Weekend Coffee Share – Double Decker Couch Edition

If we were having coffee, well, it would depend. If we were having coffee together, in person, there are thing I might tell you. The sort of stuff you tell in person, or on the phone. Because that’s the sort of stuff that’s been going on this week – serious stuff. Not to us, either, so it’s not really ours to share.

So in an effort to stay cheerful, well, I spent a little time wandering the store yesterday with the Geek Baby asleep…

So everyone could drink coffee together and be buddies!

So that happened.

We had been eyeing Legos for a bit. We’ve not really shared images of ourselves related to Comparative Geeks, and the idea was we could use Legos to do so. This would be ripping off the exact same idea from our blogging friend Sheena, at her blog Not A Punk Rocker. She uses Wyldstyle as her Avatar, and Deadpool as, well, Deadpool.

But that also meant no Wyldstyle for Holly… so then… wow, there are a lot of minifigs. Also, not nearly so many of them female. And so while we may not have hit on some final selections, we do at least have some we can play around with now. And better yet, new minifigs have multiple faces if you just spin them around! That will come into play for sure.

And so, here’s what we got! 

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New YouTube Find: Couch Tomato

Movies? Check. Comparative? Check. Short and funny? Check. All elements that make it so that we have been loving the videos from a recent YouTube channel find, Couch Tomato. I think that the channel was recommended by CinemaSins and that’s how we first found it.

I kind of think this one was deliberate…

Each video they give 24 reasons why two movies are the same. A simple enough conceit! It’s sometimes plot, sometimes characters, generally a lot of both. Some are stretches, or all in how you phrase things… but often that just makes you realize that it’s basically the same character just now slightly different.

And having done a bunch of these, there was also a recent one talking about how two movies that you might think were the same weren’t…

We’ve been enjoying Couch Tomato, so hopefully you will too! What do you think about some of the videos or comparisons?

Can We Talk About Lego Dimensions?

Maybe it’s just me, but the hard part about talking about this game might actually be avoiding the all caps response… like OH MY GOD THIS GAME LOOKS AMAZING HOW DID THEY EVEN?!?!?!?!

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Yes. It's bigger on the inside. #DoctorWho #LEGODimensions #BreakTheRules

A post shared by LEGO Dimensions (@legodimensions) on Jul 10, 2015 at 2:11pm PDT

I’ve started following them on Instagram, and it’s just increasingly breaking my brain. For one thing, the game looks like it is going to have access to basically all of the intellectual properties that have been Lego video games. Certainly Lord of the Rings, DC, and just about anything that made it into the Lego Movie. Also Jurassic Park.

However, it’s the new properties – ones that we secretly hoped would get their own individual games, or else never even imagined – that have me so excited for this game. So after the jump, have three amazing trailers for things that you’ll see in Lego Dimensions! And then I’ll lament the problem with the game…

Movie Year in Review – 2014 So Far

I know it’s only halfway through the year, but as far as years go for movie releases, I think this year has been outstanding! To harken back, in my post talking about what I was excited for this year, most of it was movies. And, most of those movies were the first part of this year.

Therefore, I thought I would spend a bit of time to look at a few of the movies from the first part of this year, and look at just why they were so good. In thinking back on them, I’ve had some new thoughts, so I hope you’ll indulge me.

I think I especially want to talk about Mr. Peabody and Sherman, The Lego Movie, Captain America: The Winter Soldier, X-Men: Days of Future Past, and How to Train Your Dragon 2. Ones that I had said I was excited for, and which all lived up to or exceeded my expectations. I thought about Edge of Tomorrow, as well, but let me just say this real quick: it was a great action movie, and is one that is kind of hurting for money – so you going to see it would not be a bad thing! 

X is for Xander Harris – the Zeppo

You may have thought we had made it through the month with no Joss Whedon characters, but take heart! For X is for Xander Harris! Just your average, socially awkward, class clown of a teen, he ends up an integral part of the Scooby Gang in Buffy, saving the world from demons, vampires, and general badness. 

Right? He matters, right? The defining Xander episode was The Zeppo, where Xander has a solo adventure while his friends, Buffy and the gang, fight off what is described as “the worst thing they have ever faced” – which happens off-screen. And meanwhile, trying to find his identity and figure out what it is that is his “thing” – what makes him cool or unique – Xander gets mixed up with some undead who want to blow up the high school. He beats them all, and saves the school, while his friends save the world – something they couldn’t have done if they had blown up.

So let me look at Xander, but also at this idea of “the Zeppo,” this character who is at once essential and expendable.