Ozone Nightmare

Today on the 5: Thanks to a recommendation from Len Kabasinski, I watched 1987's Dark Age. For a movie that was a total unknown to me and is often labeled as a "Jaws ripoff" or an "Ozploitation" movie, this film is much better than I ever expected it to be!

Today on the 5: As we wind up the final week of our Black History Month commentary film series, we're watching some more supernatural movies. For our penultimate film, we watched 1973's Blackenstein: The Black Frankenstein. Unlike the thoroughly excellent Blacula, this movie wastes a really interesting setup by doing next to nothing with it.

Today on the 5: As we move into the final week of our Black History Month commentary film series, we're going with some supernatural classics. First up, 1972's Blacula, which is a thoroughly fantastic spin on the classic Dracula story!

Tonight I'm joined by Gary Nicholls & Iain Buckingham from Off The Shelf Reviews. In this episode we're talking our love of film as we cover a wide range of titles such as Frieren, Evil Dead 2, The Thing, and the Indian Trilogy. Show music by OGRE. Support the show!

This week we're talking about Gears Of War: Reloaded, USS Becuna, Devil's Express, Sugar Hill, and Dr. Black, Mr. Hyde. Show music by HeartBeatHero and OGRE. Support the show!

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Today on the 5: A bit of curiosutoy coupled with a very good sale price led me to suggest to Lando that we roll the dice on Gears Of War: Reloaded, the remastered edition of the 2006 game. Neither of us had played any of this series, so we weren't sure what to expect. What we've gotten so far is a truly unique experience!

Today on the 5: When Lando and I tried out FBC: Firebreak, we both agreed the game had the potential to be comething really fun if some of the existing issues were addressed. Based on recent events, it seems unlikely that will happen and I think that's a shame.

Today on the 5: I've talked before about my frustration that many generative AI proponents see no problem with existing art being subsumed into a new money machine without the permission or compensation of the original creators. Anyone making those arguments should maybe shut up until Netflix and Disney can't sue other companies for doing exactly that.

Today on the 5: As part of our Black History Month commentary lineup, Lando selected a 1976 film titled Dr. Black And Mr. Hyde. I wasn't sure what we were going to get with a title like that, but Lando came through again with a really entertaining and impressively layered spin on the classic story. 

This week we're talking about Airwolf mashups, Frankenstein, Trouble Man, Killpoint, and The Spook Who Sat By The Door. Show music by HeartBeatHero and OGRE. Support the show!

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Today on the 5: I've mentioned a few times before that I was reading Mary Shelley's Frankenstein, which I've either never read or read so long ago I can't remember it. I recently finished the book, and I'm very happy to report it doesn't struggle with outdated writing and is absolutely worth reading if you never have.

Today on the 5: For our final commentary film for this week, we watched 1973's The Spook Who Sat By The Door. A powerfully writtent movie that surely upset some people when it released, I can't recommend seeing this one highly enough.

Today on the 5: If you follow video game news, you've likely seen a lot of discussion around a recently released game titled Highguard. One of the secondary aspects of that coverage is review bombing, and I have a deep disagreement with one of the arguments against it.

Today on the 5: As part of our Black History Month commentary series, one of the films we watched this week was 1972's Trouble Man. A movie centered around a character that feels like a response to the Tommy lead in Black Casesar, this is a really exceptional variation on the film noir genre.

This week we're talking about ErsatzTV, Forge, Black Caeser, Three The Hard Way, and Black Dynamite. Show music by HeartBeatHero and OGRE. Support the show!

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Today on the 5: I was talking to a co-worker about the films Lando and I are watching for our Black History Month commentary series, and there was a point in that conversation that delivered a stark reminder that the vocabularly of fandom is far from universal.

Today on the 5: As part of our Black History Month commentary series, we watched 1973's Black Caesar. As an example of powerful storytelling and Fred Williamson's acting ability, it's very good. For anyone who isn't in the right headspace for heavy themes and confronting naked racism, it's a lot tougher to recommend.

Today on the 5: You may remember I was fairly excited about a new entry within the classic Carmageddon game series, so when reviews started posting I watched a number of them. Now that I've seen exactly what Carmageddon: Rogue Shift is, I'm both completely uninterested and fairly irritated at the fact the name "Carmageddon" was even used for it.

Today on the 5: It looks like I had talked about the amazing 2009 film Black Dynamite over a decade ago, but that was well before the 5s had started up. Combined with how long ago that was, it's a perfect excuse to talk about it again since it was one of our Black History Month commentary films.

This week we're talking about Frankenstein adaptations, Longmire, Rebrickable, The Wrecking Crew, and Megazone 23. Show music by HeartBeatHero and OGRE. Support the show!

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Today on the 5: Adobe announced the cancellation of Animate, a popular animation tool many creators depend on. After getting a severe amount of negative response, they almost immediately reversed most of that decision. The problem is, the most significant impact of that blunder can't be undone.

Today on the 5: You may have seen something about the mini crash of gaming stocks recently after a new AI tool was misrepresented as being capable of creating games. The crash doesn't really interest me, but some aspects of the story about the tool itself certainly did. 

Today on the 5: The fantastic review channel The Nth Review recently posted a long form review of the Deus Ex titled The End Of Deus Ex, which I would highly recommend. At the very end the author talks about the hiatus of Deus Ex Remastered, and whether that was a bad thing. That question got me thinking.

Today on the 5: I just happened to hear a report on the amount of money Amazon Studios is spending on the Melania documentary, and I was honestly styunned at the numbers. Many are attributing this to a political motive, but this is hardly the first bad financial bet Amazon has made in terms of streaming.

This week we're talking about Windows Weekly, Masters Of The Universe, Dave Mackey, New York Ninja, Neon Maniacs, and Miami Golem. Show music by HeartBeatHero and OGRE. Support the show!

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Today on the 5: It's a rough week for anyone who still believed that Tim Cook and Apple were better than mnost ofd other large tech companies. After attending the Melania premiere and issuing a non-statement about the shootings in Minnesota, some folks are finally realizing what the job of a CEO actually is.

Today on the 5: Almost a decade ago I watched a movie from 1986 titled Neon Maniacs. I wasn't sure how it would hold up when I selected it for one of our commentary films for this week, but for a film that was never properly completed it holds up fairly well!

Today on the 5: I was never into the Marvel character Wonder Man when i was younger, so a show centering on the chatacter didn't interest me much. Now that reviews are coming out, I've noticed one very significant element mentioned again and again that made the show a must watch for me.

Today on the 5: For our first commentary film of the week, Lando picked a movie that neither of us had ever heard and I was dreading would be a boring slog to get through. The selection was 1985's Miami Golem, and after the absolute blast we had with it means I'll be asking him to choose more movies going forward!

This week we're talking about J's Little Things, Jackson Pollack, Fallout 76, Black Sunday, Planet Of The Vampires, and The Beyond. Show music by HeartBeatHero and OGRE. Support the show!

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Today on the 5: I came across a post over on 9To5Google talking about the news that the popular app Nova Launcher has been acquired by a company called Instabridge and won't become depracated as originally feared. Strangely, this article makes a big point of mentioning ads coming to the free version as if that's both a negative and the only option to use it.

Today on the 5: The typical attitude from creators towards AI tools is that they have no place in creativity, for a variety of reasons. The problem with that attitude is that it both antagonistic and untrue, and it's important to spotlight cases where AI actually improves creativity.   

Today on the 5: One of our other commentary films for the week is another Mario Bava feature, 1965's Planet Of The Vampires. Like Black Sunday, it's another visually stunning film from an older style of cinema. This one isn't a gothic horror, instead we get a gorgeous movie that influencesd later classics like Alien.  

Today on the 5: For one of our commentary films this week, we queued up a piece of classic gothic horror in 1960's Black Sunday. If you're a fan of older horror films in the Hammer vein, you'll probably have a great time with this beautifully filmed story of satanic vengeance. 

This week we're talking about Roy Batty's Trench Coat, Volante Design, Pilot Pirx's Inquest, Dreaming The Reality, and Predator: Badlands. Show music by HeartBeatHero and OGRE. Support the show!

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Today on the 5: I came across an excellent opinion piece over on The Verge about how the CEOs of Apple and Google have done nothing about the Grok image generation problem. It's absolutely worth reading, and further evidence that these companies and their leadership only really care about keeping the money flowing.

Today on the 5: For our final commentary film this week, we did something unusual and watched a new movie, 2025's Predator Badlands. I wasn't really that interested in this movie as it seemed like it was aiming for a different audience, and I would have been just fine passing it by. Then I saw how divisive a lot of reviews were, and at point I knew we had to watch it.

Today on the 5: One of our other commentary films this week was 1991's Dreaming The Reality, a Hong Kong "Girls With Guns" movie featuring several actors we've seen recently. This one is another magnificent entry for anyone who considers themselves an action film fan. 

Today on the 5: For one of our commentary films this week, we watched a 1979 science fiction film titled Pilot Pirx's Inquest, based on a story by Stanisaw Lem. If you enjoy classic storytelling in the vein of The Twilight Zone, this is a good one to check out!

This week we're talking about Razer, The Creator, Goodbye Horses: The Many Lives of Q Lazzarus, Blade, Bloody New Year, and Dream Demon. Show music by HeartBeatHero and OGRE. Support the show!

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