No matter how you feel about Bellflower, the first feature film by Evan Glodell, you have to admit his voice is one of the most original in indie film in the last few years. Bellflower is an obsessive work by an engineer turned filmmaker, who gives us a stark look at relationships from a very male point of view.

The film is the story of two friends, Woodrow and Aiden, who are busy planning for their life in a post apocalyptic world. They have a gang called Mother Medusa, a badass tricked-out car and a flamethrower. But things change when Woodrow gets a girlfriend and catches her cheating on him.

The film’s ultimate apocalypse turns out to be a very personal one as Woodrow violently struggles to make sense of his crumbling world around him.

The first thing that strikes you about Bellfower is the look of the film, with its grittiness and documentary-like feel contrasted by some really beautiful, almost dreamlike sequences. That coupled with solid performances from the cast of up and coming actors adds a level of realism you hardly see on the big screen today.

While I enjoyed the overall story of the film, I felt the pacing in the second act could use some work. Bellflower is the definition of a singular voice in a film and makes no compromises. Which is both the film’s strength and ultimately its greatest weakness. Bellflower is probably the manliest relationship film ever made and a great example of true DIY filmmaking in this digital age and with that I give it a 3.5 out of 5 stars.

Bellflower opens today at the Ritz at the Bourse.

The Robin of Sherwood Boxed Set 1 on Blu-Ray chronicles the transformation of Robin of Loxley into the thieving scamp we all know as Robin Hood. Michael Praed turns in a quality performance as the Prince of Thieves. Many of you more seasoned TV geeks (Hey! I didn’t say older!) may remember him from Dynasty. Amongst Robin’s merry men is the hot headed Will Scarlet (Ray Winstone). Winstone has been working a bit more recently and you might remember him from The Departed and The Kindom of the Crystal Skull. (Which, according to me, doesn’t exist. Indy was last seen riding off into the sunset on horseback with his dad, Marcus Brody, and Sallah.)

Follow Robin through his most harrowing adventure yet to save the sweet Maid Marian. Robin of Sherwood does not hesitate to delve into the darker depths of the Robin Hood legend that is full of pagan mysticism. I found it to be one of the most interesting adaptations of the tale. The entire series was shot on location in the English countryside which allows it to evoke a feel of authenticity.

The set is not lacking in bonus features. There 3 blu-ray discs are packed with the first 13 episodes from series one and two. But the final disc is loaded with over 8 hours of bonus features. So if you are like me, and bought the Lord of the Rings Extended Editions and watched all the bazillion hours of behind the scenes documentaries…twice, then you will want for nothing.

Robin of Sherwood came out on June 7th and you can get it from www.acornonline.com for $79.99.

This looks to be a fun and busy month for people who love film in our fair city. The Romantic a full length animated feature by Philadelphia filmmaker Michael Heneghan will be shown at The First Glance Film Festival this Friday, October 15th at 8pm at the Franklin Institute.

What makes The Romantic such an interesting film is the film not only was the brain child of Michael Heneghan, but was almost completely animated over the course of 5 years by him as well. The film is a labor of love and definitely a great film in time for Halloween. I was lucky enough to catch a showing of it last year went it had just been finished and I was really blown away by the film.  Not only was it beautiful to watch, you could really tell the story was of a single mind which is very rare these days.

The film definitely shows the best case scenario of one person with a vision putting his singular vision on the screen. Part Tim Burton, Part Neon Genesis Evangelion, this film asks a lot of questions about life, love and God and gives you an interesting perspective on all three. Get more info on the film here  www.theromanticmovie.com and get more info on the event here firstglancefilms.tix.com.

Welcome to Dialog Tree (formerly known as Coffee Talk), where we still discuss the finer topics concerning video games, technology and other issues you’re less geeky friends care not to talk about — we just decided upon a better fitting title. So, let’s have a dialog, shall we? Have questions or something you’d like to see discussed? Let us know in the comments!

Nintendo’s Eiji Aonuma admitted to the existence of an official timeline for the Legend of Zelda series, but it’s a secret. Only Aonuma, Shigeru Miyamoto (we would hope he was involved) and the director of the title, Hidemaro Fujibayashi have seen the classified document. Surely this confirmation has sent  Zelda fans raving, not to mention that The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword will take place before Ocarina of Time. Considering the critically acclaimed title has been the chronological anchor to which every other Zelda release has been attached to, this is hug– wait, since when is all of this nonsense relevant?

This image is heavily cropped. Just let that sink in.

While all of this speculation might be in good fun, this equivalent to Einstein’s theory of relativity is downright ridiculous. Unlike complex plots within shows like Lost or movies such as the new hype machine Inception, whether Game A happened before Game B has little to no relevance to the enjoyment of the Zelda franchise.

It’s not as if players are being rewarded for all of their speculation, theory craft and research in the same vein as scrutinizing the plot in Lost (I’d go so far as to say we weren’t rewarded handsomely for that either). The experience of a Zelda game, quite frankly, is too beautifully simple for that.

Regardless of the sequence of events or whether the Link in question is hereditary tied to the original Link, Skyward Sword will most likely be structured in the same way Ocarina of Time, A Link to the Past and nearly every Zelda title was before it. The only situation in which the sequence of events would matter is if each title followed the same characters in an iterative plot  (Nintendo was nearly on the right track with Majora’s Mask being a somewhat direct sequel).

That’s enough of the Zelda nerdery (sort of). Here’s a scenario: if on the outset Miyamoto made an announcement stating that, similar to the Final Fantasy franchise, each Zelda game is a reiteration of Hyrule and has little to no relevance to the title before it, would it affect how you perceive Link, Zelda and Ganondorf so strongly that you might lose interest? Would it change the way you approach exploring the land and its usual 11 dungeons and final castle (whether that design is stale is for another discussion entirely)?

After 25 years of guessing, speculating and creating an obscenely massive JPG, nothing Miyamoto nor Aonuma will reveal about this timeline will either satisfy those who are interested or change anything about how Zelda games are enjoyed — at least how that enjoyment pertains to each individual release. Link’s adventures will still be enthralling and sprawling, Hyrule will still be as vast as it is lively and Ganondorf will still be one of the greatest video game villains of all time.

Next time you enter Hyrule as our favorite elf in pajamas, try to ignore any mentions of “The Hero of Time” (this is all your fault, Nintendo). Pretend that this Link is the only Link and you’re adventure in Hyrule is the first of its kind. See how it affects your enjoyment of the game. Unless, of course, you wash up on the shore of an unfamiliar island. Then, you’re probably just dreaming anyway.

Get Him to the Greek, the new comedy written and directed by Nicholas Stoller (Forgetting Sarah Marshall), which stars Jonah Hill (Superbad) and Russell Brand hits theaters next Friday, June 4th. But thanks to the great folks over at Universal Pictures we have passes to an advance screening happening next Thursday, June 3rd at the UA King of Prussia Stadium at 7:30pm.

For those not familiar with Get Him to the Greek the plot goes something like this:

An ambitious young record company executive attempts to transport an unpredictable rock star to L.A.’s Greek Theatre in time for his hotly anticipated comeback performance in this spin-off of the comedy hit Forgetting Sarah Marshall. Aaron Green has just landed his dream job in the record industry, and he’s eager to prove his worth. His first assignment: travel to London and escort British rock god Aldous Snow to the show that will re-ignite his career. Before he departs, Aaron is warned by his boss Sergio Roma to never let Aldous out of his sight, and never underestimate his capacity for mayhem. With the concert fast approaching and Aaron’s fledgling career on the line, the race is on to get Aldous to the Greek, and ensure the big show goes off without a hitch.

I was on the fence about this movie until I saw the trailer, and now I can’t wait to check this out.  We have 30 admit 2 passes for Get Him to the Greek. All you have to do for a chance to win is leave a comment, answering a simple question… if you were a rockstar what crazy things would be on your rider? Deadline for entries is June 2nd.

Good luck!

Writers of Geekadelphia and their families are not eligible for prizes.Limit one entry per person. No cameras, camera phones, or other recording devices permitted in screening. Seating is on a first come, first serve basis. Theatre capacity is limited and passes won do not guarantee seating.(So show up early!) Theater is not responsible for overbooking. Ticket holder and guest must enter theater together.

Our boys over at Technically Philly write seriously good pieces. We’re talking quality journalism. We think they deserve more traffic, so we’ll be highlighting their articles at the end of the week. The Internet. It’s about sharing and caring, people.

Q&A With Thomas Morr – This is from last Friday, after I published the round-up. Check out the interview with the CTO of Select Greater Philadelphia

Philly’s Happy Cog Becomes Happy Cog East – That web development company that every Philly freelancer dreams of working for? Changed their name. Neat!

Comcast Roundup – This particular Thursday entry about Comcast is interesting, due to its mention of my homeslice, Scott McNulty (sup Blankbaby!) and his interview with… The Wiggles?

Dammit Joe, way to get me addicted to a new game. I had another game, all lined up to feature on here, but nope. You had to introduce me to Cube Colossus.

Developed by Lucridrine, Cube Colossus is your standard, fast-paced shoot ‘em up space game… with a twist. Keyboard targeting, combo chains, and probably most surprising of all… a story. Sure, you’re trying to escape from an evil cube while countless enemies blast away at you, which isn’t exactly deep, but the storytelling is an impressive feature. Especially in a flash game.

You won’t be able to handle the game solely using your mouse, either. Or just your keyboard. As you advance through the levels, you’ll be targeting using your keyboard. It gets intense, and you’re going to love it.

I recommend putting headphones on if you got ‘em. The music is great, but you don’t want to get fired. Happy Friday!

Cube Colossus @ Games Free

Our boys over at Technically Philly write seriously good pieces. We’re talking quality journalism. We think they deserve more traffic, so we’ll be highlighting their articles at the end of the week. The Internet. It’s about sharing and caring, people.

Technically Not Tech: McJawn – Sean talks about the folks behind McJawn, a blog / magazine, ran by a collective of artsy kids and college students, that seems to be picking up steam. You might recognize them from their 4 Square games in Rittenhouse Square. Have you gotten hit in the face by a kickball yet while trying to read in the park? No? I have. You’re missing out.

NTIA Extends Broadband Stimulus Deadline – Remember that whole Digital Philadelphia thang the boys wrote about last week? You should, it was fantastic. Apparently the deadline for the grant has been extended. Read up.

BFTP Elects Two New Board Members – But they didn’t hire Brian James Kirk. Tsk tsk, guys. Don’t you know he’s a celebrity?

Q&A With Shawn Glisson of Boost Mobile – This was posted last Friday, after I wrote up my round up. Definitely worth including here.

Shop Talk: Vuzit Grow Up – Sean highlights the document sharing site, Vuzit, and their current growth.

Technically Philly
www.technicallyphilly.com

Our boys over at Technically Philly write seriously good pieces. We’re talking quality journalism. We think they deserve more traffic, so we’ll be highlighting their articles at the end of the week. The Internet. It’s about sharing and caring, people.

Section 8 Video Game Release Party – The Tech Philly boys are partnering up with these douches to present a video game release party at Tattooed Mom. Terrible move guys.

Digital Philadelphia – The guys were hard at work at this for quite some time, and wow, did it pay off. Check out their outstanding feature regarding Philadelphia and its wireless internet saga.

Microsoft Sells Razorfish – For a cool $530 million. Did you know Razorfish had an office in Center City? I didn’t. Now I know, and knowing is half the battle.

David Clayton at the Klein Gallery – Art + Technology = This Guy.

Technically Philly
www.technicallyphilly.com

The Shack?!? Noooooooo! (Image via Engadget)

What’s this? Just a collection of tasty morsels from the past week, posts that fellow geeks will be interested in. Have some link tips for the next round up? Shoot us an email!

How To Make The Pew Pew Pew! Sound – You know, I always wondered how they made the blaster sounds in the Star Wars movies. Perhaps this was how. Perhaps not. Though I do enjoy the mental picture of George Lucas with a bunch of sound technicians, playing with Slinkies. Don’t you?

USB Jellyfish Aquarium – You’ll still have to hop the bus over to the Camden Waterfront to see real jellyfish, but this is still pretty awesome. Makes a lovely desk accessory, no?

Radio Shack Rebrands Themselves as “The Shack” – Tim’s head is heard exploding from across the country. I am not looking forward to seeing the Radio Shack over on 17th and Chestnut re-branded like this. Such a stupid move.

Backpack Vacuum Cleaner – Hilarious and debilitating towards women. In related news, I immediately purchased this for Bianca.

Wet Trailer – Amazing. AMAZING. Why is this game not in my hands now? The viral trailer shows no actual gameplay of any kind, yet I want. Most successful game ad ever. Thanks for this tip, Ben.

Macbook Pro Cake – Nom nom nom. Delicious.

Crunchgear Pwn PR Gal – Hilarious. I love you guys.

Mass Effect 2 Cover Art – Can’t wait for this game. I wanna see the special edition already. The special edition for the first Mass Effect was beautifully packaged with lots of excellent features. Here’s hoping they follow up with an equally awesome second one.

Gears of War My Little Ponies – Cute and deadly.