Nu-Ray: The Campaign, Safety Not Guaranteed, Rosemary's Baby

Hey you there stop downloading those movies and check these new releases out in Nu-Ray. This week we have a comedy perfect for these pre-election days, an indie flick about a possible time traveler, and a deluxe release of one of the most iconic horror films ever just in time for Halloween. Plus you might get a little extra selection if you stick around until the end.

First up, funnymen Will Farrell & Zach Galifianakis star as two inept congressional candidates in The Campaign. In order to gain influence over their North Carolina district, two CEOs seize an opportunity to oust long-term congressman Cam Brady(Farrell) by putting up a rival candidate. Their man: naive Marty Huggins(Galifianakis), director of the local Tourism Center. Everything quickly gets out of hand with mud-slinging, back-stabbing, and home-wrecking. This film has it's moments with big laughs coming from both leads. As a character piece it works but the film feels like a sequence of skits with a very loose story trying to tie them together. Still if you're a fan of either of these guys I say check it out. Special features on the Blu-ray include: Extended Cut of the film, Line-o-Rama, Deleted Scenes, and Gag Reel. In my opinion this would be a Rent.

Next up is sleeper indie flick from this summer Safety Not Guaranteed. Starring Aubrey Plaza(Parks & Rec), Jake Johnson(New Girl), & Mark Duplass(The League) Safety centers around three magazine employees that head out on an assignment to interview a guy who placed a classified ad seeking a companion for time travel. Both critics and audiences loved this film but it never gained a wide release so this will be the first time many of us will get to see the film. I love all three lead actors in their respective shows so I'm excited to see how they come across together in this film from the producers of Little Miss Sunshine. Bonus features include: A Movie Making Mission Featurette, The Ad Behind the Movie Featurette, Time Capsule-Easter Egg. I would love to say this is a definite buy but the few special features might push this towards a Rent first and if you really love this film then you might want to own it.

If you looking for a perfect movie to watch this Halloween you've got it with our next Blu-ray Rosemary's Baby (The Criterion Collection). The Hollywood debut of infamous director Roman Polanski and starring Mia Farrow and John Cassavetes Rosemary's Baby is one of the most well-known horror/suspense movies ever made. A young couple move into a new apartment, only to be surrounded by peculiar neighbors and occurrences. When the wife becomes mysteriously pregnant, paranoia over the safety of her unborn child begins controlling her life. You all know the rest of story and if you have never seen this movie; what are you waiting for? This being a Criterion release you know the special features will be plentiful and in-depth, they include: New high-definition digital restoration, approved by director Roman Polanski, with uncompressed monaural soundtrack on the Blu-ray edition, New interviews with Polanski, actor Mia Farrow, and producer Robert Evans, Komeda, Komeda: A feature-length documentary on the life and work of jazz musician and composer Krzysztof Komeda, who wrote the score for Rosemary’s Baby, 1997 radio interview with author Ira Levin from Leonard Lopate’s WNYC program New York and Company on the 1967 novel, the sequel, and the film, PLUS: A booklet featuring an essay by critic Ed Park and Levin’s afterword for the 2003 New American Library edition of his novel, in which he discusses its and the film’s origins. Listen this is a definite Own for any movie fan and would make a great addition to anyone's collection.

Now for a bonus pick this week. For those of you who have the extra cash to spend and are serious cinefiles I give you Alfred Hitchcock: The Masterpiece Collection (Limited Edition). This year is the 90th anniversary of Hitchcock's first film Number 13 and Hollywood has taken notice with two Hitchcock biopics currently on the landscape. No doubt this collection will be taking up space on every true fan's bookshelf. This 15 disc collection contains 15 of the master directors classic films: Saboteur(1942), Shadow of a Doubt(1943), Rope(1948), Rear Window(1954), The Trouble with Harry(1955), The Man Who Knew Too Much(1956), Vertigo(1958), North by Northwest(1959), Psycho(1960), The Birds(1963), Marnie(1964), Torn Curtain(1966), Topaz(1969), Frenzy(1972), Family Plot(1976). Each movie has special features with the more seminal films loaded to the brim with them. Again if you have the cash it's a for sure Own.

So that's it for this week let me know what you all are planning to get this Tuesday by commenting below. And as always Like the official The Final Level page on Facebook and follow us @TFLChicago on Twitter.

Now Dim the Lights and Pass the Popcorn.

Surprise: New Live-Action 'Black Ops' Trailer.

With the release of Call of Duty: Black Ops II fast approaching, Nov. 13th, comes the release of the latest game trailer. Ok so its not really a game trailer than a live-action commercial mostly to promote the games multi-player feature. This is not the first time Treyarch, the games developer, has gone live-action though. You might remember previous Call of Duty commercials featuring Jimmy Kimmel, Sam Worthington, Jonah Hill, & Kobe Bryant. This time around they went bigger starting with the commercial's director Guy Ritchie(Snatch, Sherlock Holmes) and starring actors Jack Black, Omar Sy, web/gaming celebrities FPS Russia & iJustine, and quite possibly the biggest movie star of late Robert Downey Jr.. "Surprise" is the title of the commercial and features all the guys surprising each other with bigger and better weapons. Most people who play COD will recognize these things, like gunships and drone strikes, as the rewards you get in the multi-player for achieving different kill streaks. This latest Black Ops game is predicted to be the biggest video game release ever by industry insiders. Enjoy and let us know here at The Final Level what you think by commenting below. And as always Like the official The Final Level page on Facebook and follow us @TFLChicago on Twitter.

SURPRISE!



SURPRISE!

Joss Whedon for Mitt Romney?

Yes you heard that right the beloved nerd writer and director Joss Whedon is throwing his support behind the Republican candidate for president Mitt Romney. Why you may ask? Now that he has become beyond super successful with The Avengers has he switched his party affiliation? No. His support for Romney is purely based on ration political viewpoints. He firmly believes that Mitt will finally be able to do what Obama was never able to accomplish in his four years in office...and that is hasten the Zombie Apocalypse. Yes Joss is voting for Mitt this November because all the proposed Romney changes "guarantee poverty, unemployment, overpopulation, disease, rioting—all crucial elements in creating a nightmare zombie wasteland.". So remember, on this election day vote for Romney and then immediately start hoarding canned goods and stockpiling guns & ammo.

Zomney for President

Watching Dead: Episode 3 - 'Walk With Me'

***Yes this does contain spoilers, its a freakin' recap***

Come on and give your old pal Merle a big hug. Yes players Merle, everyone's favorite crazy redneck racist brother from season one, is back in a big bad way and he's got friends...and that's just the tip of the iceberg. Welcome back to Watching Dead the weekly segment where we here at The Final Level take a look at the most recent episode of The Walking Dead and not only give you a recap but hopefully try to give a little insight to what you just saw as well. This week we have the third episode of season 3 featuring the introduction this seasons "villain" The Governor as well as the return of the incomparable Michael Rooker as Merle Dixon. So let's get into it shall we and take a stroll down zombie lane with this week's episode, Walk With Me.

A helicopter crashes and Michonne & Andrea are quick to explore. They are interrupted by the arrival of another group of survivors. Outnumbered they decide to take cover in the bushes and see if this new group is friendly. The new people get out of their trucks and we get the first glimpse of The Governor played by David Morrissey. His group quickly starts taking out encroaching walkers and helping the injured helicopter pilot. Andrea, still very sick, and Michonne are thinking about making themselves known to the strangers as Michonne's zombie 'tag-alongs' become restless. Michonne quickly dispatches with both of them and they seem to go unnoticed until they are surprised from behind by none other than good 'ol Merle telling them to lay down their weapons. Andrea passes out. Andrea comes to a little on the ride back to The Governor's camp but when she fully awakes she is in an infirmary being taken care of with Michonne watching over her (plus a couple of armed guards). The Gov comes in and assures them they are not prisoners and are free to go as soon as it is light out, Michonne seems distrustful. The Gov meets with a scientist who seems to be experimenting on walkers and making special tea. They talk about what Michonne did to her walkers and how that could be useful. The Governor and the scientist have breakfast with the ladies and explains how his town, Woodbury, is kept safe, Michonne seems distrustful. The injured pilot awakes and The Gov coaxes the position of his unit out of him. Michonne and Andrea walk around town talking, Andrea seems to think that this would be a nice place to stay and of course, MICHONNE SEEMS DISTRUSTFUL! The Gov finds the stranded military unit and ambushes them with his fighters, there are no survivors. They take all the guns, vehicles, and supplies and head back to Woodbury. When the arrive back home The Gov gives a speech about how the military unit was overrun by zombies before they got there so they took their supplies and should honor their memories by using the supplies wisely and living. The entire community seems greatful and Andrea thanks The Gov for everything and even has a "moment" with him and finally Michonne cracks a smile...oh wait no she doesn't she seems DISTRUSTFUL! Later that night we see The Gov get out of bed and head to a locked room in his house. He settles into a large armchair with a drink and looks forward. We spin around to see what he's looking at and there it is, a wall of aquariums filled with floating decapitated zombie heads, and at the top is the head of the helicopter pilot...fade to black, the end.

The one word I would use to describe this episode is Secrets. Everybody is keeping secrets, The Governor obviously is keeping secrets from everyone. I would find it hard to believe that if anyone there knows exactly everything he is up to. The conversation at the end with Andrea where he refuses to tell her his real name just goes to show how secretive he is. Then there is Michonne's secret. She gets very upset when she is questioned about her relationship to her "pets" that she had to kill (for all you comic readers out there...we know who they are). The other big event in this episode is the 'Return of Merle'. Now with a new knife hand he seems to have become a valued member of The Gov's inner circle. He does seem to have mellowed a little, at least to Andrea, that he even gets a thank you out of her. He does seem to have an ulterior motive for all the questions he asks about his brother and the other survivors though. The one thing I did find a little annoying/weird was Michonne's attitude. Her constant distrust for the person who helped her friend and brought them some place safe seems out of place. We all know The Gov is not a good guy and has some nefarious plans but to her he should seems like a pretty good dude. Now she doesn't have to have a blind faith in him, she can be slightly leery, but her vehement distrust seems a little out of place. I would have liked it a little better if her distrust was built over some time but I guess that's what we have Andrea for. Overall this was a great episode and I think will stand out among this season, if not the entire season. And just a bit of trivia this is the first episode of The Walking Dead to not have Rick featured at all. Well until next week keep your blades sharp and your shotgun loaded.

Best Walker Moment: The helicopter passenger that was completely cut in half with intestines spilled out everywhere. And yes it counts because he comes back as a walker for a few seconds before The Governor puts a knife in his head.

R.I.P. G4 2005-2012

While the network itself is not going away, at the end of the year it will be undergoing a complete re-branding. Yes the network built on video games and comics will be stepping away from nerd culture all together and heading in a more GQ fashionable male direction. This move is solidified in the cancelling of the two anchor shows for G4 X-Play and Attack of the Show! which will end their runs at the end of this year. This may come as little shock to the more devout viewers of the network as over the past year or so we have seen the exit of the two main personalities of those shows and the network itself, Adam Sessler(X-Play) and Kevin Pereira(AOTS).

X-Play debuted in 2003 on Tech TV and came to G4 when those two networks merged in 2005. Hosted by Adam Sessler and Morgan Webb, and Blair Herter since the departure of Sessler, X-Play was a highly respected video game review show and was the place to turn for first look game trailers and exclusive industry interviews. Attack of the Show!, or AOTS, debuted in 2005 as a daily news show that revolved around nerd culture. It encompassed everything from from movies, to comics, to the latest internet trends. Originally hosted by Kevin Pereiera, Kevin Rose, and Sarah Lane AOTS was an off shoot of the Tech TV show The Screen Savers which the three had previously hosted before the G4/Tech TV merger. Within a year both Lane and Rose had left the show and in 2006 new host, Olivia Munn, was brought in to co-host. Munn departed in 2010 and Candace Bailey was given the current co-host spot. Since Pereira left in August Bailey has been given a string of special guests to co-host with and that trend will continue until the shows end. Some upcoming guest hosts will include John Barrowman, Michael Ian Black, Josh Myers, Paul Scheer, Rob Huebel, & Horatio Sanz. Both shows have logged over 1000 episodes each and will be running retrospectives and re-living some of their classic moments until their series finales.

This marks and end of an era in geek culture. These two shows were not only popular amongst their fans but important news sources as well. With the current rise in popularity of geek/nerd culture these two shows had a finger on the pulse of an ever growing community and with their on-the-floor coverage of major conventions like E3 and San Diego Comic-Con were often the first place to hear breaking news in gaming, comics, and movies. It seems weird to me that with the current trend in movies and TV that G4 is going away from the whole nerd culture movement. I'm sad to see these shows go as they are both unique and offered a fresh blend of comedy and news. I will forever be in the debt of AOTS for introducing me to Chris Hardwick a.k.a. The Nerdist, because without him I would not be doing what I'm doing. So I say a fond and tear stained farewell to G4 and can only hope that all those wonderful people who work on X-Play & AOTS go on to bigger and brighter things.

Let me know what you think of the whole G4 re-branding by commenting below. And as always Like the official The Final Level page on Facebook and follow us @TFLChicago on Twitter.

Candace Bailey, Morgan Webb, Matt Mira, Blair Butler, Blair Herter, Sara Jean Underwood, & all the rest, May You Live Long and Prosper

First Look: Iron Man 3

Just a couple days ago we got our first glimpse of next summer's upcoming blockbuster Iron Man 3, and while I don't know exactly where I stand on teasers for trailers it did look pretty awesome. Now, today, Marvel has released the full trailer and let me tell you...It Looks Amazing! Yes it goes to reason that anything Marvel puts out these days is awesome but I still get a little scared before every film comes out. I think I am still waiting for misstep, and IM3 made me nervous because of the change of director from Jon Favreau to Shane Black. While I do have some slight problems with what I saw and heard overall I think this movie is going to kick-ass. The Iron Patriot armor looks as cool as ever and little peek into the relationship between Pepper & Tony sets a definite tone for what the movie will probably be. The only thing I wasn't enthralled with was The Mandarin. I was disappointed that the great Sir Ben Kingsley is for some reason speaking in some weird American accent. Also I was hoping that they would down play the whole Mandarin outfit but it looks pretty close to the comics complete with all ten rings. Well have a look for yourselves and let me know what you think by commenting below. And as always Like the official The Final Level page on Facebook and follow us @TFLChicago on Twitter.

Now where do I get my Iron Man suit polished

Nu-Ray: AL:VH, Magic Mike, Blade Runner

Tuesday is here and with it it brings a so many movies to choose from, thank goodness for Nu-Ray. We're here to help you navigate through some of the new movies out on Blu-ray. This week we take a look at the secret past of one of America's greatest leaders, a magical man that takes off his clothes, & a re-release of probably the most re-released movie in sci-fi history.

First up we have Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter. Based on the book by Seth Grahame-Smith(Pride & Prejudice & Zombies) AL:VH re-imagines the life of America's greatest leader from a young vampire hunter to the 16th president trying to keep this country together as vampires back The Confederacy and try to destroy this great nation. Directed by Timur Bekmambetov(Wanted) and starring Benjamin Walker & Mary Elizabeth Winstead this film ended up being a box office and critical under-performer but I did enjoy this film and thought it was a fun action movie (I will re-post my original film review from TLA). Special features on this Blu-ray include: The Making of AL:VH, commentary by Grahame-Smith, Linkin Park music video, & The Great Calamity graphic novel, plus digital and Ultraviolet copies.

Next we look at the latest from acclaimed director Steven Soderbergh(Traffic), Magic Mike. Starring Channing Tatum & Matthew McConaughey and loosely based on Tatum's life before acting, Magic Mike is the story of a young male stripper who is taken under the wing of an older stripper and shown the ropes of the business and life. Soderbergh was set to retire from film making until he came across this script. This movie was actually well received by critics with the acting being a real bright spot of the film. Special features on this Blu-ray include: Deleted scenes, Backstage on Magic Mike, & The Moves of Magic Mike, plus digital and Ultraviolet copies.

Lastly this week we have a long awaited Blu-ray release for every fanboy out there,
Blade Runner: The 30th Anniversary Edition. OK if you're reading this you know the story and you also know that every few years a new version of this film comes out with added or deleted scenes. Well this collectors edition is going to basically have all those cuts plus too many features to list one-by-one but some extras are: "Final Cut" feature on Blu-ray and DVD, Three additional feature versions on one disc, seamlessly branched, All new bonus content disc featuring the existing EC from the UCE plus, Photo Gallery with 1,000+ new images, "Dangerous Days" documentary, The Work Print feature version, Over 6 featurettes, Commentaries & much more, plus digital and Ultraviolet copies. Also with the very special collectors edition you get a mini Police Spinner.

Well that's all for this week let me know what you're planning to pick up this week by commenting below and join us again next Tuesday and everyday for all the late breaking nerd news. And as always please Like the official The Final Level page at Facebook.com/thefinallevelchicago, +1 us on Google+, and follow us at @TFLChicago on Twitter.

Now Dim the Lights and Pass the Popcorn.