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CCI 2018: Nerdist And Geek & Sundry Head To San Diego Comic-Con International

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Nerdist and Geek & Sundry head to San Diego Comic-Con International with several opportunities for fans to see their favorite shows and talent in person.

Fans can go behind the scenes of Nerdist News with hosts Jessica Chobot (Bizarre States) and Dan Casey (The Dan Cave), as well as Rachel Heine (Nerdist and Geek & Sundry editor-in-chief) and Kyle Hill (Because Science, MythBusters: The Search) during the Nerdist News Live panel.

At the Geek & Sundry Live panel, fans will hear from top G&S talent, including Marisha Ray (Critical Role), Anjali Bhimani (We’re Alive: Frontier), and Amy Dallen (Sagas of Sundry), participate in a Q&A, and be the first to hear announcements about upcoming shows.

Geek & Sundry’s weekly comic book show Welcome to the Wednesday Club makes its Comic-Con debut. Join Taliesin Jaffe (Critical Role), Amy Dallen (Sagas of Sundry), and Matt Key (Key Question) for a fun review of favorite con purchases, most-deserved awards, and much more.

For fans of horror and the paranormal, the Bizarre States panel is a live version of the popular podcast and series with co-hosts Jessica Chobot and Andrew Bowser and a special guest, exploring the mysteries of the weird, the supernatural, and the occult.

The complete Nerdist and Geek & Sundry panel descriptions at San Diego Comic-Con 2018 are below:

Friday, July 20:

11:30 am – 12:30 pm: Nerdist News Live – It’s Nerdist News, live! Join Jessica Chobot (Nerdist News, Bizarre States), Dan Casey (The Dan Cave, Nerdist News), Rachel Heine (Nerdist and Geek & Sundry Editor-in-Chief), Kyle Hill (Because Science, MythBusters: The Search), and other Nerdist stars as they discuss the biggest pop culture stories of the day like only Nerdist can. Go behind the scenes of Nerdist News and other Nerdist shows, and bring your questions for the cast and crew. Use only as directed. 9 out of 10 doctors recommend attending the panel right before this one just to get a seat. Side effects may include uncontrollable deep cuts, hilarious Star Wars theories, and hot takes lasting over 30 seconds. Room: 5AB

2pm – 3pm Geek & Sundry Live – Geek & Sundry has been delivering quality comedic and gaming content for six years now: that’s almost half a decade! Can you believe it!? Come join Marisha Ray (Critical Role), Anjali Bhimani (We’re Alive: Frontier), Amy Dallen (Shield of Tomorrow), Erika Ishii (Game Engine), Jeremy Walker (Sagas of Sundry: Madness), T.J. Rotell (G&S Head of Production) and moderator Sean Becker (G&S Senior Creative Director) to hear them talk about the future of the network, what new shows are coming out, what old shows are returning and ask them all your burning questions! Room 25ABC

Saturday, July 21:

6:30 pm – 7:30pm Talks Machina with Critical Role – Join Brian W. Foster (Talks Machina) as he hosts a special Critical Role community Q&A with Matthew Mercer, Marisha Ray, Liam O’Brien, Sam Riegel, and Taliesin Jaffe. The cast will answer your questions about Vox Machina, the Mighty Nein, and anything and everything Critical Role! Room: 6BCF

Sunday, July 22:

1:00 pm – 2:00 pm Geek & Sundry: Welcome to the Wednesday Club – Geek & Sundry’s weekly comic book show, The Wednesday Club, is bringing their live panel to SDCC for the first time ever! Join Taliesin Jaffe (Critical Role), Amy Dallen (Sagas of Sundry) and Matt Key (Key Question) as they offer their 2018 SDCC review. They’ll talk about their favorite con purchases (and where you can get it), which Eisner Awards made them most excited and what comic book announcements made them giddy (and why). This is your comic book club on the internet, so come with your comic book questions and they’ll offer their comic book answers! Room: 7AB

2:00 pm – 3:00 pm: Bizarre States – Host Jessica Chobot (Nerdist News, Bizarre States), Andrew Bowser (Bizarre States), and a special guest as they take their popular podcast Bizarre States on the road! They explore the mysteries of the weird, supernatural and occult, dragging into the light current and historical paranormal activities and personal experiences. Room: 7AB

After the convention hall closes, Nerdist will host parties including Alpha Book Club Happy Hour (Thursday, 7/19 from 7pm to 8pm) and The 200th Episode of Bizarre States Party, hosted by Jessica Chobot and Andrew Bowser (Saturday, 7/21 from 8pm to midnight) at Sparks Gallery on 530 Sixth Avenue. Nerdist will also be hosting its annual Alpha member party and its invite-only industry party on Thursday and Friday night respectively. Official event details will be announced soon. Follow @Nerdist and check www.nerdist.com for details.

In addition to panels and parties during SDCC, fans can attend Nerdist House from Thursday, July 19th through Sunday, July 22nd. All four days of Comic-Con, Nerdist will take over the Sparks Gallery on 530 Sixth Avenue for all-day entertainment and refreshments, special social hours and fan parties, live Nerdist shows, in-depth interviews and conversations, meet & greets, exclusive merchandise, photo opportunities, a VR experience, and much more. Nerdist House will be open to the public and free of charge. Comic-Con attendees are welcome, but a badge is not required. For up-to-the-minute updates on Nerdist House, follow @Nerdist and #NerdistHouse on Twitter.

Alpha members will receive exclusive Fast Pass and Priority Access wristbands at Nerdist House events and parties. Not a member yet? Sign up at www.projectalpha.com and join the fun.

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Midnight Mass: The Blood of Life

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The isolated island community of Crockett receives a mysterious new head priest, full of secrets and a brand new testament under a very unusual Messenger of God. 

Meet poor Riley Flynn (Zach Gilford), freshly released from prison and wracked with guilt over what got him there, a stupid drinking accident that caused the death of his ex-girlfriend. The last thing he wants to do is go back to Crockett and the judgment of the mostly religious community there, his disappointed family, and the nightmares of his ex’s death that plague him. But where else would have him? Resignedly on the ferry, he goes. 

Riley’s dad Ed (Henry Thomas) isn’t the kind of man who talks very much at all, much less about his feelings, or his very real disappointment in his elder son. Riley’s teen brother Warren (Igby Rigney) has no idea what to say to him either, and just generally keeps mum. Riley’s mom Annie (Kristin Lehman) is accepting and loving, hesitant in how to help her eldest son but never wavering in her faith in the help of our lord Jesus. Mom seems to think a good heaping dose of the Church would set Riley right but is surprised to learn that the old priest of the Parish, Pruitt, has taken an extended leave of absence from the island, and his newcomer replacement Father Paul (Hamish Linklater) is young, charismatic, and bursting at the seams to tell the whole island about the gifts he brought them, most especially what he claims as a new testament under a messenger of God. 

We’ll get back to that whole ball of issues in a moment, the other interesting characters of Crockett Island. Bev Keane (Samantha Sloyan) is the nightmarish overly polite and gently, almost lovingly condescending neighbor Christian woman you’ve ever loathed, the kind of person who explains away every last thing her Church may do wrong or contradictory because, after all, God works in mysterious ways. Pfft. Of course, Bev immediately ingratiates herself as the second to the new Father Paul in their services and is the first to start covering up his transgressions as they become more rampant. 

Newcomers to Crockett Sheriff Hassan (Rahul Kohli) and his son Ali (Rahul Abburi) present a burgeoning problem to the plans of Father Paul and his shadowy companion, for they are both practicing Muslims. The practical side of investigating these so-called ‘miracles’ and strange happenings falls on Hassan’s shoulders, as he already struggles with barely-concealed racism and suspicion from his fellow islanders, and of course his son is being wooed away from him by the promise of actual, tangible miracles, but from a different whole faith and God. Father Paul definitely does not practice a traditional Christian faith and relies far too much on making use of the eucharist, the ceremony of the blood and flesh of Jesus Christ turning into bread and wine and, well, consumed. 

Wade (Michael Trucco) and his wife Dolly (Crystal Balint) are lifers of the island and both in general interested in one thing, the advancement of their own family, specifically their daughter Leeza (Annarah Cymone), who happens to be in a wheelchair. And that happens to be the canny Father Paul’s first real miracle-with-a-cost that he demonstrates to the astonishment of the parishioners, after a heartfelt and rousing sermon, Father Paul commands Leeza to rise, to stand, and to walk. And lo, she does. What parents wouldn’t wholly dedicate themselves to a cause after seeing this happen to their beloved precious daughter? The fringe benefits of healing, and power, the ones that come at a mighty, currently unnamed, cost, are simply a nice bonus. 

Joe Collie (Robert Longstreet) is the town drunk, and while his reasons for drowning his sorrows in the sauce might be understandable, absolution wears a very different face when it comes from Father Paul. While Leeza might be willing to forgive Joe, and even as Joe begins attending the newly-formed Al-Anon meetings on the island of course hosted by Father Paul, redemption might’ve been better sought from medical professionals, and not this newfound method of religious worship. 

Dr. Sarah Gunning (Annabeth Gish) is the islands’ kind of all-around medic, and this is how she and Riley’s old friend Erin (Kate Siegel), also newly returned to the island, a few months pregnant but traveling quietly alone, met when Erin comes to the Doc for obstetrics. Sarah’s older mother Mildred Gunning (Alexandra Essoe) has many medical and mental issues, and Sarah struggles in their shared home, to take care of her addled mom and balance her own life. Then Father Paul takes it upon himself to visit one of his oldest parishioners, bringing the sacred host and wine with him to give directly to Mildred, who starts looking and acting so much better under his loving care. 

The show is very much a slow slow burn, with a lot of the actual action taking place in the last two episodes. Much of the beginning and middle episodes feature two people just sitting alone, having quiet and seriously in-depth conversations about heavy subjects – grief and repentance, what happens when we die, the disasters that come as a result of addictions, how our actions’ consequences reverberate to those we love around us, faith and the foibles of man, and of course, the giving of oneself over to a higher power, for strength, and guidance, and love. 

Except, for the higher power that Father Paul brought back with him, to share with his beloved flock of Crockett Island, while it may be extremely powerful and full of what could be considered miraculous magic, everything comes at some kind of a cost. And when the Messenger of God is finally revealed to the shocked denizens of Crockett at Easter Mass, with Father Paul rapturing on about rebirth as the bloody massacre begins in earnest, it’s faith, not in any kind of God or religion, but faith in each other, that may save a few hardy souls. 

Question the wisdom of your religious leaders along with the rest of us in a fine slow-burn addition to the Flanaverse, Midnight Mass is on Netflix now! 

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Saw X: It ain’t brain surgery!

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Legendary executioner Jigsaw returns to exact revenge on a cadre of scam artists who promised him a bogus cure for his cancer! 

First off, be aware, that this is what I call an interleaved sequel, a movie set between previous films in the franchise. In this case, Saw X occurs after the events of the very first Saw film, and before Saw II. Everybody got where we are? Good! Into the madness, we dive! 

So, as we all know, John Kramer’s been diagnosed with cancer, very aggressive brain cancer, and likely doesn’t have much time left. And he’s tried everything under the sun, doing a ton of meticulous research, we’d expect nothing less from our master of the art of murder, and not one thing has worked. Yet one man from the support group for cancer sufferers, Henry (Michael Beach), offers an off-the-books supposed miracle cure, and John jumps at the chance. 

Why does this nonsense always sound too good to be true? Because it is. Deleted scenes from the first Deadpool movie already told us why traveling to Mexico for any kind of medical cure is a sublimely stupid move, but Kramer is desperate. And while he might be sick and dying, John Kramer has never been what anyone could call stupid. So the villa out in the Mexican countryside, the affable cab driver Diego (Joshua Okamoto) professes surprise at Kramer being highjacked for his good, the nervous muttering from assistant Valentina (Paulette Hernandez), the side-eyeing from little housekeep Gabriela (Renata Vaca) and her tequila, and most especially the smooth and smarming reassurances of head “doctor” Cecilia Pederson (Synnove Macody Lund), all leave a kind of sour taste in John’s mouth. 

The whole cluex4 scene is done in the style that the Saw films are known for, where we the audience are treated to cut-together explanatory scenes in a flip-flash fashion of usually about two minutes, for poor John when he realizes he’s been hoodwinked and just how badly, seems a little contrived. But then it’s entirely possible that we the audience truly expected our genius mastermind of the infamous Jigsaw murders to have realized what was happening sooner, and got enraged along with Kramer. And cheered as he prepared to take his bloody and ultra-violent revenge! 

First up in our grand guignol of executions is the return of Jigsaw’s first protégé, Amanda (Shawnee Smith). And despite her avowed reverence for Jigsaw and his proven “therapy”, Amanda does waver a bit when the scammers are put through the paces of their specially-made Saw traps, and they shriek and blubber and bleed out. The appearance of the ringer of the bunch, Parker (Steven Brand), doesn’t even slow our beloved engineer of the damned down, because we knew Jigsaw would have his other apprentice waiting just off stage, the deliciously vicious Detective Hoffman (Costas Mandylor). Even the monkeywrench of involving little-boy soccer fan Carlos (Jorge Briseno) in the traps, is just another cog in the machine that is the brilliantly plotting mind of John Kramer. 

A fine addition to the Saw legends, showcasing a return to the beloved style and panache of the original Tobin Bell-starring Jigsaw films, Saw X is splashing gore and gallons of blood in theaters now! 

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Scott Pilgrim Takes Off

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“Scott Pilgrim Takes Off,” Netflix’s latest series, is a rollicking journey through the world of video game culture, blending nostalgic references with a fresh narrative twist. Centered around Scott Pilgrim, portrayed with magnetic charisma by Michael Cera, the show skillfully integrates gaming elements into its storytelling, creating a delightful homage to the video game subculture.

The series cleverly employs pixelated graphics, power-up animations, and game-like sound effects to bring the virtual world to life. These visual cues, reminiscent of classic video games, enhance the storytelling and resonate with audiences familiar with the gaming landscape. The attention to detail in recreating iconic gaming moments is commendable, creating a visual and auditory treat for enthusiasts.

The exploration of video game culture goes beyond mere aesthetics; it becomes an integral part of the characters’ identities and interactions. The script intelligently weaves gaming terminology and tropes into the dialogue, effectively blending the real and virtual worlds. The series navigates the challenges and triumphs of the characters through the lens of gaming, making it a unique and engaging experience for both gamers and general audiences.

The ensemble cast, including standout performances from Mary Elizabeth Winstead, Ellen Wong, and Chris Evans embraces the gaming theme with infectious enthusiasm. The chemistry between the characters is palpable, adding emotional depth to the series.

“Scott Pilgrim Takes Off” successfully taps into the zeitgeist of video game culture, offering a nostalgic yet contemporary take on the gaming phenomenon. It’s a must-watch for those who cherish the pixelated roots of the gaming world while providing an accessible and entertaining narrative for a broader audience. The series takes off not only in its title but also in its ability to soar within the ever-expanding realm of Netflix originals.

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