Talking in Circles

Talking In Circles – Episode 32 – Spammer Encounters and Turtle Powers

TinC-ipod

Spammers be spamming. On this week’s episode we have another hilarious encounter with a Skype Spammer that goes into some unexpected directions. After the craziness subsides Dan’s reviews DC’s latest animated feature Batman: Assault on Arkham, Chuck gets into a disappointing return of a comic book legend, and Greg continues with season two of Game of Thrones. For our second segment we get into the world of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. We talk about  falling in love with them as kids, all the wonderful toys we had or wish we had, and why our fandom eventually faded and where it stands today with the latest movie release. Finally we finish with another episode of the infamous Unknown Saga where the character of Unknown becomes a little more known.


Geeks:

Dan “Movierevolt” Clark

Greg Beppler

Chuck Davis

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Download TIC_EP032.mp3

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Dan Clark

A fan of all things comics, movies, books, and whatever else I can find that pass the time. Twitter: @DXO_Dan Instagram: Comic_concierge

37 Comments

  1. Sad to hear that Infinity Revelation was a disappointment. I thought about picking it up myself when the price went down. I like the art and Jim Starlin of course. Was it even more confusing than Infinity Crusade?

    1. It’s been a while since I’ve read crusade but I wanna say revelation is a little more confusing than that. Maybe I need to do a re-read but I just didn’t get it. The art is really great, that’s one thing I forgot to mention. And I do like the way Starlin writes Thanos’ dialogue in revelation, and you get to see a little bit of a different side of Thanos, but I just didn’t like the plotline. I would wait for a used copy for much lower price. It’s a thin book and $25 is way too much IMO

      1. Good to know. Thanks for the advice. I’ll be on the lookout for a cheap copy.

  2. I like when you guys talk about things like comic books and TV shows and such but can you pull back on the detail a tad. Just give me the highlights and not a complete summary because if I want to pick it up now I don’t want to because I feel like I already know everything that happened. I’d rather just hear what you think about it, if you recommend it, big things that stood out, etc..

    1. Whoops my bad, I guess I got a little too excited, especially the Annihilators one. There is still a lot to the story that I left out but maybe I gave away a bit too much. Apologies

    2. We are usually pretty good at keeping it spoiler free, sometimes we get carried away and we’ll try to keep that in mind in the future. Thanks for the feedback.

  3. How could you not like the original Turtles movie! That movies still holds up so well. A million times better than anything the new one did by far. For shame. For shame.

    1. See I tried to watch the old version of the Turtles and a lot of it does not hold up well. The Turtles look decent when moving when talking the lips don’t match up to the words. I was very distracted by it. I would still take it over the new movie. I would probably rank TMNT as my favorite of the movies honestly.

      1. I have to agree with @FilmForFun:disqus the first Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles is just as good. It actually had a plot and real characters with story arcs!

      2. Yea maybe everything doesn’t hold up 100%, but considering the tech at the time it still a million times better then nearly any other comic book movie around that time. Look how well that holds up compared to something like Dick Tracey.

        1. I was with you until you dogged on Dick Tracy – That movie holds up great – the art direction was so great in that film

          1. When’s the last time you saw Dick Tracey? I thought the same
            thing as you. When I saw it recently it does not work. The colors are too
            washed out and the sets look like rejected pieces from Tim Burton’s Batman

          2. My roommate and I watched it about 2 months ago. Both really enjoyed it. It was his first time seeing it and he loved it. The colors and the sets are some of the best things about it. It’s NOT supposed to look real! You are missing the point they were going after I think.

        2. Superman 1 & 2 and Batman hold up a much much better than the Turtles movies. No question about it.

          1. that’s crazy talk Superman 1 and the donner cut of 2 are the same damn movie. now if you say Superman 2 the lester cut still holds up fine. LOL

          2. As his LIVE action Film debut it kinda does, but Lex and the land deal do not.

    2. All I can say is when I watched it nothing really held up. I think part of it was thinking the original was more of adult themed then it really is. It is very much a kids movie with some deeper moments here or there. Like I mentioned I still think the farm scenes holds up well and Kacey Jones is fun. The rest leaves a lot to be desired.

      1. I think you are watching it with too much of your critic hat on and judging it how you judge movies you are considering for Top 10 end of year or Oscar lists. If you take it for what it was a live-action cartoon/comic adaptation for kids, then this movie was excellent. It was made to entertain kids in 1990 and it highly succeeded in that. No one back in 1990 saw this and said bad things about it.

        1. I could how it could seem that way, and maybe that’s part of it but I honestly don’t think so. For me judgement of a movie is always subjective to what the movie is trying to accomplish. Why I can enjoy some mindless action movie like Fast 6 that clearly isn’t winning any Oscars and has no shot at making a top 10. There are elements to the original Turtles movie that still hold up. The farm scene for example is fantastic, and easily the best part of the movie. The rest I simply don’t get much enjoyment out of. And yes maybe no kids were saying bad things about the Turtles movie in the 90’s, but that’s because the Turtles could do no wrong for kids at that time. Also wasn’t the biggest critic success either, not that means a great deal.

          I guess I”m in the boat where nostalgia only takes me so far, or perhaps you can say I am a curmudgeon who lost is inner child. There are movies that I liked as a kid that I still enjoy as much today, Jurassic Park, Sandlot, and Aladdin for example. But for whatever reason the Turtles movie just didn’t work for me.

          I will say part of it was not realizing how much of a kids movie it is going into it. In my mind it was a lot darker and adult themed, but in retrospect that is not the case. When I go back and watch it again purpose knowing that going it will let me enjoy it more.

          1. For me it will always be the first movie ever that I actually knew all the lines for it, could quote it etc etc and that is unique because I’m so NOT one of those types of people that can recite lines from every movie they see. To me I still stick by the fact that the actual writing of the dialogue for this film was beyond perfect for what it was trying to do. It never felt artificially cheesy to me or over the top and that’s one reason why I still appreciate it so much. The writing and the dialogue are types of things that don’t for me deteriorate over time for this film.

            Don’t get me wrong either, I have NO problem slamming stuff as awful that I once upon a time adored.

    3. I agree original turtles is pure magic. Even the soundtrack is fantastic. The music playing in the beginning when they’re walking back thru the sewers and then the original logo splashes on the screen, its awesome. I wouldn’t change a thing. Way back when we did our Top 5 favorite movies of all time, this barely missed the cut for me.

  4. Another great spam bot story that might be better than last time. There are ways to block those people so they don’t bother you, but after this story why would you lmao

  5. My favorite TMNT toys were the themes turtles. I think I had a Mikey with dolphins a Cowboy Donny and Samurai Leo.

    1. Nice. I believe I had some of those as well, though if my memory serves me they came out around the time I was getting away from Turtles.

  6. OK So I’ve read most of the comments on this ep, and WOW why are people so HUNG UP ON things holding up or not…? YOU’RE SUPPOSED TO WATCH IT, ENJOY IT, AND REALIZE IT’S FROM A TIME GONE BY. TMNT 1 was a BREAKTHROUGH for the franchise. It did amazing things at the time. Just jump in your time machine think of it as being 1990 all over again and ENJOY OR DON’T ENJOY the damn thing. YEEEESH!

    1. I agree with you to a point, but my question to a statement like that is, does that only apply to things you enjoyed as a child. If you watch a Western from the 1950’s do you not complain it is too slow or drawn out because it too is from a time gone bye and was partially from a time gone bye.

      Just because I liked something as a kid doesn’t mean I can’t as an adult look at it objectively and indicate it is a good or bad movie.

      1. Looking at something objectively is different than saying it doesn’t hold up. At least in my mind they are two different things. We’ve had a few fans in the post complain about the lip movements on the 1990 Turtles Film. Sure while that is something bad about it…. Overall the puppeteering of the turtles was very well done. Even looking back on it now.

        The Wizard of Oz has “held up” since the film debuted. Most everyone loves that movie. YES I realize that the old westerns which I can not watch because they drag on for me are from a time gone by, but I don’t say that a single western doesn’t hold up. THEY ARE ALL TOO SLOW for me. So it’s a genre I do not watch. I have respect for what they did and all, but this is one of those tomes where I neither love nor hate it, I’m just in different to it.

      2. I guess where I have a problem in a way is this. Yes, you can and should look back at movies from the past with the ability to say you liked it or did not like it. And yes many times you will look back at something you liked as a kid and say WTF was I thinking. Many cartoons are like this. For example, watching M.A.S.K. I was wondering what I ever liked about that show compared to watching Transformers or He-Man and totally understanding why I liked it. There is a difference in looking back at something like the live action Masters of the Universe film and with adult eyes saying, yea that film is pretty bad all around and realizing that even what it was trying to do back in the day failed and looking at something like the original TMNT live action film. That film succeeded pretty much entirely with what it was trying to do back in 1990. Fans of the franchise universally loved that film.

        It had a budget of 13 million and made over 135 million domestically and 202 million worldwide. It was the FIFTH highest grossing film of 1990. When released it was the second-highest-grossing independent film of all time. This wasn’t just a film with a cult following like the animated Transformers film. This was a legit hit that did exactly what it set out to do and actually far surpassed what anyone thought it would do financially.

        You can say you don’t like it watching it as an adult (surprise surprise it wasn’t made for adults…) BUT saying it doesn’t quote on quote, hold up, just doesn’t….well, hold up. ;) – I honestly think the words ‘hold up’ is far too often misused and has almost reached a point that I don’t even know what it means anymore. What makes a film hold up and another one doesn’t? I can understand if you say a film is of a genre from days gone by that doesn’t resonate with modern audiences OR if you say a film is ‘dated’ due to things shown or mentioned in it that wouldn’t make sense as much with a modern audience, but ‘hold up’? I really have no idea what the criteria is for that anymore.

        Ebert was right when he said “it is probably the best possible TMNT movie”

        1. I guess ‘hold up’ for you is what ‘overrated is for me. lol. For one I don’t see how the financial success of a movie determines its quality. Does that mean the new TMNT movie is also a success since it far surpassed box office expectations, or the Transformers movies for that matter. And though it was a financial success it was never a critical success as it’s Rotten Tomatoes scores is little more than 10 points higher than the new movie.

          Also I would say the indication that the 90’s Turtles movie was solely meant for kids is somewhat of a misnomer. The director indicated he was trying to make a movie that better fit the vibe of the original comic, which is a big reason why he went with that origin and not the cartoon one. Many at the time complained it was too violent, and Jim Henson nearly didn’t make the movie because he thought it was too violent. Sure, the desired audience was kids who enjoyed the cartoon (a big reason for that financial success) but it was not solely aimed at kids. Also could you not argue the new movie is meant for kids as well so we shouldn’t complain about it because it was not meant for us?

          Regarding the idea of what it means to hold up, I think it can honestly mean a variety of things. For one it can be a movie that you enjoy as a child, because kids pretty much like anything geared to them, that as an adult you realize isn’t good. Its the difference between kids movies and family movies. It’s what separates The Sandlots from The Rookie of the Year. One is a well made movie that is finely scripted and provides something for anyone to enjoy, while the other is lazy but realizes its for kids and knows it can get away with it. So logic isn’t needed.

          You also have movies that perhaps got a bit of a pass due to groundbreaking special effects that overshadowed other large holes. Look at something like Sin City. I don’t agree with this argument but some have stated that many of that movies issues where ignored because all people can focus on was the look of the film. Now with the sequel (which I haven’t seen) that look is more common place and those issues are even more glaring.

          You also have movies that are products of their time that just followed the tropes that everyone else was doing and brought nothing new. Look at Aliens against Commando. Commando was a bye the book 80’s action movie that is simply awful, but people loved it because it was the 80’s and big muscles and big explosions where the thing. Aliens on the other had is a movie that was nothing like the action movies of the time, and was content on being its own thing.

          I do agree with you that perhaps its overused, but ‘holding up’ is what separates the great from the good, the common place from the stereotypical. Why Shrek 3 and all its pop culture references doesn’t hold a candle to something like Toy Story 3 that doesn’t rely on tired jokes.

          1. Then it’s settled. Based on your definition and my new understanding of what, at least you mean, by ‘holding up’ (even though too many people use it incorrectly ;) ) – the 1990 Turtles movie definitely holds up!! [you can commence the hair pulling haha]

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