolm Rivers in Identity, WHICH WE NEED TO REVIEW Tilda Swinton - Gabriel What an interesting choice to play the angel Gabriel. Swinton is such a fascinating actress to watch, and I truly believe that as the years pass, she will reach a level like Helen Mirren, or Judi Dench Was born Katherine Mathilda Swinton Her big reveal near the end of the movie, when she drops down from the ceiling, was absolutely gorgeous. Normally movies that feature winged human-like characters look awful, but not this one. They also did something unique, which I’ve never seen in film before, where they had the wings become expressive instruments of the character. Really great stuff! Do you think the character of Gabriel was male, female or both? Once again, interesting choice with Swinton because she’s known for her Androgynousisty? That’s a word Peter Stormare - Satan Djimon Hounsou We’ve seen in Guardians of the Galaxy, Blood Diamond and Gladiator Born in West Africa, but moved to France when he was 13. Worked as a very popular male model Movie Thoughts I love using cigarettes as a method of showing the passage of time. Stylistically I love the blast pattern of the dead demon with the blown apart body Conversation Starters: Was it just me, or would this movie have been vastly improved had they gone with more practically based effects? The problem I had with it, is that everything looks so damned cartoony. Don’t get me wrong, some shots are incredible, like the transition of the demon out of the mexican girl at the beginning of the film. Dying cattle looked horrible Let’s talk cinematic interpretations of the Devil I have to admit, Peter Stormare’s interpretation might be my favorite, but it’s closely followed by Pacino’s from the Devil’s Advocate I love the idea that he is the only demon in hell that has a brain...but no heart.. Sorry wizard of Oz Dripping hot oil from his feet was also an interesting concept. I think the whole concept of exorcism in film works best when it’s done subtly. The best example will always be the Exorcist. This film had a fascinating soundtrack, which was very distinct to the later 90’s early 2000’s. It almost blurrs with the same soundtracks of Queen of the Damned, Dracula 2000, I Know What You Did Last Summer, etc. It’s like every band was copying Stabbing Westward, and the singers sounded like they haven’t shit in a month. Movie Trivia The Nazi flag featured in the beginning of the film was destroyed, to prevent it falling into the hands of Neo-Nazis The Spear of Destiny Prop is the same one used in Hellboy Domino Harvey, the model and bounty hunter who was the basis for the movie Domino makes a cameo. She’s the angel who has a demon nibbling her ear in the bar. (1969 - 2005) Died from drowning after drug overdose Episode Closing We’re going to start releasing episodes on Thursday’s Please send in your movie requests via facebook or our gmail Shoutout to our listener James, who has requested The Power Rangers Movie, which, with the upcoming reboot arriving soon, I’m very excited to revisit in a few weeks. In the meantime, next week we will be heading back to the 1950’s from the 1990’s and reviewing the Toby Macquire classic, Pleasantville! Kinda excited to review this one, because it’s either going to be a great episode, or a really short one. Spear of Destiny - According to the movie, it has been missing since World War II Also known as The Holy Lance, Holy Spear, or Lance of Longinus There are currently three or four major relics that claim to be the Holy Lance, one is Rome, which is preserved beneath the dome of Saint Peter’s Basilica. There’s another in Vienna, which is displayed in the Imperial Treasury. Vagharshapat, previously known as Echmiadzin, which is the religious capital of Armenia The Nazi’s and the Spear: According to Wikipedia, which I did dig a little further to confirm some of these details, a Dr. Howard A. Buechner M.D., who is a professor of medicine, wrote a book about the Dachau Massacre Dachau Massacre, also known as the Dachau Liberation Reprisals, occurred when American Soldiers liberated the Dachau concentration camp, and because they were so disgusted with what the Nazi’s had done, ultimatley executed 3 or 4 dozen SS members. Number of dead varies, it could have been 560. This was under command of George S. Patton, who also ordered all evidence destroyed The book Buechner wrote is called Dachau - The hour of the avenger Anyway, Buechner claims he was approached by a U-boat submariner, who went under the pseudonym “Capt. Wilhelm Bernhart”. Bernhart claims that the spear in Vienna is a fake, and the real spear was sent to Antarctica, along with other Nazi treasures, by Hitler. The mission was commanded by Col. Maximilian Hartman, who in 1979 went back and recovered the artifacts, including the spear, and they are all now hidden by a secret Nazi Society somewhere in Europe. I’m actually surprised they wouldn’t have opened the film in Argentina, as opposed to Mexico, considering the Nazi’s had a pretty big influence in Argentina In fact, archeologists found a possible Nazi Hideout in the Argentinian Jungle just recently /episode/index/show/nerdingoutabout/id/4598518

Nerding Out About: WarGames (1983) 07/21/2016

Nerding Out About: Independence Day (1996) 07/07/2016

Nerding Out About: Independence Day (1996) In this space-tacular episode of the Nerding Out About podcast, the crew reviews the 1996 Alien-Invasion classic, Independence Day! Starring Bill Pullman, Will Smith and Jeff Goldblum, this explosive summer blockbuster defines what summer movies should be! Download now on , , or any of your other favorite podcasting channels! Movie Notes: Initial Reaction: A movie that is now 20 years old still holds up like a champ. That blend of practical and CGI effects, like we saw in the first Jurassic Park, still looks great, and the movie manages to still Carry a solid storyline too. Cast: Captain Steve Hiller - Will Smith Mr. Charisma Eddie Murphy was the first choice for the part of Steven Hiller. Tom Cruise, Keanu Reeves, Johnny Depp, Jean-Claude Van Damme and William Baldwin were considered for the part President Whitmore - Bill Pullman The man I always confuse with Bill Paxton Played this role so well, despite going full Shatner with it. I swear, he sounds like he hasn't taken a shit in weeks His Independence Day speech is amongst the best in cinematic history The President's speech was filmed on 6 August 1995 in front of an old airplane hangar. The hangar once housed the Enola Gay, which dropped the atomic bomb on Hiroshima exactly 50 years earlier on 6 August 1945. Kevin Spacey was originally wanted for the role, and they intended it to be a Nixon esque president, but some fuckhead executive at Fox didn't think he had a promising enough of a career. House of Cards motherfucker David Levinson - Jeff Goldblum Nice Robert Loggia The Turtle Refused to leave his trailer one day because a producer told him to get inspiration from the movie Airplane! He meant to say Airport First Lady Marilyn Whitmore - Mary McDonnell accepted her role immediately after her agent pitched the film by simply saying "It's about 15-mile-wide spaceships". Miguel - James Duval, or as I like to call him, the Discount Keanu Reaves Troy - Giuseppe Andrews, or as I like to call him, the Discount Joseph Gordon Levitt Conversation Starters: In terms of films featuring an Alien Invasion, like ID4, Day the Earth Stood Still and War of the Worlds, which film is your favorite vision of our planet getting conquered by a species from another planet I honestly prefer the idea of Aliens coexisting amongst us, and slowly taking over from within, as seen in The Thing and The Arrival (Ron Silver was the bomb in Time Cop BTW) Spaceship-wise, how do you rate the Alien ships in this movie, to the ones seen in other flicks? Which are your favorites? Let's talk about one of my favorite things in movies, stupid scientists practicing stupid science One scene that pops out to me is the clean room scene in Area 51, where they allow a group of people wearing contaminated clothing in, but Dr Okin was already A single punch knocks out an alien in an exo-suit, so the scientists decide to go ahead and try to extract the alien instead of waiting for it to come around so they can knock it out We also saw stupid soldiers practicing stupid soldiering Will Smith steals a helicopter, because sure, that would be okay By the way, it's hilarious that he manages to just find his girlfriend and First Lady while he's flying around. In an important mission briefing Harry Connick Jr. Is more interested in making jokes no wonder why he can't fly his plane and gets killed Let's let Drunk Randy Quaid take off in a modern jet fighter Instead of the aliens destroying Area 51 via weapon attack, they can rest assured that the falling mass of their ship will still do the job. Let's take a second to talk about the release of the sequel, which Gabe and I saw last week. Did you guys see it yet? Do you think that this film warranted a sequel? Roland Emerich is known for his disaster, end of the world, movies, but he has done other styles of films (the patriot). But do you guys think he is a one note song? Movie Facts: Producer Dean Devlin said that well over half of the dialogue in the scenes Jeff Goldblum shared with Judd Hirsch and Will Smith was improvised. Holds the record for most miniature model work to appear in one film. Model shop supervisor Michael Joyce estimated that more miniatures were used for this film than in any other two films combined. Due to the advances in digital technology since this film's release, most experts believe this record may stand forever. The film was banned in Lebanon under pressure from Hezbollah, because it included scenes where Israeli and Iraqi soldiers joined forces, in the montage where militaries around the world signed onto the U.S. plan to counter-attack the alien forces. For the last few decades, Lebanon officially boycotts any form of entertainment that features Israelis. And that ladies and gentlemen is part of the problem with this world The abbreviation "ID4" was invented due to legal problems with the title "Independence Day". Before 20th Century Fox reached a deal with Warner Bros. for the rights to the title, they suggested the film be called "Invasion" or "Sky on Fire" among many other titles. The "futuristic" looking computer in the control center at Area 51 are components of an IBM AN/FSQ-7 Combat Direction Central, built in 1954 to protect the US from Soviet bomber attack. It was the largest and heaviest computer system ever built, the full system weighing 6000 tons and taking up an entire floor of a bomb-proof blockhouse. Components of decommissioned systems were sold for scrap and bought by film and television production companies who wanted futuristic looking computers, despite the fact they were built in the 1950s. The components used in this film were previously used in The Time Tunnel (1966) and The Towering Inferno (1974) amongst many others. /episode/index/show/nerdingoutabout/id/4498900

Needing Out About: Fright Night (2011) 06/30/2016

Nerding Out About: Animal House (1978) 06/21/2016

Nerding Out About: Animal House (1978) In another well-endowed episode of the Nerding Out About podcast, the crew breaks out their togas for an exciting review of 1978’s Animal House. Starring Tim Matheson, Bruce McGill, John Belushi and Karen Allen, this comedy classic left the crew asking the important questions like: What movie script was turned down before Animal House was written? Who were the original members of Delta Tau Chi? When will we ever start a frat? All this and more in this episode of Nerding Out About! Movie Info: Directed by John Landis Also directed Burke and Hare, Beverly Hills Cop 3, Spies Like Us, An American Werewolf in London Written by Harold Ramis, Douglas Kenney, Chris Miller Cast: Bruce McGill - Daniel Simpson Day I cannot express how much I love this guy and the roles he’s done Lincoln, Cinderella Man, Time Cop Tim Matheson - Eric Stratton Van Wilder, Playing Ronald Reagan in “Killing Reagan” tv movie Some of the best IMDB Factoids on this guy Born at 9:00pm PST Worked with John Belushi, John Candy, Sam Kinison and Chris Farley, all legendary overweight comic actors who died at an early age Shares his birthday with Val Kilmer Peter Riegert - Donald Schoenstein The Mask, Failed TV Show “Dad’s” Donald Sutherland - Dave Jennings Universal greenlight the movie when Sutherland signed on Karen Allen - Katy Raiders of the Lost Ark, Crystal Yawn, Scrooged John Belushi Would shoot the film Monday - Wednesday and then fly back to NY to shoot SNL Thurs - Saturday Improvised the cafeteria portion Didn’t really chug Jack Daniels - It was Iced Tea Kevin Mothafucking Bacon! - Chip Diller First Movie, and was forced to sit in the back at the premiere because the ushers didn’t believe he was in the cast Factoids: Movie was originally about Charles Manson, entitled Laswer Orgy girls, but was rejected. Was about a cult leader and murderer in high school Final script was the result of 3 month long brainstorming session about college life Was originally a very SNL heavy cast - starring Dan Aykroyd, Brian Doyle-Murray, Bill Murray and Chevy Chase Shot at the University of Oregon Delta’s motto is “Ars Gratia Artis” is latin for Art for Art’s Sake. 3 Million Dollar Budget, made 141,600,000 Movie Thoughts: “Don’t be a fruit” - A phrase you’ll never hear these days Though I enjoy boob scenes as much as the next guy, It’s kinda gross when it’s set up by a peeping tom. Shit is gross.. Conversation Starters: So guys, the scene where the Otter and Schoenstein are shooting golf balls at the ROTC guys got me thinking. I wonder how many deaths have occurred from stray golf balls. /episode/index/show/nerdingoutabout/id/4458991

Nerding Out About: The Mummy (1999) 06/15/2016

Nerding Out About: The Mummy (1999) The Cast Brendan Fraser - Rick O’Connell Nearly killed during the hanging scene It’s rumored that the role was originally offered to DiCaprio, and he couldn’t take it because he was filming The Beach Supposedly the role was also offered to Sylvester Stallone Rachel Weisz - Evelyn Carnahan John Hannah - Jonathan Carnahan ARnold Vosloo - Imhotep The name Imhotep was after an architect who developed the first pyramids. It means “One who comes in peace” Kevin J. O’Connor - Beni Gabor Bernard Fox - Captain Winston Havlock This was his last film The Crew Written and Directed by Stephen Sommers Directing & Writing credits: Deep Rising, Mummy Returns, Scorpion King, GI Joe: Rise of Cobra The day after the film was released, Universal called Sommers and requested a sequel Conversation Points: Let’s get down to the important question: Do the visual effects of this movie hold up? The film set aside $20 Million for special effects Visual Effects were supervised by John Andrew Berton Jr. Worked on Teminator 2, Star Wars, Death Becomes her, Jurassic Park and Baby’s Day Out The Upcoming Reboot Starring Tom Cruise and Annabelle Wallis First film to have a female playing “The Mummy” - Sofia Boutella Alex Kurtzman is directing Known for his work on Amazing Spider-Man 2, Star Trek and Transformers Will be set in Present day Due for release on June 8, 2017 Movie Factoids: Makeup on Patricia Velasquez, Anck Su Namun, took 14 hours to apply INCREDIBLE: It was discovered that one of the cloaks leant to this film by a British costume rental company was made for Alec Guinness in Star Wars Clive Barker was originally attached to this project Had a very violent film concept, focusing on the head of an art museum who is a cultist trying to reanimate mummies. Imhoteps victims, the dried out dead people, were plastic dummies used in the 1985 sci-fi film Lifeforce. One character even says the Mummy sucks the “lifeforce” out of people. This movie was a pain in the ass to make Not only did it only almost kill Fraser, but dehydration, sandstorms, snake, spider and scorpion bites were a common occurance (in the Sahara). The crew also needed kidnapping insurance The film was not shot in Egypt at all Joe Dante would have cast Daniel Day Lewis as the mummy. /episode/index/show/nerdingoutabout/id/4444720

Nerding Out About: Guardians of the Galaxy (2014) 06/10/2016

Nerding Out About: Guardians of the Galaxy (2014) Conversation Points: Gentlemen, we can’t overlook one of the most important parts of this film, which is the soundtrack What was your favorite track in the film? Hooked on a Feeling by Blue Swede Movie did so well it was released on Cassette by Marvel James Gunn knew that the soundtrack was paramount to grounding the film in reality, and it would add a sense of nostalgia. He compiled a list of 120 chart topping hits Almost every song was determined before cameras started rolling Let’s take a second to talk about the director James Gunn Gave out Play-Doh rewards to the cast and crew Says he “Loves the smell of Play-Doh, and opening a new container and smelling it puts him in a creative, child-like place.” Has an interesting career, having done the movie Slither, and the Beezel segment in the Movie 43 flick. I think one of the best character relationships in this film is between Peter Quill and Yondu. It’s a weird father type relationships, but it totally works! Moment when Yondu is about to kill Quill. The character of Rocket was put together by four people Sean Gunn - On Set Rocket Arti Shah Maz Motion Capture Double Oreo the Raccoon Bradley Cooper - the voice Used Tommy DeVito (Joe Pesci’s character in Goodfellas) as his influence. Cast: Chris Pratt (Peter Quill) Lost 60 Pounds for the Role His audition was so great that Gunn knew within 30 seconds the role was his. So good in fact that pratt didn’t even have to lose the weight. Gunn wasn’t even interested in Pratt at first, it was Gunn’s assistant that insisted he audition him. Marty McFly plus Han Solo is how Pratt developed Starlord Stole his costume to visit sick kids in the hospital Zoe Saldana (Gamora) Olivia Wilde was originally offered the role Almost broke Chris Pratt’s ribs Dave Bautista (Drax) Upon getting the role, Bautista broke down crying and called to sign up for extra acting classes Took 5 hours to apply his makeup (and he couldn’t sit down) Vin Diesel (Groot) Groot helped him get over Paul Walkers death Recorded all his lines on Stilts Lee Pace (Ronan) Karen Gillan (Nebula) Shaved her head for the role, and had a wig made out of her own hair Box Office: Budget: $170 Million Dollars Opening Weekend: 94,320,883 (USA) Gross: 333,130,696 (USA) It is the 31st highest grossing film of all time in the United States, and 51st highest grossing film worldwide. 1 - Gone with the Wind 2 - Avatar 4 - Star Wars 5 - Titanic Factoids: The soundtrack for this film reached number one on the Billboard charts, making it the first film soundtrack to do that without a single original song. Baby Groots dance scene was actually the director in a motion capture suit The flicking of the middle finger was improvised by Pratt The Milano is named for Alyssa Milano Apparently this film is loaded with hidden Mickey’s Movie Thoughts: The film is remarkable in its wave-like, emotional storytelling. It has so many highly emotioal moments, killing the mother in the beginning for example, the abandoned planet introduction to the universe.. But then immediately flips to comedic So why was Ronin stuck in a bathtub for so long? Was he imprisoned? /episode/index/show/nerdingoutabout/id/4433593