Hobo Stu

Hello everyone,

Here’s what’s new on HoboTrashcan.com this week:

A Million Universes – Just one of the guys
Nicole Alexandria has always considered herself more of a guy’s girl than a girlie girl. But lately, she’s found it easier to connect with women her age. She discusses what changed in this week’s column.

Murphy’s Law – William Taft: Werewolf Wrestler
Knowing how much Hollywood loves stealing other people’s ideas instead of coming up with original ones, Joel Murphy piggybacks off of Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter this weeks with excerpts from his new screenplay William Taft: Werewolf Wrestler.

Positive Cynicism – The new Burger King
This week, Aaron R. Davis takes us inside the Burger King ad room to show the thought process that went into the company’s latest campaign. If only the Burger King execs were half as creative as Davis is, they might have seen better results.

From the Vault – Hobo Radio 188 – Snuggle bug
Joel Murphy and Lars are taking some much undeserved vacation this week, so we bring you this “classic” show from June 23, 2011. In it, Joel makes the shocking announcement that he is moving the Baltimore, the city he mocked for years, and he’s becoming Lars’ roommate. It’s the show that ended the podcasts done via telephone and finally brought Joel and Lars face to face.

- Hobo Stu

Hobo Stu’s Weekly Recap is also available as an email newsletter. To sign up for the newsletter to ensure you never miss an update, send an email to newsletter-subscribe@hobotrashcan.com.

[Editor's Note - Joel Murphy and Lars are taking some much undeserved vacation this week, so we bring you this "classic" show from June 23, 2011.]

• Introduction
• Joel’s shocking announcement
• The fourth dimension is smell
• 10 things you might not know about Star Wars
• People you should know … James Hong
• Box Office Preview
• “Cactus” by Cab 20

Hobo Radio 187 - Snuggle bug [ 1:04:51 ] Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Joel Murphy has a surprising announcement this week – he’s moving from Richmond to Baltimore. Yes Baltimore, the city he has routinely mocked on the show. But even more surprising is that he’s moving in with Lars.

Joel is still a bit apprehensive about the move, so he asks Lars for advice on how to survive the mean streets of Baltimore. The dynamic duo also discusses Robert Rodriguez’s plans to bring smell to the movie-going experience and “10 Things You Might Not Know About Star Wars” from io9.com.

What movies do you wish had smell-o-vision? Can Lars get through the show’s intro without clearing his throat? Who’s going to be Lars’ snuggle bug? The answers to these questions and more are in this week’s podcast.

Hobo Radio is the official podcast of HoboTrashcan, brought to you by The Podcast Network.

Hobo Stu

Hello everyone,

Here’s what’s new on HoboTrashcan.com this week:

Review – Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter
Let’s face it, history can often be dull. This week, filmmakers attempt to fix that problem by making up their own history as Abraham Lincoln takes on an army of undead vampires. Find out if the film is as ridiculous as it sounds.

Review – Seeking a Friend for the End of the World
Steve Carell’s new apocalyptic comedy poses the question – what would you do if you knew the world was going to end? But perhaps the bigger question is – is this film worth your hard-earned money? Check out our review to find out.

Positive Cynicism – A letter to my fellow men
This week, Aaron R. Davis finds himself once again addressing his fellow men, calling for an end to the cyber bullying and sexual harassment that sadly still seems to run rampant on the Internet.

The Teachers’ Lounge – Memorable Moments 2012, Pt. III
Throughout the year, high school English teacher Ned Bitters has shared some of his favorite moments from the classroom this year. Now that the school year is coming to a close, he’s back with more ridiculous things his students said and did.

Guest Blog Post – What our commercials say about us
Guest columnist Louis Miles shares his thoughts on the plethora of TV commercials Americans are exposed to and muses on what they would mean to someone from an impoverished nation.

Hobo Radio 227 – It’s not the Mickey Mouse Club
This week, Joel Murphy and Lars host their own mini-high school reunion. In addition to regular guest Greg, they also invite their friends Drew and Nathaniel over to hang out. The five old friends shoot the breeze and reflect on old times in this very laid back podcast. (A podcast so laid back, in fact, that a pizza guy shows up in the middle of it and they just let the show keep rolling.)

- Hobo Stu

Hobo Stu’s Weekly Recap is also available as an email newsletter. To sign up for the newsletter to ensure you never miss an update, send an email to newsletter-subscribe@hobotrashcan.com.

Not since Snakes on a Plane has a title of a film done such an effective job letting the audience know what they are in for. And really, your reaction to the title Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter is a great indication of how you will feel about this film.

If the title causes you to roll your eyes, then you are best to avoid this one at all costs.

But if you are excited by the prospect of seeing one of America’s greatest Presidents use an ax to mow down an army of soulless bloodsuckers, then you will not be disappointed.

The film isn’t as campy or as over-the-top as you might expect. While the premise is utterly absurd, the movie still treats the idea seriously and delivers a rather straightforward – though highly-stylized – action film. There are a few passing tongue-in-cheek moments here and there and certainly a lot of winking references to real events, but it goes for action and drama over laughs.

It gets a lot of mileage out of slow motion action sequences, which is frankly a nice change of pace from the shaky camera, quick cut style that has become all too commonplace these days. Director Timur Bekmambetov has a solid sense of where to position the camera and when to slow things down for maximum impact. And he and his fight choreographers have come up with some great large-scale action sequences.

Benjamin Walker does a good job both with the fight scenes and the role of Lincoln itself. Reportedly, Walker did the bulk of the twirling and swinging ax work himself and he’s quite convincing at it. He also does a good job creating a version of Lincoln that seems like an actual person and not some caricature of a man we are all familiar with from our history books and President’s Day sales commercials.

Many of the important moments in Lincoln’s life are retconned to tie into his secret never-ending war with vampires. In this version of events, Abraham Lincoln’s mother is killed by a vampire when he is a child, which convinces him to devote his life to fighting the undead (sort of like a colonial Batman). He is trained by Henry Sturgess (Dominic Cooper), a fellow slayer.

In his poem “The Hollow Men,” T.S. Eliot famously wrote, “This is the way the world ends: Not with a bang but a whimper.”

When it comes to apocalyptic films, Hollywood loves to give us the bang. The end usually comes from aliens destroying all our landmarks or nuclear bombs wreaking havoc on major cities. But Seeking a Friend for the End of the World gives us the whimper – the populace attempting to carrying on with their daily lives despite knowing that the end is inevitably happening in less than a month.

In this film, it’s an asteroid that’s on a collision course with Earth, much like in Armageddon. But instead of witnessing the heroic acts Bruce Willis and his team take to save mankind, the film opens with a radio announcer sullenly informing those listening that our last ditch effort to stop the asteroid has failed before he kicks it over to “Wouldn’t It Be Nice” by the Beach Boys.

We never actually see the asteroid. Instead of an action thriller or a drama, the film is a dark comedy looking at how people react knowing that the end is inevitable. Some, like Patton Oswalt’s character, see the end as a chance to finally have as much meaningless sex as possible. Others, like Warren (Rob Corddry) plan to spend it their final days in a drunken stupor. But our hero Dodge (Steve Carell) is simply going about his normal life – reporting to work every day at a big insurance firm (which is now all but abandoned) just waiting for the clock to eventually expire.

That is until his wife leaves him, causing him to finally reevaluate everything. With the help of his free spirited neighbor Penny (Keira Knightley), he decides to set out in search of “the one that got away” – a high school sweetheart who wrote him a letter three months back looking to reconnect.

What unfolds is a funny, moving and rather captivating road movie about these two unlikely companions spending their last days together. The uptight guy/free spirited girl combination is one often seen in Hollywood, but the characters are so rich and the story so unique that it feels fresh and interesting. Plus there are enough turns in the story to keep things from ever feeling overly too predictable.

Hobo Radio 227 - It's not the Mickey Mouse Club [ 1:09:18 ] Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

This week, Joel Murphy and Lars host their own mini-high school reunion. In addition to regular guest Greg, they also invite their friends Drew and Nathaniel over to hang out. The five old friends shoot the breeze and reflect on old times in this very laid back podcast. (A podcast so laid back, in fact, that a pizza guy shows up in the middle of it and they just let the show keep rolling.)

Hear Drew recount his white water rafting escapades. Hear the boys bust each others chops relentlessly. And head Greg throw around the one swear word you should never say on the show.

What word should you never say on Hobo Radio? Is South of the Border overrun with cats? How tall are midgets? The answers to these questions and more are in this week’s podcast.

This week’s music:

• Intro – “Giddy Up” by Tahuna Breaks
• End – “I Am My Own Asshole” by Kat Leonard

Hobo Radio is the official podcast of HoboTrashcan, brought to you by The Podcast Network.