We Got it All on UHF...and YOU can WIN it!

 Thursday Night!
 7:30pm! $5!
 at NCT! Get Tickets HERE.

 We are celebrating UHF!
And we don't want you to leave empty handed... Here are all the ways that YOU can walk away with some fun stuff at Thursday's event.

When you get to the show, go ahead and spin our Wheel of Fish! You can win one of these fabulous prizes or... you can trade for whats in the box. Which is NOTHING! 

ABSOLUTELY NOTHING!

 

Right before the show begins at 7:30 we will be asking YOU (the Audience) to decide who has the most fabulous Spatula in the house! That person will walk away with this prize pack:

 After the movie, but before the live Edcuating [Geeks] Podcast recording, we have 3 Trivia Questions and prizes!

 Pretty Exciting! GET TICKETS right now and JOIN US! We got it all on UHF!

My Top 5 Weird Al Songs, by NCT's Mr. Voice, Paul Whitney

Being a hardcore Weird Al fan since 1983 and having seen him live 10 times, being given the task of coming up with a Top 5 song list is quite daunting.  Each Weird Al album (and each song for that matter) has a special place in my heart.  However, I love challenges so here it goes... 

My number 5 song would have to be the Weird Al song that I find most biographical about my own life.  It is a song that when I am cruising around downtown after a Suns game (okay I’ve done it once because I missed a turn), I will roll my windows down and blast it to show everybody who I am.  It is his parody of Chamillionaire’s “Ridin” known as “White and Nerdy.”  Everything about this song parody is perfect made even better by the video which has an incredible performance by Donnie Osmond.  Fun fact:  When Donnie Osmond asked Weird Al what he was supposed to do in the album, Weird Al said just “act yourself.”  Oddly enough, in a February interview with Dan Rather, Weird Al stated that this song was as close to an autobiographical song that he has ever written as well. I knew there was a connection between the two of us.

My number 4 song would have to be Weird Al’s birthday song entitled Happy Birthday.  While this song was on his first album in 1983, I think the sarcastic nastiness still holds up to this day. Thinking back to when I was a sarcastic 10 year old, this was the perfect song to hook me.  On a serious note, it is kind of sad to think that none of the problems Weird Al jokes about in this song have been fixed.  Thanks Obama and Bush and Clinton and Bush and Reagan....

I will put Weird Al’s parody of Nirvana at number 3 Smells Like Nirvana.  While I like this song, I am putting it on the list solely because it reminds me of one of my favorite Weird Al stories.  I was in Monterrey, Mexico in 1993 at a Señor Frogs.  I was standing against a wall watching everyone dance and have a good time grooving to the hits when the DJ played Weird Al’s Smells Like Nirvana thinking it was the real Nirvana hit.  The irony of watching all these people getting down to a Weird Al parody forever etched this song in my heart even if I could have really cared less about Nirvana.

Number 2 would be a tie of songs from the Weird Al in 3-D album.  I remember spending many a car ride singing both “I Lost on Jeopardy” and “Theme from Rocky XIII” as a kid.  Funny enough, I never realized “I Lost on Jeopardy” was an actual parody until I was at the grocery store a while back and heard the original song being played.  Also, since the “Theme from Rocky XIII” came out around the same time as Hulkamania was running wild and using “The Eye of the Tiger” as his theme song, I always envisioned the song was actually about how Hulk Hogan would be today.  Funny enough, it’s not too far off.

And now for my number one Weird Al hit.  You may think I will choose one of his Star Wars or MJ parodies.  While I love all those, my favorite Weird Al song would have to be “Christmas at Ground Zero.”  I have always loved the contrast between happy Christmas song and nuclear war and mutual destruction.  To me, it is the perfect parody though it could use a little updating to take into account on line shopping.

I am so proud that finally in 2014 Weird Al achieved a level of respect nationally that I feel he always deserved.  The only weird thing is with Weird Al winning a Grammy, having the #1 album in the country, and getting a Radio Shack commercial, I am beginning to wonder if it is still nerdy to like Weird Al.  But all I have to do is put on “White and Nerdy” and I am reminded.  Yes, no matter how popular Weird Al may become, there will always be a certain amount of nerdiness about him and I wouldn’t have it any other way.  Long live Weird Al!!!

...Thanks Paul Whitney... want more Weird AL? Want to hear Paul Whitney's take on the classic UHF?

Join us...

UHF (Weird Al Yankovic) Screening Event

Thursday March 26th at 7:30pm $5 (PG-13)

Bring your favorite spatula…. We got it all on UHF!

In 2014 Weird Al had 8 #1 Hits and a chart topping album. This year he won a grammy...

in 1989 he was a lowly station manager at U-62!

Celebrate the 25th anniversary of UHF! George Newman (Weird Al) fills the broadcast day with bizarre programming, turning Channel 62 into an overnight success. Soon, rival station CEO R.J. Fletcher threatens to sabotage Channel 62, and George must come up with a way to save it!

Plus! Bring your finest Spatula for the Best Spatula contest and spin the Wheel of Fish for Prizes! AND, a LIVE podcast with Educating [Geeks] follows the screening, included with admission. Laugh along and even participate as the Educating [Geeks] crew hash out the best and worst moments of UHF along with your Geek Host, UHF Super Fan and our First Timer, who is seeing the movie for the very first time. Prizes provided by Bookmans & NCT.

Get tickets online: http://www.nctphoenix.com/showtimes.html
Check out Educating [Geeks] here:  http://www.educatinggeeks.com/

"Who You Gonna Call?" Our Ghostbusters 2 Showing is THIS THURSDAY!

We're big Ghostbusters fans around here. Big, Big. Stay Puft Marshmallow Man size fans.

So, last spring when we met the AZ Ghostbusters at Phoenix Film Festival's Geek Day it was a total no-brainer to plan an anniversary screening of Ghostbusters 2!
Fun story, we also met the Educating [Geeks] at Geek Day... and they're part of the special Holiday Screening of Ghostbusters 2 as well.

The whole thing is really exciting. The AZ Ghostbusters have put together an awesome pre-movie slide show that includes behind the scenes photos, trivia, fun facts and other cool tid bits that only an

actual Ghostbuster would know. We've got an introduction video by the actress who played Slimer, and the AZ 'Busters are going to raffle off some super cool Ghostbusters stuff along with some NCT stuff... and this is all happening before the movie even starts!

Oh, also fun to do before the movie even starts, get your picture taken with the Ecto-1, the life-size Vigo the Carpathian portait or the actual human Ghostbusters... its all included with your ticket.

By the way, did we mention that your ticket is either $8, $6 if you donate food to United Food Bank or FREE if you donate a toy (new, unwrapped) to the peppedup.org toy drive? Yep.

During the movie all you have to do is, you know, ENJOY the movie.

AFTER the movie, you are invited to listen and participate as we record a LIVE podcast with

Educating [Geeks], an AZ Ghostbuster, our NCT Super Fan and First Timer. We will chat about our favorite characters, our favorite scenes, moments and bits as well as our LEAST favorite of all those things. We will discuss whether this is really a "christmas" movie and why it wasnt as successful as Ghostbusters.

and then, after that, if you aren't already just, so full of holiday wonder that you are just about ready to burst, then hang around for the Geekly Phoenix Holiday After Party. There will be surprise screenings of other Holiday Specials, games, and other forms of amusement.

If it sounds like fun, join us on Thursday!
www.nctphoenix.com 

"He is Vigo! You are like the buzzing of flies to him!"

Trivia & Prizes! What do we have and what is coming up!

At every Spoof N Cinema and First Time Film Club screening, brought to you by Bookmans Entertainment Exchange, we ask trivia questions and give out awesome prizes.

But how do we come up with those trivia questions? And how do we curate the prizes? Excellent question. And luckily I have the blog to answer just that.

Coming up with trivia is actually a bit tricky at times! We try to base at least one or two of the questions on the movie we just watched. For 3 Amigos we asked which of the Amigos got his first job presenting magic tricks and making baloon animals at Disneyland? (Steve Martin, of course... right?) For Splash we asked a Tom Hanks question- Tom Hanks famously won back to back Best Actor awards for which two films? (Philidelphia & Forrest Gump... maybe slightly less easy?) We sometimes ask Price is Right style questions about the film's budget and gross.

For a Knight's Tale on Thursday the 31st our questions may be trivia about Heath Ledger.
Like... Heath famously sang in this 1999 Shakespearian Re-do (also starring Julia Stiles & Joseph Gordon-Levitt?) That might be a good answer to look up.
There's potential for a Game of Thrones question and a Firefly question, since William Thathcher's besties Roland & Wat are played by Mark Addy A.K.A. King Robert Baratheon and Alan Tudyk A.K.A. Wash.

Of course I also like to ask questions about upcoming events. Maybe I could come up with a good Kevin Smith or Clerks question? Our new Midnight Movies, Munchies and Brew series will feature the original 'Jersey Trilogy.' Clerks on August 9, Mallrats on November 8 and Chasing Amy on February 14th. Clerks would be the perfect candidate for a Price is Right style Budget Vs. Gross question. Right?

Of course, I famously come up with questions that are a bit stumpy for the audience.... even at Phoenix Comicon my Star Trek question was baffling. Maybe to tease Tom Hanks in the Burbs 10/30 I can just ask the old Oscar question again? What do you think? Go easy or be challenging?

The prizes are so good, though! I think the questions SHOULD be a little bit challenging. What do you think?

In a typical prize pack we have contributions from National Comedy Theatre that include tickets to our Friday & Saturday night Competitive Comedy Shows, tickets for 2 to upcoming Spoof N Cinema Screenings (The Big Wheel is coming 8/28) and tickets for 2 to future First Time Film Club and Midnight Movies Screenings (Clerks, The Burbs... you read that part, right?)

Bookmans always contributes amazing prizes, including $10- $25 gift cards, t-shirts, posters, back packs and tote bags, toys & games, DVDs and even, for nostalgias sake, VHS tapes.

You really do walk away with quite a booty and now Cheba Hut is providing prizes for Midnight Movie screenings including gift cards, t-shirts and coupons.

So... it's all very exciting. Do you have an opinion about the easiness or stumpiness of our trivia questions? Is there something you would like to see in the Prize Packs? Got a trivia question idea? Let us know!

We look forward to seeing you at A Knights Tale on 7/31- followed by a LIVE Podcast! Get tickets!

Live Podcast at a Knights Tale Showing! Included with your Ticket!

Things keep getting better and better for First Time Film Club!
We got our new, BIG screen. We got an awesome HD projector. We JUST got an awesome HD Blu-Ray player and its all thanks to our partners at Bookmans Entertainment Exchange!

Now we have something new and exciting to announce for our upcoming First Time Film Club screening of A Knights Tale... we will be doing a LIVE PODCAST after the Trivia & Prizes with the gang from Educating [Geeks]!

Our First Timer, Zeke Hill, and our Super Fan, Krissy Lenz, will sit down with two of the Educating [Geeks] panelists for an interactive discussion of the movie. What did we love? What made us cringe? What life lessons are we walking away with? We will hash it all out!

You can drink in all of this exciting, geeky goodness by simply hanging around after the movie! ITs part of the show now!

I mean, seriously... for only $8 you can come see Heath Ledger change his stars while Paul Bettany makes some of the best midevil hype-man speeches ever- oft pantsless. THEN you can participate in the fun of Bookmans Trivia and Prizes! THEN you can hang out for the interactive podcast!

Get tickets now! Right Here!

We are really excited about this partnership with Educating [Geeks]. We met them by chance at Phoenix Film Festival's Geek Day
(where we also met the AZ Ghostbusters, exciting announcement coming soon...)

When the girls told me about the premise of their podcasts "On each episode of Educating [Geeks], one of our hosts or a special guest will be on the program to receive “Education” on some aspect of geek culture they’ve never had a chance to experience. Will it become our hosts new favorite thing?  (Or… Will they go all Otaku?) Or will it just not be their cup of Earl Gray (hot) tea?"

I was like... thats EXACTLY what First Time Film Club is all about! But.... with movies!

It seems like a match made in nerd heaven, and you can be part of our first joint outing- hopefully the first of many to come!

Really though, get tickets! Here! Now!

A Knight's Tale (2001, rated PG-13)
featuring Live Podcast, Trivia & Prizes!

Thursday 7/31 7:30pm, $8 Rated PG-13

Get tickets online at www.nctphoenix.com/showtimes.html

Get Excited! Its July!

This month there is so much SUPER COOL stuff happening. It is bonkers! And you're going to want to be part of it!

First, we spend this weekend celebrating America the best way that we know how... laughing our faces off! Surely, that is what our forefathers had in mind?

At Patriot-A-Palooza we celebrate the unique way in which NCT has reveled in democracy since 2008... with the "democratic round of applause!" It may be the only time in your life that your vote actually contributes to the results in real time! Exciting...
Friday 7/4 & Saturday 7/5 at 7:30 pm & 9:45 pm.

Celebrity Guest Stars at Movie Showings?
On the 19th we're inviting you to a once in a lifetime opportunity to see an hilarious movie, right alongside one of its stars & creators! Brain Candy is super funny, silly, strange and a cult classic! Laugh along with one of the Kids in the Hall during the movie and then stick around afterwards, Kevin will show us the unseen alternate ending and interact with YOU for a Q & A!
Brain Candy (R)
Saturday 7/19 2:00pm, $12- $14
Get Tickets.

Super Cool Really Advanced Workshop Opportunity that Culminates in YOU on STAGE with Kevin McDonald? Yep.

Kevin McDonald: Improv into Sketch Workshop & Show

$180, 8 hours of workshop & Show included                      (ages 18+)
Sunday July 20th     10:00am- 6:00pm

We still have spots available, so call today.
Please inquire or register by emailing workshops@nctphoenix.com or calling 602-374-5638

Oh, and the SHOW part... lets not forget the SHOW part- because this show is going to have something to offer for everyone.

 An Evening with Kevin McDonald: Stand up! Sketch! Improv Comedy!

Sunday July 20th at 7:30pm  $14  (Rated R, not for All Ages)We start with Stand Up comedy, then Sketches created by the workshop crew and curated by Mr. McDonald, then IMPROVISATION with the crew from National Comedy Theatre... and then we put a bow on it with interaction from YOU (The Audience) as Kevin sits down for one more intimate Q & A.

Why is this a super exciting event? Well, Kids in the Hall have been touring North America on their sold out Rusty and Ready Tour. One has only to follow the Kids in the Hall facebook page to hear about all of the exciting things that the Kids have going on for them right now... so come see em while you can!

BUT WAIT, THATS NOT ALL! 

July is also bringing us TWO SHOW THURSDAY! 

Two Show Thursday

Saturday 7/24, 7:30pm  $8 ALL AGES   

Two awesome comedy shows in onhe night! This month's Two Show Thursday includes the hilarious and interactive TNT (Thursday Night Troupe) where anything can happen when the audience shouts out suggestions for EVERY game. In FLD Productions Longform Show ONE suggestion will be usef thd to fuel ALL of the spontaneous hijinks!

Get tickets online: http://www.nctphoenix.com/showtimes.html 

AND the MIDNIGHT SHOW

The Midnight Show

Saturday July 26th     11:45pm $8 (18+)

National Comedy Theatre's monthly uncensored comedy show, where anything can happen. No Ref, No Rules, No Brown Bag Foul, and no one under 18 admitted!

Get tickets online: http://www.nctphoenix.com/showtimes.html

 

BUT EVEN THAT ISNT ALL!!!  
A Knights Tale is happening and its gotten even more exciting, with even MORE to offer!

A Knight's Tale
At First Time Film Club featuring Educating Geeks Live Podcast!

Starring Heath Ledger, Paul Bettany and Alan Tudyk (2001, rated PG-13)
Thursday 7/31 7:30pm, $8 Rated PG-13

A Knight's Tale will have you believing that a man can change his starts, a squire can become a knight, and "We Will Rock You" was a popular song in the middle ages...
Find out why this movie is everyones secret "guilty pleasure" and rock out with us at this one time only First Time Film Club event.

Prizes and trivia follow the screening provided by Bookmans Entertainment Exchange.

And stick around for a LIVE PODCAST with Educating Geeks as we discuss the movie with our Super Fan & First Timer!

Get tickets online at www.nctphoenix.com/showtimes.html

and then, being that THAT is the very last day of July... we will put July to rest. But, never fear, AUGUST news and events are coming soon!

Splash! With Glitter Tattoos!

If I have one super power it is that I can watch a movie I really enjoy over and over again and still get as much joy out of it as the first time, sometimes more. Hence, the mission of First Time Film Club to make sure that everyone gets a chance to see the best movies ever.

Splash fun facts!

It seems like just about EVERY 80s movie star passed on the role of Alan Bauer before it got to Tom Hanks.Michael Keaton, Chevy Chase, John Travolta (you'll do Look Whose Talking but not Splash? Really John?) Bill Murray, Dudley Moore, Jeff Bridges, Richard Gere, Kevin Kline and Burt Reynolds all passed. Can you picture Splash with Burt Reynolds? Yikes.

Same goes for the role of Madisson. Tatum O'neil, Michelle Pfeiffer, Julia Louis Dryfus, Melanie Griffith, Diane Lane, Kathleen Turner, Sharon Stone, Jodie Foster, Rosanna Arquette and Brooke Sheilds all said no before Daryl Hannah came on board. Bonus, Splash is credited with originating the name Madisson, which is now one of the most popular girls names ever!

Now lets all picture Splash starring Burt Reynolds and Sharon Stone... shiver.

Also, Daryl Hannah refused to eat real lobster (shes a vegetarian) and so the lobster shells were filled with tofu... she still cried after each take because the lobsters still had to die for their shells.

John Candy nailed the raquet ball to the head scene, literally, in one take.

And, just for fun: Eugene Levy

Join us for Splash! 
We'll be giving out Leis and adorning you with free glitter tattos!
Bookmans has provided more great prizes!

Thursday April 24 at 7:30
Saturday April 26 at 1:30
only $8!
www.nctphoenix.com/showtimes.html 

Labyrinth! As the World Falls Down...

Behold, the music video for David Bowie's "As the World Falls Down" from Labyrinth...



Im reasonably certain that David Bowie is making up for the tight pants he wears in the film with the extra wide and fluffy ones he has donned for this video. Although, an arguement could be made that he is wearing at least as much make up, if not more.

And who doesnt want a xerox machine that only prints pictures of David Bowie, am I right?

Come see Labyrinth this Thursday the 17th! Prizes and Trivia sponsored and provide by Bookmans Entertainment Exchange.

Get tickets online for only $8 from National Comedy Theatre

and plan to stick around afterwards for a discussion with our First Timers!