IR Pop Culture Cagematch: Ghostbusters vs TMNT - Television

Posted by Wheezy

We've got a new segment here for you on Immediate Regret this week. In true internet fashion we are going to take two items out of our pop culture past and pit them against each other in a manner that is thinly researched and heavily biased to our own childhood memories. That's what the internet does best. Well, that and porn online auctions.

The topic for this week's Immediate Regret Pop Culture Cagematch will be the Ghostbusters vs. the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. Throughout the week all of the contributors of Immediate Regret will be throwing up their opinions on various aspects of the two warrior quartets, covering the entire gambit of topics, from Movies to Villians to Video Games and Heroines. So make sure you keep checking back, and definitely drop your own opinions in the comments.

So without further ado, we present:

Immediate Regret's Pop Culture Cagematch
Ghostbusters versus Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles

To start things off, I'll be tackling the topic of Television shows.

For those that weren't alive in the 80's, let's have a quick refresher. For the majority of my age group, the television shows of these respective franchises are defined by their Saturday morning cartoon representations. The Real Ghostbusters was of course based on the 1984 movie, (a topic we'll revisit later in the week) while the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles was based on a comic book, although heavily altered to cater to a younger audience (the comics were significantly darker).

In my mind the turtles arrived on the scene first, some quick Wiki research shows that the Real Ghostbusters had a year head start. Thinking back upon these shows, I find the theme songs having a distinct impact on my enjoyment.

The Real Ghostbusters Cartoon Intro



TMNT TMHT Cartoon Intro

Takes me back to a time when I set an alarm for Saturday mornings. Originally I thought that intro was for an audience that wasn't familiar with the term 'ninja' - like Pirates or Eskimos perhaps. However that theory was quickly debunked by discovery of several toys marketed with those demographics clearly in mind.

It turns out that in the UK version of the Turtles they were referred to as "Heroes" instead of "Ninjas", due to concerns with regards to children becoming infatuated with ninja-esque weapons. Although why that would be a concern is is anybody's guess.

If we were to base this on sheer numbers the Turtles would win out easily in the realm of tv. The Real Ghostbusters had a run of approximately 150 episodes, while the Turtles had almost 200. And that's just the original series. Since its end in 1996, the Turtles have enjoyed several reincarnations, including a live action version called "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: The Next Mutation". The theme song for this one... could use some work.

If we include those episodes along side the current TMNT cartoon run (which started in 2003 and is still going - it's theme song could also use some help) the Turtles are getting close to the 500 mark. But as well all know this is more than a numbers game. So which franchise is better in the overall?

Not even the fact that Winston is voiced by Arsenio Hall can help the G-Men here. I've got to give television to the Turtles. Unlike the Ghostbusters, which is really defined by the movies more than the shows, the Turtles are most certainly best remembered by their original cartoon series. Every incarnation since then has taken heavily from the '86 series, and if it diverges even a little I find myself rejecting the change. Don't get me wrong, I loved the Ghostbusters cartoons as well. But when it comes down to it, if I'm flipping through channels and find that an old Ghostbusters rerun and an old Turtles rerun are on at the same time, I know that I'll be joining the boys in green while simultaneously ordering a pizza (the new ones are pretty good too - right Johnny?)

Ghostbusters vs. TMNT: Television

Winner: TMNT

One last thing. If you're like myself, you might be wondering why exactly the Ghostbusters cartoon was called "The Real Ghostbusters". That was done in order to differentiate itself from the live action / animated fiascos by the name of "The Ghost Busters". Although not related to the Ghostbusters we all know and love, I can't help but feel like these shows hurt the Ghostbusters overall "television" score.

Really, the Turtles could have won this portion on the original theme song alone. Keep checking back for more Pop Culture Cagematch as the week progresses.

IR Pop Culture Cagematch: Ghostbusters vs TMNT - Games and Movies

Posted by Wheezy

This is the sixth post in our IR Pop Culture Cagematch (IRP2C?) series. This series is pitting Ghostbusters against the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. Previous posts: Television ,Weapons, Base & Transportation, Ladies, Enemies.

Immediate Regret's Pop Culture Cagematch
Ghostbusters versus Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles

In this final installment, we will be taking a look at Games and Movies of the respective franchises.

Games

Of course when one thinks of games for these two storied franchises, the mind immediately jumps to the good ol' NES.

You can play the original Turtles game online here.

Let's be honest. Neither of these first attempts can really be called great. Even allowing for some wiggle room since both of these were early on in the maturity of the video game world, neither cartridge is going to fetch a high price on the used market these days. The turtles was not based in any sort of lore from either the TV show or the comics. And the Ghostbusters game was a mind numbing grind that concluded with contracting carpal tunnel by jamming the "A" button to run up 22 flights of stairs. It was funny in the movie, but forcing us to do it in the game takes all of the humor out of the situation. For a more detailed and profane (Audio NSFW) rant on each of these games, check out the Angry Video Game Nerd's reviews of each (here and here).

The difference between the G-Men and the Turtles is that the Turtles continued on to create some of the greatest video games mankind has ever known. Switching from the awkward single player platformer to the multiplayer arcade foot soldier thrashing extravaganza paid off in spades.

Play the NES version of the Turtles Arcade game online here.

These games were what slumber parties were based on back in the day. And not only that, since the turtles has continously been rebooted and reimagined in both TV and movie form since the original series aired, we've seen more and more Turtle games released, all keeping to the same game play premise, and generally speaking, being a good time.

Not only that, but I remember a board game for the Turtles that I absolutely loved.

Seriously, that game was awesome. The Turtles get this one in a landslide.... for now.

Ghostbusters vs. TMNT: Games
Winner: TMNT

Movies

With movies we once again have a situation in which the Turtles continued to produce material long after the Ghostbusters. Unlike the video games, however, I think anybody would be hard pressed to disagree with the fact that the first efforts for both franchises were the best. For me, television and video games are largely flavored by my memories as a child. Movies, on the other hand, are judged against a higher critic. Do they still hold up as entertaining today? Let's first take a look at the respective trailers.

Ghostbusters Movie Trailer

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Trialer

I will say this, the Turtles' trailer leaves a lot more to the imagination. Both movies are still a great watch if you sit down with them today. The dark and grittier Turtles live action movie is still entertaining despite lackluster fight choreography (only so much you can do in big rubber suits) and one liners really meant to appeal to kids.

The second and third TMNT movies start trending more torward the youth audience, the second, of course, being characterized by our favorite white rapper, as Double M already mentioned. But let's be honest. Neither of these movies is phenominal when we strip away our the nostalgia.

Ghostbusters, on the other hand, gets better with age. Written by Dan Akroyd (Ray) and Harold Ramis (Egon), the movie has a lot of laughs that have nothing to do with ghosts. And the movie is better for it. Quick bit of movie trivia - anybody know what other movies Harold Ramis has writing credits on (without checking IMDB)? Animal House, Caddyshack, Stripes, Analyze This, and Groundhog Day are probably the ones on his "Best of Ramis" reel. Honestly, the guy is a genius. Go back and watch Ghostbusters again (on Hulu.com no less). That movie is more than just nostalgia.

Even with the latest CG version of the Turtles in play (which was pretty awesome and entertaining), Ramis and crew have this one locked down... for now.

Ghostbusters vs. TMNT: Movies
Winner: Ghostbusters

So you might have noticed that I keep saying "for now" after the cagematch has been decided. Luckily for us, these two franchises are far from being done. The Ghostbusters have a new game coming out sometime next year that is getting a lot of great press up front. Not only was this written by the originals (Akroyd and Ramis), but it has all the original voice actors as well (including Murray). Here's some footage - it looks spectacular.

Not only that - but both Turtles and 'Busters are rumored to be making more movies in the very near future. Supposedly the next Turtles romp will be a CG live action hybrid while the next Ghostbusters flick has the writers from "The Office" working on it, and favorable interest from Akroyd, Ramis, and even Murray.

This battle ain't over yet kids. Look for RoyalCow's wrap up post for our cagematch a little later in the week.

Tweeting me Softly - Weekly Twitter Round Up

Posted by Wheezy and Ross




Hey hop ons. Wheezy here.

Good news! No need for a lengthy explanation of what's going on - already did that last week. So without further ado...

Immediate Regret Weekly Twitter Round Up

From powdernine

NASA, China, you're on watch. Apparently that private sector has a chunk of your pie.


from slashfilm

Oh YES! Bladerunner 2 baby. Wait, who is writing it? The guys who wrote Eagle Eye? Crap.


From listrophy

Like that new car smell eh? I sure hope so. It's the last thing your nose will ever enjoy. I guess it's toxic.

From drhorrible

Looking for a good job in times of difficult economic crisis? Hope you've been practicing your laugh...

from RossAM

FOX News. Fair and balanced? Absolutely. Mathematically accurate? Not so much.

from royalcow

People falling and hurting themselves is just plain funny.

Ha ve a good weekend people.

Addendum to Immediate Regret's Weekly Twitter Round Up:
Posted by Ross

From wesleyzero

What I like about Sarah Palin is that she answers debate and interview questions the same way I would fill out a college blue book essay.

from feliciaday

Michelle Sagara, Karen Moening, juicy paranormal-romance are my achilles tendon right now. Vaginal fantasy FTW.

...

Achilles HEEL! Jeez I always get that mixed up.

Seven Degrees of Obscurity

Posted by Wheezy




Anybody else see the Dark Knight yet? Oh. About 15 million of you have? Nifty. For the rest of you, don't worry. No spoilers here.

I know that everybody is talking about Heath Ledger and his amazing performance (and rightly so), but I've been extremely surprised that nobody has brought up the terrific job done by none other than "Brat Pack" member, Anthony Michael Hall.

Since most of you haven't seen Anthony Michael Hall since the last time Weird Science was on USA "Up All Night", I can certainly understand not recognizing him as the tabloid-esque news reporter in the Dark Knight. But he was there.

You do remember Weird Science I hope? Probably the best part of Weird Science was the sweet theme song that was made for it by the band Oingo Boingo. Here's a refresher. I apologize in advance for getting this song stuck in your head for the rest of today.

I know what you're thinking. "Who was the lead singer in that video? Methinks he made me wet my pants a little." Well that is none other than the talented and versatile Mr. Danny Elfman. You know, the guy who wrote the theme song for The Simpsons and the 1989 Batman movie? And Beetlejuice, and Edward Scissorhands, and pretty much anything directed by Tim Burton. That guy.

Apparently before Danny Elfman was writing creepy music for Tim Burton he was the creepy front man for Oingo Boingo. And sometime before they "hit it big" with Weird Science, they put out this music video.

To be honest after that I'm surprised they didn't lock the guy up. Then again, maybe they did. I don't suppose there are any rules about being nominated for Oscars while in prison. (Big Fish, Good Will Hunting, and Men in Black).

Surprisingly, no nominations for "Little Girls." Maybe next time Danny.

Shameless Self Promotion - Wheezy's Reel

Posted by Wheezy

Hey there Hop ons. Wheezy here.

As some of you know, for the past couple of years I've been studying Computer Animation at Full Sail University in Orlando, FL. The last bit of time at school was spent working on my first Demo Reel. Essentially a demo reel is an animation portfolio containing a few short scenes that demonstrate what kind of stuff I am capable of for prospective employers. It's what I'll use to get a job - hopefully. Otherwise I'll just continue pitching in on Ross's soon-to-be award winning series of books.

I recently submitted my reel to the 2008 aniBoom Awards Animation Festival. Essentially this is an annual competition put on by the YouTube of the animation world, aniBoom.

So if you have a minute (1 minute and 20 seconds to be precise), and want to watch my efforts, I've included my reel in this very post. After watching it if you have another 10 seconds or so to kill, and want to help your friend Wheezy out, go give my video a ranking over at it's aniBoom page.

Hope you like it! Thanks for taking the time to watch it.

The competition goes through December 14th, so I imagine I'll be mentioning this again sometime within the next couple of weeks. Indulge a poor unemployed animator.

Where Are They Now: Girl from 'My Girl'

Posted by Wheezy

I'm trying to introduce a new segment here at Immediate Regret called "Where Are They Now?". It could just as easily be called "Wheezy looked It Up on IMDb." Maybe they'll give us a sponsorship one day.

Anyway, today's subject is that girl from 1991's My Girl, Anna Chlumsky.

The most interesting sounding movie of Anna's post My Girl achievements (aside from My Girl 2 of course) is Gold Diggers: The Secret of Bear Mountain (1995), costarring Christina Ricci (fresh off her role in Casper). The title of this movie is a bit misleading by Kanye's standards, but here's the trailer for your amusement.

I believe I also caught a glimpse of a young Jewel Staite of Firefly and Serenity fame.

Of course this segment isn't called "What'd they do Right After the First Time You Saw Them?", but rather "Where Are They Now?" Well 'Girl from My Girl' has recently made a triumphant return to prominence in Season 1 of 30 Rock (2007) as Liz Lemler.

And there ya have it. 'Girl from My Girl' would later be fired in that very episode by Liz Lemon. So I guess she's looking for a job again. Best of luck "Girl from My Girl".

Happy Birthday Wheezy

Posted by Double M




Hey all you hop ons. Guess what? Today is Wheezy's birthday! Usually, this means he is in the process of getting wasted from PBR and Tequila, but since he's all big-time Cali/Hollywood now I'm sure it means he's drinking mimosas out of some underage boys fancy glasses.

Anyway, since Wheezy's got a job and, thus, all the cool toys, I didn't know what to get him, so I found him a couple mist videos with some ideas.

If you don't know him, Wheezy is a nice guy and he's always willing to help youngsters (like I was at one point) become more enlightened and experienced. One of the ways he does this is by passing along his sage advice (such as, "When you're hungover, just keep eating cups of ramen until you don't puke anymore. Then you'll know that you're not hungover anymore."). I'm worried that as he's getting older people may start ignoring him, so, if you want, I'll help you get an auto-tuner worked into your shirt so you'll always sound like Kanye. Here's an awesome example:

All it would take is an auto-tuner. Or you cuold just get that clever "Play button"-er shirt. That would work too.

Wheezy also loves animated robots. I think he gets a 3/4-chub every time he hears the name Wall-E. So what better present to give him on his birthday than a robot dance off.

Happy Birthday, hombre.

eChef Review - Better late than Never

Posted by Wheezy

Well, it's better late than never. I was supposed to write this review back when eChef actually sponsored Immediate Regret, but some other things kept me a little too busy (Have you gone and voted for my Demo reel yet? Help me break the Top 50!)

Anyway, I'll tell you what you need to do. Go to echefsoftware.com and buy two copies of eChef. One for you, and one for your mom. And not just because Pacman is the official sponsor (check the logo!) Once your mom has a copy, then you should have the rest of your culinary life covered.

Essentially, eChef is just as Andrew described it. It's iTunes for recipes. You load in all the ingredients, directions, and a picture of the final product. Where the convenience of this software comes in is in the abundance of meta data that you can add. Difficulty, preparation time, genre, time of day for which it is appropriate... just about anything you'd need to know about a given recipe. And of course, like any good software, you can add custom categories and use this data to filter your results.

This means that when I wake up on a Sunday after a night of "spirited" enjoyment, I can sort by difficulty, filter for my custom category "Hangover", and voila!

I have the perfect match for my current situation. Why I bothered entering "Ramen Noodles" into eChef is a mystery we'll have to address at another time.

But the real genius of the software is in two other features.

First of all - sharing. Gone are the days of writing down recipes by hand or even printing out lists of directions from the web. If you want to share a recipe with another person, eChef has a convenient "Email" button that can be used with ease. You can also import recipes in eChef's own .eat format or MasterChef .mx2, and export in .eat, .rtf, html, iPod notes and Outlook notes. I don't even know what iPod notes are, but this software can export to it. This is where the part about buying a copy for your mom comes in. Once she enters in all of her recipes into her copy of eChef, all of those childhood favorites are just an email away. And if you don't get your mom a copy, there are eChef Google Groups where you can find new eats.

The second feature that really sells this software for me is the ability to create a shopping list. Any given day of the week, if I'm going to cook then I have to go to the store and buy the specific ingredients I need. I may have some of the spices, but otherwise my pantry consists of some bread and Ramen. I don't plan anything.

Well with eChef, you just drag the recipes you're going to cook for the week into your "Shopping List" (think Playlist in iTunes) and eChef compiles and categorizes all of the ingredients you'll need to buy. Now you have a shopping list you can print off, and instead of wandering back and forth between the meats and the vegetables, you know everything you need to grab in each department as you go down your list. Not only that, but if you have recipes that contain the same ingredients it combines the quantities. That way you won't find yourself buying a can of beet juice only to find that ten items further down your list you need another two cans of the same thing. (You don't buy beet juice?)

As far a the downsides go, it's really more a wishlist than anything. The biggest problem I have is with the data entry portion. This is of no way a fault of the software or UI, I'm just lazy. Entering ingredients and directions takes time, and I prefer to use my time elsewhere (you know... Animating and talking to my unemployment buddy Ross on the phone). Ultimately, the benefits outweigh this, but what would be really nice is if eChef had an online database of recipes to search, or could automatically parse pages over at Food.net. Another wish list item would be to pull down an average price for grocery list items from some source online. That way I could keep within a particular budget as I made my weekly shopping list.

All in all, this product is well worth the $40 price tag if you're even mildy interested in cooking your own meals. Anytime your a reviewer's negative thoughts (if they can even be called negative) is a list of ways to plus a product as opposed to complaints about what's already there, you know you've got a good thing on your hands.

And if you can get your mom to do all the data entry for you, I'd say that's worth the price of another copy for her (think Christmas people!).

Have a good week!

The Twitter Heard Round the World - Weekly Twitter Round Up

Posted by Wheezy

This week the Twitter-verse was dominated by political celebration, lamentation, or speculation (I could be Don King). For the most part I'll do my part to spare you of all that. And now, the Weekly Twitter Round Up.

from wesleyzero

Turns out this whole "Name the Occupation" happened back in '93. At least in the world of The Onion.

from uglyhill

Begin salivating that will continue until sometime next year. Pixar's "Up" dropped a new trailer recently.


from calendine

Personally I would add "It is what it is" to this list of Top Ten Most Annoying Phrases, discovered by Oxford researchers.

from bradley

Apparently Barney the First Dog of the White House doesn't like that reporters keep infringing on Sarah Palin's freedom of speech.

from feliciaday

Our favorite Dr. Horrible heroine spoke with the Onion A.V. club at length. One of those middle school occupational tests told me I'd be a great AV Tech. No joke.

from doublem

Another article about entertainment favorites. Sorry for all the "reading" this week.

from dwheezy

RIP Michael Crichton. I imagine the movie remake of your awesome book Timeline weighed heavily on you.

from BarackObama

Was there an vote or something on Tuesday? I thought the world felt a little bit different...

Have a good week everybody.