The Guild: Seasons 1-5
Netflix Streaming
Seasons 1-2 DVD
Season 3 DVD
Season 4 DVD
Season 5 DVD
Created by Felicia Day
Starring Felicia Day, Sandeep Parikh, Jeff Lewis, Robin Thorsen, Wil Wheaton
Microsoft Distribution and www.WatchTheGuild.com
Originally Posted: July 27, 2007

The Guild is a part of online geek legend, and I have long been a fan of the series. The fun examination of gaming culture, laced awesome dry humor galore, driven by the wonderful creative mind of Felicia Day resulting in an amusing and innovative representation of early 21st century internet and geek culture.

Beginning as a webisode series, The Guild follows main character Cyd Sherman, otherwise known as Codex, who is grappling with her obsession (addiction) with online gaming. Participating in a MMORPG (resembling World of Warcraft, but referred to only as "The Game" in the show), Codex is teamed with a guild known as the Knights Of Good.

11-11-11: The Prophecy
Netflix Streaming
DVD
Directed by Darren Lynn Bousman
Starring Timothy Gibbs, Michael Landes, Wendy Glenn
Big Air Studios
Originally Released: November 11, 2011

Since I was 23, the time stamp of “4:44” keeps coming up and recurring in my life. I have no idea whether this has any relevance or not, but it’s something I’ve noticed frequently, and as a result I often get attracted to stories surrounding the concept of meanings behind significant numerological synchronicities. 11-11-11: The Prophecy is one such film, and surveys this concept in greater detail than many other stories have.

Written and directed by Darren Lynn Bousman, best known for his contributions to the Saw series, 11-11-11 (not to be confused with the ‘mockbuster’ with the rip-off name of 11/11/11 — the movie with the correct title uses dashes instead of slashes) explores in elaborate depth the nature of synchronicity, numerology, and its relation to imagery and prophecy. The concept lends itself very strongly to the horror genre, and comes across brilliantly.

Not Of This Earth
Netflix Streaming
DVD
Directed by Jim Wynorski
Starring Traci Lords, Arthur Roberts, Ace Mask, Becky LeBeau
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
Originally Released: May 13, 1988

Heading for a change of pace in our weekly Netflix Streaming Review, this week we take a look at the cheesiness and campiness of the classic and cult B-Grade sci-fi flick, Not Of This Earth. The film has the distinct fame for being Traci Lords‘ first “serious” mainstream acting vehicle after her first few adult film flings. The movie is a flashback to an era of filmmaking when B-Grade flicks had their own culture and fan following, when it was acceptable and almost mandatory to include a bad story with bad acting, but special effects and lots of boobs. That is the way of things when it comes to movies like Not Of This Earth.

First off, this movie is totally campy, cheesy, and ill budgeted – it’s best to be aware of these elements before going into viewing it. In fact, it is so stuck in the 1980s, it has a nude tittie shot followed by awful keyboard-induced music within the first five minutes of the film – it’s so seamlessly done and indicative of the era that it puts both Flesh Gordon movies to shame. But that’s what these movies were all about both back in the day and in this day looking at it in retrospective.

Point Blank
Netflix Streaming
DVD | Blu-ray
Directed by Fred Cavayé
Starring Gilles Lellouche, Roschdy Zem, Gérard Lanvin, Elena Anaya, Mireille Perrier, Claire Perot
Magnolia Pictures
Originally Released: December 01, 2010

Point Blank hits all-speed-ahead from the very beginning. It is unapologetically an action film, with a good dose of thriller elements and high suspense. Made in France under the title À Bout Portant, the movie is an enjoyable experience with some brilliant performances from some excellent actors who I hope we will see more of in future cinema experiences.

Get out your popcorn and don’t look for meaning, subtext, or symbolism – this is a pure action flick taking influence and structure from some of the most reliable and exciting stories of ages long gone.

Star Trek: Deep Space Nine
Netflix Streaming
DVD
Star Trek created by Gene Roddenberry
Deep Space Nine created by Rick Berman and Michael Piller
Starring Avery Brooks, Colm Meaney, Michael Dorn, Majel Barrett-Roddenberry, René Auberjonois, Armin Shimerman, Nana Visitor, Cirroc Lofton, Alexander Siddig, Max Grodénchik, Terry Farrell, Nicole de Boer, Tony Todd, Iggy Pop
Paramount Television and CBS Television Distribution
Originally Broadcast: January 03, 1993

As a few of our regular readers have probably figured out by now, I have been going through a bit of a Star Trek kick as of late; and with all incarnations of the television shows available for instant streaming on Netflix, it’s a prime opportunity to become reacquainted with the final frontier. And so for this week’s review, I decided to dive into Star Trek: Deep Space Nine.

And yet, there are many fans who seem to consider DS9 to be the ginger stepchild left under the stairs.

I prefer to consider it SPECIAL.

…as in EXTRA SPECIAL COOL, yo.

Conceivably one of the most divisive series among fans, Deep Space Nine has been considered to be the best of the Star Treks by many fans, and yet the worse by many others. This is because DS9 takes a completely different perspective, perhaps even a bold one, by Star Trek standards: it stays fairly much in the one location.