Netflix july new releases: what to watch

Netflix July New Releases: What To Watch

Netflix, the glorious source of all of our joy and entertainment, continues to add more shows and movies than we could ever hope to watch in just one lifetime.  This month is no different.  July promises everything from guilty pleasures to cult classics critical masterpieces.  Some nerdy highlights this month include two more Star Trek…

Cartoons and female characters: where are the animated shows for girls?

Cartoons and Female Characters: Where Are the Animated Shows for Girls?

Cartoons are universal. We all watched them growing up: rich or poor, liberal or conservative, boy or girl. However, the latter seems to have lost its way somewhat recently. Over the last decade or so, the number of animated shows aimed at girls has dropped off significantly, and even more so the number of cartoons…

‘legend of korra’ recap of s3 e1, e2, and e3

‘Legend of Korra’ Recap of S3 E1, E2, and E3

I recently expressed my lack of faith in the Legend of Korra season 3 based on the trailer. That doesn’t mean I’ll stop watching it. Quite the opposite. I awaited the premiere even more anxiously because I wasn’t sure if my fears would come true. As it turns out, nearly all of my fears were…

Amazon’s new fire phone: will it crash and burn?

Amazon’s New Fire Phone: Will it Crash and Burn?

Before I talk about Amazon’s recent venture into the mobile phone industry, I’d like to be the first to announce Geek Insider’s new product, the Geek Phone.  It looks like an iPhone and works like an iPhone because no one can come up with a better design than rectangle.  It will have weird Geek Insider…

New korra trailer promises new faces and old flaws

New Korra Trailer Promises New Faces and Old Flaws

The Legend of Korra is a hard show to love.  Not because the show is bad.  Far from it. Korra is incredibly fun to watch with its fast-paced action, gorgeous animation, engrossing world, and huge cast of fun characters.  Korra is hard to love because it’s so misguided.  You can see the creators going down…

Kill la kill and the male gaze: fanservice vs. Feminism

Kill la Kill and the Male Gaze: Fanservice vs. Feminism

Anime has long been criticized as being a tad misogynistic.  Most of it is aimed at the male otaku demographic and as such is full of scantily clad women flashing their underwear for a voyeuristic audience’s benefit.  Sexual humor is common even in anime meant for children with Brock in Pokémon and Master Roshi in…

Nostalgia goggles: the top 10 most recognizable goggles in fandom

Nostalgia Goggles: The Top 10 Most Recognizable Goggles In Fandom

What is it about goggles that makes them so aesthetically pleasing?  They’re everywhere from cartoons to video games, to live-action movies.  They’re a staple of the Steampunk movement.  So, what’s the draw?  Is it that they cover up the forehead?  Is it that you can pull them down when things get serious?  Goggles today are…

Digimon vs. Pokemon:  a retrospective in monster marketing

Digimon vs. Pokemon:  A Retrospective in Monster Marketing

There are some franchises that never truly dissipate. Some grow in scope or simply maintain their status quo even as the target audience grows old enough to understand how much marketing and propaganda was squeezed into their tiny heads to sell TMNT lampshades and Power Rangers dental floss. Two such franchises have battled for almost…

Overrated: our toxic relationship with mainstream movies

Overrated: Our Toxic Relationship with Mainstream Movies

I recently stumbled across an Internet argument that has become fairly common nowadays.  It was a discussion on whether Frozen was overrated.  Now, ignoring the fact that this is an argument taking place half a year after the film already made hundreds of millions of dollars and won two Oscars, it represents a deeper issue…

Community cancelled: gloomy greendale goodbyes

Community Cancelled: Gloomy Greendale Goodbyes

It seems like only yesterday we were being introduced to the likes of the self-centered Jeff Winger, the overachieving Annie Edison, the overbearing Shirley Bennett, the racist Pierce Hawthorne, the childish Troy Barnes, and the meta-fictional Abed Nadir.  It seems so recent in our collective memory that we were first welcomed by the statue of…

Pokémon omega ruby/alpha sapphire: all aboard the hype train to hoenn

Pokémon Omega Ruby/Alpha Sapphire: All Aboard the Hype Train to Hoenn

Pokémon is one of the most profitable franchises on the planet.  I love it, you love it, the little two-year-old who can barely talk loves it, and that middle aged virgin who lives down the street loves it too. It’s a perpetual money machine, constantly churning out more and more lovable monsters with their own…

Amazing spider-man 2 review: why we re-boot

Amazing Spider-Man 2 Review: Why We Re-Boot

When it was announced in 2010 that Spiderman was getting a reboot, I was as skeptical as you.  If we reboot a franchise after only five years, how can we hope for new stories, new characters, or anything new at all?  It didn’t help that the reboot was a corporate mandate from Sony over a…

Superhero movies: how are they changing?

Superhero Movies: How are they Changing?

Superhero movies are becoming more and more ingrained in our culture.  They are some of the most profitable movies we have and they have quickly surpassed every other kind of blockbuster in sheer number.  They have also changed a great deal since the Batman Movie with bat shark repellant.  Some have been dark and gritty…

Cartoon network: shows to watch from the short development initiative

Cartoon Network: Shows to Watch from the Short Development Initiative

Cartoon Network is trying to construct a strong core lineup of shows to match the “glory days” of the Cartoon Cartoon.  After the remarkable success of Adventure time, Cartoon Network executives started an animated shorts initiative to introduce new shows into the fold based off of popular independent animated shorts.  This led first to the…

Community season 5 retrospective

Community Season 5 Retrospective

As the doors of Greendale close on another season of laughs, passable ratings, and general chaos, we the fans are left with questions.  How did this season stack up to its predecessors?  Where will the show be going next season?  How can we survive without Troy and Abed in the Morning? In this retrospective, we…