Back To Bond: The Living Daylights COMMENTARY

It was very much around 3 years ago that I did my first podcast commentary guest spot on Out Now With Aaron & Abe to discuss From Russia With Love and then subsequently 3 more Bond films.  Apparently I did decent enough as I've been honored to have found myself as a mainstay on the Out Now bonus commentary episodes ever since (And will continue to do so every time they ask me).  We covered 4 Bonds during that time (Connery, Moore, Brosnan, Craig), so now we move on to Timothy Dalton with The Living Daylights.  As most of you know this is one of my favorite all time Bond films (Both of Dalton's are).  Scott Mendelson returns and joining is one of the coolest MI6 agents around, Randy Shaffer.

Talkin' Bout Terminator! (Commentary Podcast)

The Out Now With Aaron & Abe commentary track for James Cameron's 1984 masterpiece, The Terminator is up and running!  I guest as well as Forbes' Scott Mendelson (I think you may have heard of him).  Give it a listen!  We'll also be doing Terminator 3 in a few months as well.

The Lord Of The Rings: The Fellowship Of The Ring (2001) - Scott Mendelson

The Lord Of The Rings: The Fellowship Of The Ring

2001

Director: Peter Jackson

Starring:  Elijah Wood, Ian McKellan, Viggo Mortensen, Liv Tyler, Orlando Bloom, Hugo Weaving, John Rhys-Davies, Sean Astin, Dominic Monaghan, Christopher Lee, Ian Holm, Sean Bean, Billy Boyd, Cate Blanchett

Rated: PG-13

A wizard is never late, Frodo Baggins.  Nor is he early.  He arrives precisely when he means to.

                     ~Gandalf

Well, my next guest needs no introduction.  Forbes' Scott Mendelson returns to Naptown Nerd to discuss one of my favorite films in the LOTR series, The Fellowship Of The Ring.  You can of course find Scott's work on Forbes.com and check him out in featurette on the 25th Anniversary Edition of Tim Burton's BATMAN available now.

Slice By Slice: Ranking The TEENAGE MUTANT NINJA TURTLES Movies

I don't know what it is, but I'm always going to have a soft spot for the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.  I don't eat everything up, but when something of an event comes along with them...a new movie, a new show...my interest is always peaked.  My hardcore time has passed, but it was definitely THAT hardcore that I'm still call myself a fan.  One of these days I'm going to get to this new animated series and catch up and I'm actually kind of excited about that.  Honestly, when it comes to the Turtles on film, things aren't too strong.  They have one legitimately great film and the rest is a mixed bag ranging from awful to merely solid.  Let's see how I've placed them:

BATMAN - Commentary & The Year That Made Me A Bigger Film Lover

I know yesterday was the big anniversary of one of my all time favorite moviesTim Burton's BATMAN (its usually #2-5 if I make a list).  For one, if people were going to read one article about the movie, I preferred it to be Scott Mendelson's incredible box office and film trend history on it yesterday in FORBES.  And two, when I was gonna post this last night, I couldn't because my power was out. 

COMMENTARY: X-Men

Hey, I got to do another awesome podcast commentary for Out Now With Aaron & Abe (what's new, right?).  And this time we're talking over the original X-Men.  Along with myself, host Aaron Neuwirth, Jim Dietz and the diabolical Scott Mendelson lend our mutant power of being obsessed movie geeks to discuss the original film in the franchise.  Whether ye be working, working out, driving, sitting around or watching X-Men, click to the link below to listen!

http://www.hhwlod.com/podcasts/on/771-out-now-commentary-x-men

Podcast Guest Spot: Out Now With Aaron & Abe Celebrates Its 150th Episode!

The podcast I frequently guest on, OUT NOW WITH AARON & ABE has just hit the 150th episode milestone.  For this podcast, they brought on me, Scott Mendelson and Maxwell Haddad to discuss some of our all time favorite films (a top 20 mind you).  Jake Destree, you asked for this awhile back and you have received.  Granted, this is not a set list for me, as there's glaring omissions, stuff I would've liked to put on there but didn't have room, yada yada yada...its tough, okay?  haha.  Anyway, below is the link for your listening pleasure.  This is one the absolutely best film conversations I've had the pleasure of taking part it.  Its a longer episode, but it really wasn't long enough :)  Thanks for having me once again, Aaron & Abe!

http://www.hhwlod.com/podcasts/on/765-out-now-150-spectacular

The Land Before Time Retrospective - Part 1: The Land Before Time (1988)

The Land Before Time
1988
Director: Don Bluth
Starring:  Judith Barci, Pat Hingle, Gabriel Damon, Helen Shaver, Will Ryan, Diana Ross
Rated: G

You could be the first person to write about the entire series on the whole internet
                                     ~Scott Mendelson, November 2012

My 2013: The 5 Films That Surprised Me

In this look back, I'm focusing on 5 films that pleasantly surprised me this year.  These are films that for all intents and purposes looked bad from the trailers, had production problems, had people behind or in front of the camera I usually don't like...whatever the case may be...I was really surprised to find when these films came out, and I saw them on my own accord or was recommended them by a peer, and really enjoyed them and was pretty surprised that I'd qualify them as good/great/enjoyable.  And I'm well aware I just wrote the run-on sentence to end all run-on sentences just now.  I'm presenting them in no preferential order, just alphabetical.

How HALLOWEEN Became The 'Choose Your Own Adventure' Of Horror Franchises (Guest Article)

Folks, this is kind of a big deal here on Naptown Nerd.  The tables turn here, as I am proud to give you FORBES writer Scott Mendelson's first guest article for the site.  As you all probably know, I got my start doing guest pieces for his old blog Mendelson's Memos.  

Thank You, Scott Mendelson!

First off...that's an old photo (I think circa 2006, taken by Sharon i think)

1 year ago today, Scott published the first piece of my very first retrospective and my first as a regular contributor to Mendelson's Memos.  While that was the start, it wasn't the first time he'd published something from me. That would be this. A review I don't even agree with myself on now.  Its very amateur and I'm obviously trying too hard, but its nice to see I've come a long way.  I had been wanting to start a film criticism related blog for many years and it was just that, an idea.  I was never able to sit down and motivate myself to actually do it.  Last summer, Scott called and asked if I'd be able to slide him some content regularly and I saw this as finally the opportunity and obliged.  It was a great opportunity to help out Scott and to kick start something and see if I was really cut out for it and if I was going to like doing it.  A very important part is Scott was offering me an already established audience rather than just throwing out shots in the dark and hoping people found what I was doing.  So I came up with my (not wholly original) Jame Bond retrospective idea and went from there.

SUPERMAN: The Commentary

You probably know the drill by now.  Here's a bonus episode of Out Now with Aaron & Abe doing a feature length commentary for 1978's Superman: The Movie.  In addition to Aaron & Abe, I am reteamed with Scott Mendelson for this one as well as Jordan Grout.  It was a lot of fun and conversation was not limited to just the first Superman film.

Click Here To Listen

TRAILER- Thor: The Dark World #1

This is our first look into Thor's post-Avengers adventure and man, does this look big. While the first film featured hints that big things could happen in this universe, it was mainly a simple fish out of water story. This movie appears embracing the big scale possibilities of Thor's world. I rather liked the first film, but on first look this looks as if its going to kick its ass. Scott Mendelson recently touted this as one of the 2 most important films of 2013 (HERE), and I hope this one pans out. I rather dig the characters in this series and hope they're not afraid to continue to make big stories for Thor. The first one I was rather surprised I liked as I had low expectations going in. It also produced one of the funniest moments of 2011 ("I need a horse!") Now, after this trailer, I have pretty good expectations. I'm also scared for Natalie Portman's Jane Foster.

THOR: THE DARK WORLD opens November 8