this is one hell of a geeky weekend

I just put the finishing touches on the note for the house sitter (my favorite new addition to the standard boilerplate: how to hook up Rock Band without messing up my tours) and I'm about to head out to San Diego for some awesome geekery this weekend.

Before I leave, though, I had to say: Go see Iron Man this weekend. It is awesome.  I saw a preview screening on Monday, and other than the score (which is absolute crap) the movie is damn near perfect. I think it’s the best comic book movie since Sin City, and blows Transformers and the last two X-Men movies into oblivion.

Need a little more convincing? Go see it for the pitch-perfect performances, lead by Robert Downey Junior, who absolutely makes this film so enjoyable. io9 says, “Iron Man is the first comic-book movie that’s actually better than its source material. That’s partly because Iron Man is one of the most boring characters in the history of comics, but it’s also because the movie manages to transcend its source.” I was never a fan of Iron Man, but I'm positively looney for this movie.

If you're looking for other ways to get your geek on this weekend: tomorrow is Free Comic Book Day, there's a Maker Faire in the Bay Area, JPL's Open House is in Los Angeles and there's a BarCamp in San Diego.

Oh, and did I mention that I'll be in San Diego?

Comments

[Giladani]

The Iron Man source material is boring? Really? To each their own. The movie isn't all that much changed from the comic, just blended together about 3 different storylines and changed some characters around.

[Wayne Zachary]

Hey Wil!

Thanks for the heads up on the Free Comic Book Day. I picked up a How to Draw Sampler by Wizard and a Star Wars mini figurine of a Clone Trooper Order 66. I also found out that Lone Star Comics does happen to carry DST Star Trek items, heck they even carry some of the old Playmates stuff. If I can't find better prices on Ebay I might have to go back there and see what I can buy , after I come back from my trip in June to see molly that is. Thank you for keeping me updated on all my geeky needs. *Drops Dark Side of the Moon hat and doodles a likeness of favorite sci-fi whiz kid Wes Crusher with some helpful hints from my new book*

[Amy Serhienko]

Loved, loved, LOVED it. Downey is without question one of the best actors of his generation. I'm glad someone's finally given him the money-making potential to go with the talent.

But I expected him to be fantastic. The real revelation to me was Jeff Bridges, who was almost unrecognizable. What a great villain!

[Ian Coomber]

Just to add to the geekiness of the weekend . . .

May the Fourth be with you!!!

[MikeN]

I absolutely hated Iron Man after the end of the 'Civil War' comic series and it's a testament to how great this movie is that it's made me a fan of IM again. I squealed with nerd joy at the post-credits clip.

[Celtic Mama]

For more geekiness, Adobe Media Player has a CBS channel dedicated to Star Trek TOS. They've got every episode on there. There's a short commercial here and there, but they have every episode of TOS.

[Anna Harriman]

I would go see Iron Man, but there are three things preventing me from doing so:

1) Lack o' car.
2) Lack o' cash.
3) My on-demand service has seen fit to bless me with Evil Dead 2 and Army of Darkness at the same time, and Bruce Campbell pwns Robert Downey Jr.

Have fun in San Diego!

[Thrasher]

I hate all of you

(I work at a movie theatre and sold out every show of Iron Man-- worked 9 hours Saturday and 12 hours Sunday)

I'm glad it's actually worth all the fuss, but still made my life hell for the weekend.

I've even been tempted to tell people who ask about it that Wil Wheaton said it was amazing, but I refrained stuck with "I've heard really really good things"

hope your weekend went well :)

[Merbrat]

Wil...
Gina had a lovely review of your meeting at lifehacker:
http://lifehacker.com/386986/how-wil-wheaton-gets-things-done

[whatupdog]

IRON MAN: I didn't pay much attention to the score, but they did sneak in quite a few popular songs from the last twenty years.

Here is my score card on comic books and their movies.

1) The Hulk - The best comic book coupled with the worst movie ever.

2) Fantastic Four - Second best comic book with a very medium first movie.

3) Spiderman - Never really read it. Spiderman II is probably one of the best movies of all time regardless of category (Spiderman III not so much ;)

4) XMEN - Never read them but the movies were enjoyable. Logan was always written too much like Ben Grimm.

Iron Mas was great! Now I have to go back and see the ending credits.

[t_knotts]

Okay, advice heeded. Iron Man definitely delivered; I was never a huge fan of the comic but I thoroughly enjoyed the movie.

Also, courtesy of SlickDeals and your previous thumbs-up via JAG, I made a purchase today. I can't wait to finally get a chance to check this series out!

--T

[Lanen]

Saw this over at i09 today. Dont know if its posted somewhere else and I missed it or not. But here ya go: http://io9.com/386985/captain-wesley-crusher-starfleet-investigative-services

[Carrie]

I've never really been a comic book reader, but I've watched several of the recent movie adaptations and enjoyed them to varying degrees. That said, I absolutely *loved* Iron Man. So nice to see Robert Downey Jr. back on his feet, and in a big-budget, mainstream film that will allow more people to witness his talent. I'm already excited for any and all sequels they film.

Also, my copy of "Happiest Days" arrived last week, which made me very happy. :)

[savage]

If this Star Trek movie turns out to be Star Wars, somebody is going to have a religious war on their hands. Instigated by me.

[simbeau]

So, as a fellow geek you had to get the TRON ring game reference when Stark was hanging from the broken skylight at the climax of the movie. Right??