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Tag: Transformers

Posts related to the popular cartoon and movie series, Transformers.

Awesome Barbecue. Awesome Pool.

Awesome Barbecue. Awesome Pool.

LAST WEEK, PART 2: This week, our hosts return to what they rambled about last week. After watching the Netflix show, Heartstopper, Andrew checked out the original comics and was surprised at how closely the show sticks to them. D. Bethel checks out episodes 2 and 3 of Adult Swim’s Uzumaki and develops theories as to the significant shifts in animation quality throughout the episode. Then, Andrew returns to talk about something new: the Backerkit campaign for the classic tabletop RPG, Ars Magica, and how it’s promising to release this new edition in the Creative Commons.

THE TOUCH: D. Bethel also briefly discusses Transformers One, the newest fully animated Transformers movie since 1986’s The Transformers: The Movie.

TOPICS:

(00:00) Intro – Plans for Spookytober
(02:43) Andrew reads the Heartstopper comics
(12:08) D. Bethel watches episodes 2 & 3 of Uzumaki
(21:18) Andrew talks about the Ars Magica Backerkit campaign
(33:01) Outro – Transformers One is good!
(35:20) Outtakes

RELEVANT LINKS:

RELEVANT EPISODES:

  • Extra Obnoxious Protocol” (29 September 2023): Where our hosts discuss writer Bill Willingham’s decision to put his DC Comics-published creator-owned comic, Fables, into the public domain.
  • Meander in Geek” (11 October 2024): Where our hosts first talked about Heartstoppers and Uzumaki.

INFO:

FEATURED MUSIC:

Don’t Pull Out Your Deck

Don’t Pull Out Your Deck

ANDY’S STEAM DECK ADVENTURES: Andrew shares what it was like to actually take his handheld PC-device on the road (and what games he’s been playing).

BOMBING THE BOX OFFICE: This summer has been marked with a series of movies that had really big budgets and very low returns, and it’s a trend that seems to only be continuing. Our hosts talk through possible causes and possible futures of this distressing trajectory.

RELEVANT LINKS:

RELEVANT EPISODES:

  • Space Man From Pluto” (30 June 2023): Where our hosts talk about studios’ use of AI as well as the financial struggles of streaming services.

INFO:

FEATURED MUSIC:

Space Man From Pluto

Space Man From Pluto

SECRET INVASION…OF A.I.: Marvel seems to have hamstrung the release of its new Disney+ series, Secret Invasion, when viewers quickly noticed the apparent artlessness of the show’s opening credits and that they seemed to have used A.I. engines to create it instead of, you know, any of the artists it employs.

STIFLED PRODIGY: Paramount+ has been on a Star Trek kick for the last few years, but all might not be as rosy at it seems. Not only has it cancelled the all-ages-aimed animated series, Star Trek: Prodigy, it has also removed all the episodes from their proprietary streaming serviceā€“ā€“even though season 2 is wrapping production.

A BEAST OF A SURPRISE: D. Bethel takes a moment to discuss Transformers: Rise of the Beasts and how it pleasantly surprises in terms of actually being a good Transformers movie (who knew?).

RELEVANT LINKS:

INFO:

FEATURED MUSIC:

  • “Unicron Medley” by Vince DiCola
Kinda Sorta

Kinda Sorta

CLIP SHOW VACATION: Our hosts are taking a week to enjoy the summer (well, one of our hosts is traveling, so they couldn’t get together), but they recorded a quick “hello” as well as a bunch of previously unreleased outtakes/pre-show conversations (most from around 2016) to the end to give you some content in the interim.

See you next week!

INFO:

FEATURED MUSIC:

Drive Your Gorilla

Drive Your Gorilla

CONFIRMATION BIAS: Abandoned is an upcoming Playstation 5-exclusive game made by the small Netherlands-based team, Blue Box Game Studios. After the game’s director made an enigmatic tweet, the internet exploded with conspiracy theories, asserting that the game and its trailers were nothing more than clues that this was not a stand-alone survival horror game but was actually a Silent Hill sequel. More than that, people have asserted that it’s a Silent Hill sequel directed by Hideo Kojima, despite the fact that the studio has gone to great lengths to assure fans that it is not. Andrew and Dan discuss the conspiracy and how it got wrapped up in the darker parts of nerd culture, internet culture, and the complicated edges of fandom.

RELEVANT EPISODES:

  • Shortcast 57 – Fair Point, Dude” (01 June 2018): Where D. Bethel talks about the Super Nt, a Super NES clone made by Analogue.
  • For Great Justice” (19 February 2021): Where Andrew & D. Bethel discuss the video game, Six Days in Fallujah, and the discourse around tweets made by developer Rami Ismail.
  • I Am the State” (26 February 2021): Where our hosts discuss Nintendo’s continued neglect of the Metroid franchise.
  • Films in Quarries” (18 June 2021): Where D. Bethel gets excited at the announcement of Metroid: Dread.

RELEVANT LINKS:

INFO:

FEATURED MUSIC:

Butt Magic

Butt Magic

WEEK IN GEEK: Andrew lives in bliss during CBS All Access’ 23 weeks of Star Trek, especially as the premiere season of their comedy-drama animated show, Star Trek: The Lower Decks, comes to a close, while D. Bethel lives vicariously through hopeful survivalists in reruns of the History Channel reality show, Alone.

RELEVANT LINKS:

  • Goodwin, Jazmin and Charles Riley. “Regal and Cineworld Cinemas Are Shutting Down Across the US and UK.” CNN, 05 October 2020.
  • Star Trek: Prodigy

RELEVANT EPISODES:

  • News Cruise” (07 August 2020): Where Andrew discusses his excitement for Star Trek: The Lower Decks.
  • U3DS” (02 October 2020): Where D. Bethel discusses his love for the European comic, Blacksad.

INFO:

FEATURED MUSIC:

11 January 2019 – Close the Loop

11 January 2019 – Close the Loop

Image sources: Netflix (top), Paramount (bottom)

WEEK IN GEEK: Andrew…watches? plays?…the Black Mirror interactive movie (episode?), Bandersnatch, while D. Bethel gets sentimental about Transformers again after watching Bumblebee.

RELEVANT EPISODES:

LINKS:

INFO:

For all intents and purposes, that was an episode recap.

FEATURED MUSIC:

-“Disco Medusae” by Kevin McLeod (incompetech.com)*
-“District Four” by Kevin McLeod (incompetech.com)*
*Tracks are licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/

Shortcast 61 – All-New, All-Same

Shortcast 61 – All-New, All-Same

OBI-WAN KE-NOPE-Y: It was made known that Lucasfilm has put its anthology series, subtitled A Star Wars Story, on hold after the lower box office of The Last Jedi and, most recently, Solo. While the cause hasn’t been confirmed, there are a few factors to look at, one of which could be the box office performance of these films. Another, more sinister, reason has to do with the cultural backlash to Rogue One, The Last Jedi, and Solo. A segment on the internet is convinced that Lucasfilm has a political agenda it wants to push and it’s using the Star Wars series to do so. These dissenters have responded in a few interesting ways: some have banded together and made an official decree to “destroy” Lucasfilm, others have started a crowdfunding/social media campaign in order to remake The Last Jedi. Either way, it’s a complicated issue that Andrew and D. Bethel try to find the knots of.

WORKS CITED/REFERENCED:

INFO:

For all intents and purposes, that was an episode recap.

FEATURED MUSIC:

-“District Four” by Kevin McLeod (incompetech.com)*
-“Disco Medusae” by Kevin McLeod (incompetech.com)*
*Tracks are licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/

Shortcast 56 – Accidental Artistry

Shortcast 56 – Accidental Artistry

THUNDERCATTY: Cartoon Network announced it was working on a new ThunderCats show, titled ThunderCats Roar, which looks and sounds quite a bit different from the ThunderCats from 1985. It got a lot of people upset and they let the internet know the depths of their disdain for the new look. Andrew and D. look at reboots (again), nostalgia, and the sense of ownership and entitlement a lot of fans have over these fan-favorite properties.

WORKS CITED:

INFO:

For all intents and purposes, that was an episode recap.

FEATURED MUSIC:

-“District Four” by Kevin McLeod (incompetech.com)*
-“Disco Medusae” by Kevin McLeod (incompetech.com)*
*Tracks are licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/

Shortcast 26 – It’s Fun to Do Less

Shortcast 26 – It’s Fun to Do Less

WEEK IN GEEK: Andrew spends some time with the Marvel vs. Capcom: Infinite Story Demo while Dan gets conflicted watching Transformers: The Last Knight.

WORKS CITED:

LINKS:

For all intents and purposes, that was an episode recap.

FEATURED MUSIC:

-“Thunder Busters” by Wax Audio