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Greetings, gay geeklings!

First of all, we'd like to take a quick moment to thank the intrepid first members of the GGG for showing up to our meeting on Tuesday, September 18th. Tim, Sarah, Ruthana, William, and Raven - thanks for helping us get this off the ground. As my Triple-G cofounder Steven says, it's good to see boys and girls in the same room for once! Be quiet, Steven.

After introductions were made, the geekiness flew in all directions as we discussed any number of topics - upcoming TV shows and movies, possible GGG group events, and our next meeting (Tuesday, October 16). We ran the gamut from fantasy literature to Star Trek, computer gaming, and personal cult movie favorites ("Krull," anyone?). New members were subjected to a battery of obscure trivia questions and delicious cookies. Hope to see even more of you next time.

Okay, so here's some geeky stuff culled from the past week. We'll always start the blog off with at least one film review:

"Resident Evil: Extinction" – I've just been asked if high-quality zombie films actually exist. Of course they do, and like so many other horror-movie-loving geeks, I live in hope of seeing new ones emerge (from the creatively-bankrupt grave of Tinseltown, as it were). Is this one of them? No, it most certainly isn't. While I have to admit that the undead makeup effects have drastically improved, this new entry just doesn't hold a candle to the surprisingly decent first installment of the "Resident Evil" video-game-to-movie franchise. Yeah, "surprisingly decent" is pretty much the pinnacle of this uneven franchise's creative achievements. Sure, the second film ("Resident Evil: Apocalypse") had a dramatically downward shift in both tone and quality (juggling mediocre slo-mo action sequences with flat comic relief), but at least it felt like we were still remotely in the same universe as the first film. "Extinction" throws pretty much everything out the window. Suddenly it's five years after the last film, and

America

has become Mad Max land. We learn in the first few minutes that murderously rapacious hillbillies have taken their rightful place at the top of the (living) food chain. Yawn. We follow a bunch of weary, but wise-cracking survivalists, who are so utterly interchangeable and underdeveloped that they may as well have targets painted on their foreheads. The film's story is a loosely knit pastiche of story elements freely lifted from "Alien: Resurrection," "Day of the Dead," "X-Men," and "Convoy." Yes, "Convoy." Sheesh! Milla Jovovich adds some double machete action to her high-kicking arsenal of chopsocky moves. Inexplicably, she doesn't actually need to decapitate her zombie opponents, just slash 'em up real good (I'm guessing that undead head removal just wasn't in this film's budget). Instead, the producers have decided to subject Jovovich's youthful and naturally beautiful face to a distracting (but expensive-looking) film technique that makes her skin looks utterly flawless and nearly mannequin-like. It's eerily reminiscent of the CGI that was used on poor Patrick Stewart and Ian McKlellan at the start of "X-Men 3: The Last Stand," which undoubtedly had the aim of making them look younger, but instead made them look like thrifty recipients of back-room Peruvian face-lifts. "Resident Evil: Apocalypse" characters Jill Valentine and Angie Ashford are mysteriously missing from this new film (even though much of the previous sequel's "plot" revolved around them), and their fate is never mentioned. Even if you're a geeky completist who feels compelled to watch every installment of a franchise, avoid this film at all costs. You've been warned. Choose wisely. Steven has just reminded me that I did not, so I have no one to blame but myself. Shut up, Steven.

On to a smattering of movie news:

Okay, it's eight months away, but I'm completely psyched for it. "The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian" opens on May 16th. Check out the brand-new poster in our pictures section.

Paramount Pictures has hired Zoe Saldana to play young Uhura in J.J. Abram's all new, all retro, all velour-clad "Star Trek" motion picture. Anton Yeltin is young Chekov, Zachary Quinto is young Spock. No word yet on Scotty, Sulu, and, oh yeah, KIRK! I have to admit that it's making me extremely nervous that they haven't secured someone to sit in the captain's chair yet. If the producers had managed to ensnare a big star, you just know that

Paramount

would be bragging about it already. J.J. Abram's comments at the San Diego Comic-Con make it sound like he's having a hard time finding anyone, even an unknown, to play the part. Cameras start rolling November 2007, so expect an announcement real soon on this critical bit of casting. Trek on!

The Hobbit...

Viggo Mortensen has recently expressed interest in reprising his role of Aragorn in the inevitable "Hobbit" film adaptation. Hrmph. I say thee, NAY! While I'd love to see "The Hobbit" realized on the big screen, I wonder if it's filmmakers can be trusted to create a cool (yet understated and appropriate) cameo for Aragorn without completely botching it, especially considering that Peter Jackson isn't associated with the project at all. Let's leave well enough alone, shall we? Just use the existing characters from the story, for cripes' sake! Hey, Elrond makes an appearance, so maybe Hugo Weaving might be available? That'd be pretty cool. John Rhys-Davies could easily play one of the thirteen dwarves. Hey, why not Glóin or Balin? Or even both? That'd be both nifty AND appropriate. Hell, Triple-G cofounder Steven suggests having him play ALL of the damn dwarves (it'll be like those repulsive Oompa-Loompas in "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory")! I guess the thing that bothers me about an

Aragon

cameo, is that it's just plain unnecessary when the story's screentime is at a premium. Many LOTR fans have complained about the original trilogy's source material feeling rushed or truncated. What is their response going to be when producers start inserting invented scenes at the expense of Tolkein's stuff? And if the Aragorn cameo actually DOES happen, it better not be like Janeway popping up on a viewscreen in "Nemesis," I tells ya. Love Janeway, love Mulgrew, but that scene was forced, poorly- written and just plain lousy. An excellent example on how NOT to do a cameo for a beloved character. 'Nuff said.

The screenwriters behind the "Jason Vs. Freddy" have officially been hired to write a re-imagined re-launch of the Friday the 13th franchise. I'm feeling pretty ambivalent about this tidbit, especially after the mixed bag of tricks that Rob Zombie's "Halloween" turned out to be. Unlike some of the later Halloween films, the Jason movies have rarely tried to embellish upon their paper-thin mythology. They were always more concerned with how to kill campers in creative ways at different locales (lakeside, on a slow boat to

Manhattan

, in outer space). Will we be forced to witness the humanization of a serial killer in this re-imagining? Will we be subjected to an excess of backstory aimed at demystifying another horror movie icon? Will Jason Vorhees become the poster-boy champion for white-trash

America

, wreaking bloody havoc on the complacently comfortable scions of the bourgeoisie? Only the Shadow knows.

Until next week. Expect lots of space devoted to the fall television premieres.

Geek it out.