It’s morphin’ time! The Reel Nerds review Power Rangers!
You know how when you’re wanting to go to the movie theater and you look up all the films that are showing and there are alway at least three that you’ve never heard of, let alone have any interest in seeing? Well, good news! I’ve seen those movies. I spend most of my theater experiences in art house theaters watching those movies that you’ve never heard of and then never watch. Yeah, I’m that hipster asshole. My goal with this is to spread information out about these films, that way you can decide one of the following. “That actually sounds pretty cool! I want to see that now!” or “Man, I’m glad I decided to go see the new superhero movie!”. So without further ado, here is my article and review of Heartbeats.
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If you haven’t heard the name Xavier Dolan, then I recommend you educate yourself a bit on him. Xavier Dolan is arguably the first great Millennial Director. At 27 years old, Dolan has already directed six films with almost all of them receiving an absurd amount of praise. He has won countless awards, including the Jury Prize at Cannes for his film Mommy and the Grand Prix for his film It’s Only The End of the World. He is also making his English Language debut which scheduled for later this year, which is when I’m expecting him to become a household name in America. Regardless of if the rest of his career is on par with the filmmaking of Ed Wood, Xavier Dolan will be a remembered filmmaker.
Heartbeats was Dolan’s second film, and where Dolan’s filmography is very much celebrated the “sophomore slump” is very strong with this film. Heartbeats follow two friends, a man, and a woman, as they both fall for the same man. This film is close to what I made this article series for. It is a prime example of “Art House” cinema. And when I say that the “sophomore slump” is here, that doesn’t mean the film is completely void of anything good.
The camera work is done very well. Dolan is nothing if he doesn’t have an eye for a great shot, both framing wise as well as color. Dolan captures the look and feel of Millennial culture better than almost anyone else, primarily because he is one. He captures human beauty in a way similar to Fellini. It doesn’t matter the gender, the age, or the body. If Dolan is shooting someone, he is going to make sure that by the end of the scene you think that person is gorgeous. There is one scene where Xavier Dolan and Monia Chokri are walking to a party in different parts of the town. And my god do both of them look super sexy. There is also the camera movement throughout where someone is being interviewed about love. As they talk, the camera will briefly zoom in and out of their face, somewhat like a documentary. It was interesting, and there isn’t much else to say about it. I can see someone saying this was distracting and bad, and I can see others saying this is unique and needed. I personally don’t fall under either. I just thought it was interesting.
Speaking of interesting, that’s what this film is really missing. Firstly, I could never fully connect with the film because the guy that the two leads fall for is the most boring and underdeveloped characters I have seen in a long time. The only thing the character really has going for him is looks, and that’s subjective as I didn’t find him attractive really at all. So when we have these two characters falling in love with him, I constantly had to ask myself why? What do these characters see in him? Why do they want to kiss him? Why are they fighting for him? Maybe the point of it is that is a superficial relationship, maybe the point is that all the character has going for him is looks and that is why the relationship struggles. But if that’s the case, let’s slide right into my next point.
The film feels unfocused. From the beginning of the film, I could tell that Xavier Dolan wanted to say something. And unlike most directors who hit their “sophomore slump”, I think Xavier Dolan knows what he wants to say. The problem is that I don’t think he knew the words for how to say it. The whole time it feels like the film is flopping around and trying to get the words out as to what the point and feeling of the film is. But it never lands. Instead of it being a hard hitting punch across the face it feels more like a weakened slap on the shoulder. There is no force behind it, there is not speechlessness to it. It just goes, “here are my thoughts I guess” which doesn’t lead me to anything except “Well at least you tried”.
Xavier Dolan is a talented guy. You can tell with this film, and you can sense it with his other work. But I feel like he was still getting his footing with this film. And he got his footing with Laurence Anyways or maybe Tom at the Farm. It just took him this film to fine tune exactly who he is as a director. And yes, this film isn’t great. But there are plenty of worse films out there, and at least this gives off a strange sense of hope. Something that is lacking from almost every other film I have reviewed through here.
Corinne is back to help the Reel Nerds review a tale as old as time in Beauty and the Beast.
(12:35) “Ryan’s a hero, baby”
(22:38) Brad Around Town
(26:12) Alamo Drafthouse Update
(28:43) Fan Mail
Watching
(32:54) James: Love S:2
(34:33) Brad: Kedi, The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild
(42:55) Corinne: Beauty and the Beast iterations, Jack’s Back
(49:14) Zach: Last Action Hero, National Parks: America’s Best Idea, Split, Rats
(55:01) Ryan: Wet Hot American Summer: First Day of Camp, Blood Diner
Reel News
(1:02:08) Chuck Berry dies
(1:03:23) Live-action Mulan won’t be a musical
(1:05:33) Henry Cavill will be in Mission: Impossible 6, Dan Tractenberg’s next movie
(1:58:00) The Matrix getting rebooted
Releases
(1:11:06) Sing, Assassins Creed, Insecure S1, Miss Sloane, Robocop 2 & 3, Cinema Paradiso, Lifeboat, Being There & Multiple Maniacs Criterions, Frankenstein Created Bikers, Teen Witch
Arthouse Asshole
(1:20:22) Raw & A Man Called Ove
Review
(1:22:51) Beauty & the Beast
You know how when you’re wanting to go to the movie theater and you look up all the films that are showing and there are alway at least three that you’ve never heard of, let alone have any interest in seeing? Well, good news! I’ve seen those movies. I spend most of my theater experiences in art house theaters watching those movies that you’ve never heard of and then never watch. Yeah, I’m that hipster asshole. My goal with this is to spread information out about these films, that way you can decide one of the following. “That actually sounds pretty cool! I want to see that now!” or “Man, I’m glad I decided to go see the new superhero movie!”. So without further ado, here is my article and review of A Man Called Ove.
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In the world of cinema, when you think of countries with great films you tend to think France, Italy, Japan, sometimes Germany or Spain. But my god does Sweden have their shit together. I often don’t think of Sweden’s film industry until I see one of their films and I’m like “Damn Sweden! You got some interesting points of view!” and then Sweden is all like “Yeah we do! Here is an artsy comedy about life and what it means to exist that you won’t laugh at but will think about for years to come!” and then I’m all like “Damn Sweden! You crazy! What else you got for me?” then Sweden opens up its jacket and reveals what it’s got. “We got a coming of age film about feminism and punk rock!” And I’m all like “Sweden! That is exactly interesting enough for me to want to see that!” Then Sweden looks at me and is like “How about the most uncomfortable film you will ever watch about a man falsely accused of pedophilia? It’s so depressing that it will be almost impossible to watch all the way through!” Then I’m all like “That’s great Sweden, but let’s pull it back into the comedies for a quick second.” Then Sweden nods and hands me A Man Called Ove.
A Man Called Ove is a Swedish comedy about a grumpy old man and how he connects with a new young neighbor and learns to love life and humanity again. The first thing you should know is that this film can bleed into cheesy territory. But you also have to accept that going it. This is a fun film about learning to love life. Obviously, you are going to have some cheese, there is a bit too much in one scene, which we will talk about later, but the cheese shouldn’t distract you from this otherwise moving and heartwarming story.
Firstly, I want to start with the cinematography of the film. I’ve currently seen three of the five nominees for Best Foreign Language Film Oscar for the year of 2016, the other two being Toni Erdmann and The Salesman. Of the three, this is without a doubt the best shot film of the bunch. Not just in a color palette way. I will go on record and say that I am not a fan of the desaturated look that is creeping into becoming the popular look in film. The pastel color scheme just doesn’t do anything for me and it just feels nauseating for me to look at. That being said, I liked its use in this film. The film overall feels very much like a children’s storybook. And the color palette of the film is used to fit that aesthetic.
There is some goofy stuff that you would only see in a children’s book. Sometimes that is used as a way to tell a dark part of the story, but it feels goofy. I can understand if this is something that someone dislikes about the film. One example has to do with the death of Ove’s father in the film. How it happens, is goofy. The story about Saabs and Volvos is goofy. There is a lot of childlike wonder to the film and the darkness that one might imagine would be in a situation, is often diluted down with the goofy colors and presentation. And I did have a problem with this until the emotional climax of the film. The climax is handled with such a real and serious tone to it, that it makes a stark contrast to the rest of the film. And I feel that the film was made for this scene alone, and they made a movie around it. It is one of my favorite and most moving scenes I’ve seen in a long time. I watched this film on my computer on a seven-hour long plane ride. And when this scene hit, I was sobbing on a plane. The film had to have this childlike and goofy tone throughout because when it finally hit this moment, it made it feel more important and more real.
The only thing that I thought was a bit too cheesy would be considered a spoiler. So this paragraph will include something that you might see coming in the film, but if you have made up your mind already I would skip this paragraph. Toward the end of the film, Ove has a heart attack. They go to the doctor and the doctor comes back and tells his neighbor that his heart is just too big. Okay, calm down movie. I could put up with the cheese but this is ridiculous. Take a breather movie. They later mock this in the film, but I was still a little mad.
So A Man Called Ove is great. It is honestly my favorite of the three Oscar-nominated films. So thank you Sweden. You did yourself well once again. The Sweden was all like “Hey! How about this film now?” And then handed me the filmography of Lars Von Trier, to which I then punched Sweden in the face to remind it to stay in line.
The Reel Nerds are gonna die out here together when they review Kong: Skull Island and they finally reveal the results of the Nerdies!
(18:14) The Nerdies
Arthouse Asshole
(56:33) Spa Night
Fan Mail
(58:53) Henry promotes Operation Avalanche
Reel News
(1:01:46) Baby Driver trailer
(1:04:00) Wonder Woman trailer
(1:04:20) Boomerang streaming service
(1:05:55) Disney casting middle-eastern actors for Aladdin
(1:06:31) Glenn Howerton might leave It’s Always Sunny
Releases
(1:09:20) Passengers, Fences, Collateral Beauty, Elle, Solace, Valley of Gwangi, Carries the Demon Seed, Firestarter, Red Dawn (Shout Select, Ghost in the Shell (Mondo), Six S1, Marco Polo, The Skull, Drive-in Massacre, The Love Witch, Certain Fury
Watching
(1:20:55) Brad: Moonlight, Logan, Toni Erdmann, Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story, Robocop 2 & 3, Halt and Catch Fire S3
(1:51:27) James: John Wick 2
(1:53:21) Zach: Get Out, Cocoon, Empire of the Air, Huey Long Doc, National Parks: America’s Best Idea
(1:58:00) Ryan: Black Christmas, Stranger Things
Review
(2:07:16) Kong: Skull Island
You know how when you’re wanting to go to the movie theater and you look up all the films that are showing and there are alway at least three that you’ve never heard of, let alone have any interest in seeing? Well, good news! I’ve seen those movies. I spend most of my theater experiences in art house theaters watching those movies that you’ve never heard of and then never watch. Yeah, I’m that hipster asshole. My goal with this is to spread information out about these films, that way you can decide one of the following. “That actually sounds pretty cool! I want to see that now!” or “Man, I’m glad I decided to go see the new superhero movie!”. So without further ado, here is my article and review of Raw.
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There are very few times in a film where I can tell from the first five minutes if I’m going to dislike a film. The moment a whole bunch of young freshman are crawling through trash in their underwear in slow motion is a good example of this. At this point I was like, well this is stupid and annoying. And then the gross stuff started happening and I knew I was in for a boring time as well as a waste of time. For real though, this whole movie is garbage.
Raw is a french film about a young freshman girl at Vet School who starts to lose her mind and become a cannibal. Sometimes I will throw in some flourishes to my reviews when it comes to the plot. I do this as a way to get the reader more engaged in the film and can share my feelings about the film with the reader, kind of like a way to have a discussion. But this film deserves nothing. Yeah, there is symbolism in the film for various different things. And when I say various I mean various. This film has no idea what it is trying to symbolize. Is it a family thing? Is it a straight campy vampire thing? Is it about the indulges of young people? Is it a sex thing? Don’t worry! It’s all of those things and more! But none of it matters because when you are everything you are absolutely nothing! It doesn’t make you more complex, it just makes you look like a try-hard and a know it all. You know what the second biggest flag of being a try-hard or a know it all? When you attempt to do symbolize something but do it with the subtly of fisting a cow. Which by the way happens in this film. So yeah, no flourishes for this review. This is about a freshman girl at Vet School who starts to lose her mind and become a cannibal.
I’m not a fan of gimmicks in a film. It can completely break a film for me. That being said, I tend to look past gimmicks in some cases if it makes the film at least a little interesting (example: Boyhood). But you know what I dislike even more than gimmicks? Gross things! And this film’s gimmick is gross things! God damn it movie! I wanted to like you! I specifically went to go see this film because James was complaining about it on the podcast! I wanted to see it and give it a good review just to mess with James! Why do I do this to myself? Why do I make myself question my love for cinema for a gag? But back to the gimmick.
Think about something gross. It’s in this film. I don’t care what you just thought of, it’s in this film. I feel like the director wrote down every gross thing her mind could come up with and used that as an outline for the film. I imagine she probably was like “Urine is gross. How can I write a scene around that? Then how can I send that into waxing vaginas?” I’m not against all gross things. I am a fan of the Jackass films and recently I’ve taken up Pauly Shore’s filmography because I hate myself. So gross things aren’t a complete deal breaker for me. But when the film is so clearly only doing this for notoriety, it bothers me.
There is no purpose for most of the gross stuff in this film. And I can tell you that a lot of it was only put in the film for a promotional standpoint. This film wants you to walk out. It wants you to walk out so badly. The only reason why anyone cares about this film what-so-ever is because when it premiered in festivals, half of the crowd walked out because it was so gross. And don’t get me wrong, I love walk out movies. One of my favorite films of all time is a film I saw at a festival where half the audience was not present when the credits began to roll. But I love that film because despite including things that aren’t pleasant, those things are needed for the story. THERE IS NO REASON FOR THE LAST SHOT OF THE SCENE TO BE SOMEONE PULLING THEIR ARM OUT OF A COW’S ASS. THERE IS NO REASON FOR THE NEXT SCENE TO BE TWO SISTERS URINATING WHILE STANDING UP. THERE IS NO REASON FOR THE SCENE AFTER THIS TO INCLUDE MASSIVE CLOSE UPS OF WAX BEING STUCK ON A VAGINA. These shots, and to an extent these scenes, are only placed in the film because they wanted people to walk out. That way once the film was in the distribution stage, they could use that as marketing for the film. The only reason why I know of this film is because of the walkouts. I only know about this film because of how “gross” it is. And yes the film has gross imagery. But what is more disgusting is how calculated and unnecessary the film is.
The more infuriating thing is a “plot twist” halfway through. It’s not a plot twist. It’s a reveal that is given that explains some things in the film but it is so half-assed that I am refusing to straight say “plot twist”. It happens and I start to think “Oh! I actually like this. Let’s expand on this and maybe this will be a great example of something that is awful for the first half but picks up in the second half.” NOPE. That interesting thing is almost completely brushed off at first and then immediately becomes another bad part of the film without any kind of development. It’s like they wrote that part in the script and was like “Hey! We haven’t referenced necrophilia yet! Screw this interesting development! That won’t cause walk outs!”
This film legitimately makes me angry. And it is difficult to make me really mad at a film. But this is the kind of film that shows the dark and sick part of filmmaking, especially in the indie world where there should be less of it. The film is so manipulating to its audience and so calculated that it makes me want to vomit, which also happens in this film by the way. I don’t say this often, and maybe I’m only saying it because I had a bad week. But I hate this film. This might legitimately be one of the worst films I have ever seen. And not completely for the film itself, but how it sold itself. You take nothing away from this film besides “Gross”. This film has just as much substance and enjoyability as Slaughtered Vomit Dolls. The only difference is that at least Slaughtered Vomit Dolls never acted like it was anything other than complete garbage.
You know how when you’re wanting to go to the movie theater and you look up all the films that are showing and there are alway at least three that you’ve never heard of, let alone have any interest in seeing? Well, good news! I’ve seen those movies. I spend most of my theater experiences in art house theaters watching those movies that you’ve never heard of and then never watch. Yeah, I’m that hipster asshole. My goal with this is to spread information out about these films, that way you can decide one of the following. “That actually sounds pretty cool! I want to see that now!” or “Man, I’m glad I decided to go see the new superhero movie!”. So without further ado, here is my article and review of Spa Night.
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This is probably a prime example of a film you have never heard of. I can figure this out because I had never heard of this film before and if I haven’t heard of a film, you know it’s obscure. The reasoning behind watching and in part reviewing this film is because I have recently been obsessed with the Independent Spirit Awards. Which I can describe most accurately as the Oscars cousin that almost everyone says “hello” to at the family reunion but no one really hangs out with because the Independent Spirit Awards are off doing their own thing, typically doing things that no one else is really comfortable with to the point of most people thinking “Woah! Independent Spirit Awards! Cool it with all of the weird sex stuff!” But then the Independent Spirit Awards are like “Oh you don’t like all of the weird sex stuff? What about fascism and more sex? Are you okay with fascism and more sex?” And then everyone at the reunion is like “You see! This is why no one watches you Independent Spirit Awards! It’s either Fascism or Sex with you!”
Spa Night is an independent film taking place in Koreatown in Los Angeles. Spa Night follows a young second generation Korean man who attempts to raise his grades so he can attend a good college, while also balancing his new found experimentation with homosexuality as he begins working at a Korean Mens Spa. The reason why I choose this film is because it was nominated for the John Cassavettes Award at the Independent Spirt Awards, meaning best film made for under 500 thousand dollars.
With a small budget, I won’t make any complaints about the film with that regard. I understand that making a movie is extremely expensive and is almost impossible to get funding for. So I won’t be like “They should have done more!” Which isn’t a full complaint with the film. It is a thought, but it won’t be the sole focus of the review as that wouldn’t be fair. But before you go into this film, understand that this is a very low budget film. So you are not going to get any big stunts or set pieces or anything that will cost money. Also, understand that shouldn’t be a requirement for a film.
I’ll start with the acting, which is fine. There really isn’t anything worth noting in the film in regards to the acting. I’m sure the actor are fairly unexperienced or at least haven’t done much on this large of a scale. The main actor is fine, but at the same time, he doesn’t do much. He is quiet almost the entire film and doesn’t do much in terms of facial expression. Which becomes a problem because most of the film is the character of David reacting to seeing things, such as male genitals which there is an abundance of in this film. So when I’d say half of the film is David looking and being intrigued or shocked by something, maybe have a bit more of an expression than “Oh, neat.” Most of the younger actors are pretty mediocre. But the two who place David’s parents are pretty good. They aren’t anything spectacular, but they are better than most of the actors around them.
The true problem the film has is that the film is paced god awfully. And what makes this worse is that the marketing and big selling points of this film, being the exploration of sexuality within a men’s spa, are the most boring parts of the entire film. It feels similar to watching Fifty Shades of Grey, which sounds like an extreme but it isn’t as bad. When watching Fifty Shades of Grey, the only thing worth really watching is the stupid and awful dialogue, the sex scenes are really just fluff that is more boring than you would imagine. A similar problem happens here but to a lesser extent. First of all, the spa scenes don’t happen until around the forty-five-minute mark. For the first half of the film, as well as being a major part of the second half, the focus is pretty solely on David trying to get into a good college. And where the problem rises is the fact that the pacing for the schooling scenes and the pacing for the spa scenes are extremely different. The schooling scenes are paced fast and you feel the stress that David is feeling. The spa scenes, however, are shot like poetry with colors blending throughout and the scene is calm and relaxing. Which sounds great. You could argue that is what makes this film good, the contrast to where David is uncomfortable and where he is comfortable. The problem is that they are so contrasting that it becomes jarring and just poorly done. To the point where I was really into the film in the first half and could barely stay awake the second half.
Where I respect what Spa Night is trying to do, it never does anything to separate itself from every other film in the year. In this point of time, a film about a man discovering his sexuality is an extremely common subject. When you do that kind of subject, you have to find something to separate yourself to the point where you are telling your own story. Not the standard story. And Spa Night just never does that. It feels like something I’ve seen before and the one angle that it had, I never felt like it worked with that hard enough to make it interesting.
The Reel Nerds go berserker when they review Logan.
Because we forgot to acknowledge the Arthouse Asshole segment, here’s a link to Henry’s pick for this week, Pariah.
Show Intro
Reggie Memoriam
Kellen’s First Theater Movie
Weird Al DCC Announcement
Comics Corner
(14:46) Spider-Woman
Alamo Drafthouse Update
(17:35) Riled Up! Celebration
Reel News
(21:24) The Oscars, Deadpool 2 Teaser, T2:3D release, Emily Blunt dressed as Mary Poppins, New Pirates 5 Trailer, Alien Covenant, Tron 3, Star Wars 40th Anniversary Release?
New Releases
(40:43) Moana, Jackie, Super Bowl LI, S.O.B., Phinean’s Rainbow, The Brand New Testament, Colors, Man Down, The Eyes of My Mother, Pulse, Incarnate, Assassination III
What We’ve Been Watching
(47:50) James: Hacksaw Ridge, Blue Like Jazz
(56:11) James & Ryan: Fifty Shades Darker
(1:14:00) Zach: Freddy vs Jason, Crystal Lake Memories, Going Attractions, Toy Story 3
(1:18:00) Ryan: Venom, Michael Bolton’s Big Sexy Valentine’s Day Special, X-Ray, When Harry Met Sally, Wet Hot American Summer, Wild Target, Parks and Recreation
Review
(1:30:45) Logan
You know how when you’re wanting to go to the movie theater and you look up all the films that are showing and there are alway at least three that you’ve never heard of, let alone have any interest in seeing? Well, good news! I’ve seen those movies. I spend most of my theater experiences in art house theaters watching those movies that you’ve never heard of and then never watch. Yeah, I’m that hipster asshole. My goal with this is to spread information out about these films, that way you can decide one of the following. “That actually sounds pretty cool! I want to see that now!” or “Man, I’m glad I decided to go see the new superhero movie!”. So without further ado, here is my article and review of Pariah.
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So the other day, Moonlight won Best Picture at the Oscars. Now if you have followed the podcast, you would know that I am a fan of this decision. I was talking with a couple of my friends about this and one of them mentioned this film. Specifically, they said, “If you liked Moonlight, then you will love Pariah!” And that is the reasoning behind my decision to finally watch this film, even though I had heard of it ever since it’s release.
So let’s start this review by saying that this is no Moonlight. Or maybe it would be for some, but it certainly isn’t a Moonlight for me. Pariah follows a high school girl in Brooklyn as she has her first love with a girl and proceeds to eventually come out to her parents. So one thing I will say off the bat is that I am automatically going to connect with Moonlight more solely because I am a man. If I was a woman I might connect with Pariah more. I honestly don’t know. So I will attempt to review it less on connection and more of the physical, is this film good or not.
Let’s start with the cinematography because that was one of the main points of praise for the film. When the film premiered at Sundance, it was awarded the Excellence in Cinematography. I’ve heard people complain in the past about the various awards given out at Sundance and how meaningless and nonsensical they can be. But there is something in the cinematography in this film. The cinematography is done by Bradford Young, who is an up-and-coming cinematographer with works like Selma and Arrival under his belt with this being his first film. And you can tell that he has talent, even if it is unfocused. The color palette alone in the film is very beautiful. I often find films dealing with actors of color going to a color palette of greens or blues, as a way to compliment the skin in a way that doesn’t white actors. This film is an example of this done well, another comparison to Moonlight being that the color palettes are very similar. The issue I have with the cinematography is more that the entire film is done handheld. And every time I complain about an indie film did handheld, I get the same response. That being, “Well you are supposed to feel like you are in the room with them like a POV!” Yeah, but when my friends fight in front of me, I don’t start breakdancing. So the POV is kind of stupid. It just makes the film harder to watch because I am focusing too hard on figuring out what I’m looking at.
The acting in the film is great. Despite this film coming out in 2011, the actors have really not done anything else since this film. And the acting, where it isn’t revolutionary, is pretty good. I would especially like to point to the father character played by Charles Parnell. He was my favorite out of all the performances because his character is layered in a way that I rarely ever see in a film. Throughout the film, you can tell that his character is dealing with something that is frustrating and tiresome but has nothing to do with the main character. That frustration that the character is dealing with is never fully explored, and you could view this as a bad thing. You could argue that this is poor character development. But when it plays out on screen, to me at least, it feels more like realism. The character is living in the real world. Not in a world where everything revolves around the main character. He has his own struggles that we don’t see, just like how everyone has struggles that we don’t see. So you might see that as a complaint, but I see it as a positive. At least in this instance.
But yeah, it’s not Moonlight, to me anyways. But it is still a good time. If you wanted something like Moonlight to fill some kind of void or whatever, maybe check this one out. It is very much an LGBT film, so if you are someone who doesn’t enjoy those stories, I would recommend skipping it. But if you want something different, yet the same, check out Pariah.
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Pariah is currently available on Netflix.
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
Weird Al Coming to Denver Comic Con 2017
Legendary Parody Recording Artist at Denver’s Premier Pop Culture Convention in June
DENVER – March 1, 2017 – Denver Comic Con (DCC), Denver’s largest consumer convention and a program of education nonprofit Pop Culture Classroom (PCC), today announced it is bringing Weird Al Yankovic to the June 30 – July 2, 2017 event at the Colorado Convention Center.
Weird Al is best known for his parody songs such as “Eat It,” “Pretty Fly for a Rabbi” and “White and Nerdy,” but in addition to being an accomplished musician and songwriter, he’s also an actor, director and writer. He has appeared in films such as the cult classic ‘UHF” (a film he also wrote), and has directed music videos for artists such as Ben Folds and the Black Crowes. He has also written two children’s books, When I Grow Up and My New Teacher and Me!
Of his 14 albums, he has four Gold and six Platinum records. Weird Al has been nominated for the Grammy Awards 11 times, winning four.
Weird Al will appear at Denver Comic Con all three days for signings and photo ops. He will also participate in various panel programming to be scheduled and announced at a later date.
Weird Al joins other notable Denver Comic Con guests such as Billie Piper (“Doctor Who”), Bonnie Wright (“Harry Potter”), Eliza Dushku (“Buffy the Vampire Slayer”), Felicia Day (“Supernatural”), Finn Jones (“Marvel’s Iron Fist, “Game of Thrones”), Gaten Matarazzo and Caleb McLaughlin (Netflix’s “Stranger Things”), Khary Payton (“The Walking Dead”) and Wallace Shawn (“The Princess Bride”).
Denver Comic Con is one of the most attended pop culture conventions in America. The popularity is due in part because of its robust schedule of programming (more than 400 hours of sessions during which artists, creators, celebrities and industry experts talk about their craft and their creations) as well as its family-friendly mission and environment. The largest portion of the show floor, more than 9,000 sq. ft., is dedicated to teens and children with activities designed to engage kids in education through pop culture.
For more information and tickets, please visit www.DenverComicCon.com and www.PopCultureClassroom.org.
About Pop Culture Classroom
Pop Culture Classroom (PCC) is a charitable organization that educates through alternative approaches to literacy, learning, and character development. PCC creates programs for underserved students, schools and communities via comic books, graphic novels, and related media. PCC is the organizer and producer of Denver Comic Con. For more information, visit www.popcultureclassroom.org.
About Denver Comic Con
Entering its sixth year, Denver Comic Con is Denver’s premiere pop-culture fan experience, covering the worlds of comic books, film, and related media. It is also an extension of and an awareness builder for its parent organization, Pop Culture Classroom. For the latest news and information, visit www.denvercomiccon.com.