Star Trek Into Mediocrity

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UPDATE: Producer/screenwriter Damon Lindelof has come out and admitted that the Alice Eve lingerie scene was gratuitous. We didn’t get a “sorry,” but I suppose this is the best we could’ve hoped for.

I know this one is super-hyped, so I will completely refrain from spoilers of any kind. Now, you have to understand what that means: I will reveal absolutely nothing specific (beyond that which is revealed in the previews), but will not refrain from mentioning things which are intuitively obvious, both for a Star Trek movie and a modern summer blockbuster. You will know nothing more than you do now about the story by review’s end, and yet some might still complain about me saying things that, truthfully, you already know.

Let’s get to it past the jump.

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Scenes You Didn’t Know Were Tight #4

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Remember this series? Hell yeah, it’s back. Highlighting great scenes from movies that were largely otherwise. Let’s get right to it.

This volume, I’m going to focus on The Hunger Games. While by no means a bad movie (despite some negative opinions you may have heard on the show), the second half of the film (which is the battle itself, really) mostly fell apart.

However, the beginning of the battle is a sequence of amazing quality. Not only does it grasp and put on full display the horror of being in such a situation, but it’s artful use of bravura sound editing and absolutely perfect music bring it to a whole other level. The music is almost Argento-like in several spots. No matter how you feel about the rest of the movie, this scene is a beautiful triumph.

For those who didn’t see the movie or simply don’t remember: this clip starts with a POV shot from Katniss’ (our heroine) eyes as she rises up “the tube” into the arena. I also apologize for the quality- it’s not very good. And ideally, I’d include the scene directly before this, too, with Lenny Kravitz comforting a wonderfully terrified-looking Jennifer Lawrence. FYI: Hunger Games is on Netflix, so go there for the perfect experience.

Here it is:

Guilty Pleasures: Tron Legacy

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In an effort to pump the site with fresh content on a more timely basis, I’ve got several ideas for articles, videos, and other projects, some of which will be standalone entries while others will be series. Like this one.

Everybody has guilty pleasure movies: films you know aren’t actually all that great, are plagued with various issues, or maybe even just flat out embarrassing to admit that you enjoy. Whatever the reason, movies like these get unjustly ignored and pushed out of focus. This series will highlight those films, and hopefully even get you to give them a chance yourself- either for the first time, or again if you didn’t like them.

So, to start us off, I thought I’d go with Tron: Legacy, a movie that many people saw but few actually enjoyed. Read my thoughts past the jump.

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Summer Movie Preview ’13

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I did this last fall, but I thought I’d change things up a bit this time. Instead of offering a selfish, only-what-I-want-to-see overview, I’ll go wide- If you’re human and you like going to see movies, then there will be at least one thing on this list that will scratch you where you itch.

It’s very comprehensive, wait until you see. This is the only thing you’ll need to read if you’re interested in getting a peak at what’s to come. Every big release is listed, and a few smaller, interesting ones, too.

Let’s get to it, then.

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The Place Beyond Excess

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I got a bit carried away with the ‘Spring Breakers’ review, I know. This time I’ll be far more concise, I promise. Past the jump is my review for ‘The Place Beyond the Pines.’ It’s spoiler-free, so have no fears on that count.

PS: after all I say is read, I’d still like to see this again. I’ll go somehow no matter what, I think, but let me know if you’d like to join. It stays with you.

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Episode 61: We’re Still Here!

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Ain’t no April Fools Day bullshit here, we are UP.

The show still lives on, fear not. We got together and punched out an extended, 3-hour show for anyone who’s cool enough to listen.

The newsroom came first, where GPC detailed BB10 and CES 2013, among other things. Then we discussed some of the better stories from the celebrity world in the past few months, including Adele slamming Chris Brown in front of thousands of their peers. Next, we reviewed both Dead Space 3 and Resident Evil 6, the latter of which is easily one of the worst games of all time. Our last segment is a bit of a grab bag, but centers loosely around updating everyone as to what’s been going on with the show lately.

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Playlist:

  1. Ces Cru (Ft. Tech N9ne): Juice
  2. Future (Ft. Drake): Fo Real
  3. Kid Ink (Ft. Meek Mill & Wale): Badass
  4. K. Roosevelt (Ft. Hit-Boy): Do Me Now
  5. A$AP Rocky (Ft. Santigold): Hell
  6. Rakim: Bring It On
  7. A$AP Rocky (Ft. Florence Welch): I Come Apart
  8. Ludacris (Ft. Pusha T, Future, & Swizz Beatz): What The Mad For
  9. Scaff Beezy: High Beams
  10. Lil Wayne: La La La

Spring Broke

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Having just seen ‘Spring Breakers,’ I feel the need to punch out a review right away, before things start getting foggy (and believe me, that will happen extremely quickly). Not to mention that this site’s level of new content is somewhere down in the Mariana Trench, but that’s another matter altogether- let’s get to the review.

It went a bit longer than I figured it would, but not by far.

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Episode 60: 2013 Unchained

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Welcome to the new year, 2013, as seen by Spiny Shell Radio.

This week, DJE and GPC are joined by Jake and Andy as we recap our New Years Eve celebrations. In addition, we’re also proud to bring back the OG version of the Newsroom, condensed down into one segment. After that, DJE and GPC review (spoiler-free) Quentin Tarantino’s new movie ‘Django Unchained,’ followed by GPC’s top ten films of 2012 (condensed down into just a couple minutes- read the real thing here). Lastly, we discuss our various resolutions for the new year.

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Playlist:

  1. The Party Anthem (Timbaland Ft. Lil Wayne, Missy Elliot, & T-Pain)
  2. Jesus Piece (Game Ft. Kanye West & Common)
  3. All the Time (Mac Miller Ft. Ab-Soul)
  4. Gangster Bitch (Mike Will Made It Ft. Young Jeezy)
  5. 1 Train (A$AP Rocky Ft. Kendrick Lamar, Joey Bada$$, Yelawolf, Danny Brown, Action Bronson, & Big K.R.I.T.)
  6. Major Distribution (50 Cent Ft. Snoop Dogg & Young Jeezy)
  7. Doodling in the Key of C Sharp (Mac Miller)
  8. Wiseman (Frank Ocean)
  9. Cookies & Pounds (Wiz Khalifa Ft. Chevy Woods & Berner)
  10. 2012 (J. Cole)

Episode 59: Christmas ’12

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It’s Christmas once again! Or at least it was when this show was first broadcast. But never mind that, let’s get to it.

In our yearly Christmas special, DJE and GPC both imbibe Bailey’s and other holiday treats heavily as we review what happened at GPC’s annual holiday open house. As has happened every year, hilarity ensued. We also sneak in a review of ‘The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey,’ which we had the (dis)pleasure of seeing in HFR (aka 48fps). Catch all this and more as we play Christmas music throughout- don’t sleep.

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Playlist:

  1. Last Christmas (Wham!)
  2. White Christmas (Bing Crosby)
  3. Santa Baby (Smooth Jazz All Stars)
  4. Wonderful Christmastime (Paul McCartney)
  5. God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen (Barenaked Ladies & Sarah McLachlan)
  6. Happy Xmas (War Is Over) [John Lennon]
  7. Christmas Memories (Frank Sinatra)
  8. Christmas Tears (Freddy King)
  9. Merry Christmas Baby (Ray Charles)
  10. The Christmas Song (Nat King Cole)

Episode 58: Holiday In Hershey

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What’s up everyone? This is the first of three episodes that are going to be posted this evening. It may have taken me forever to get these up, but look on the bright side: now you get over 6 new hours of silliness all at once.

This time, we broadcast live from Hershey, PA, on December 14th. We go over new developments in the world, talk about how awesome Hershey is and what we’ve been doing there, and listen to The Peddlers’ amazing oldie “On a Clear Day.” Shocker, GPC had to be the one to introduce everyone to this silly song. And, as this show takes place during the last few weeks of the year, our playlist is made up entirely of songs we loved from throughout 2012.

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Playlist:

  1. Amen (Meek Mill)
  2. Till I Die (Chris Brown Ft. Wiz Khalifa & Big Sean)
  3. Rip (Childish Gambino Ft. Bun B)
  4. Ridin’ (A$AP Rocky Ft. Lana Del Rey)
  5. La Bonita (MellowHype)
  6. 24K Of Gold (Big Sean Ft. J Cole)
  7. No Sleep (Jet Life Ft. Curren$y, Trademark Da Skydiver, & Young Roddy)
  8. Option (Hit-Boy)
  9. Medicine Man (Fashawn Ft. Wiz Khalifa)
  10. Make My (The Roots Ft. Big K.R.I.T. & Dice Raw)