We follow up last week’s Ep. 1 commentary with a real-time watch of OUR childhood Star Wars, Episode IV: A New Hope. You can queue up your DVD and watch along with us if you like, but it’s not necessary. Either way you’ll hear us re-discover this classic, enjoy some very special (to us, and probably you, too) scenes from our first introduction to the whiney Luke through his eventual (temporary) triumph over the evil Prows…I mean Vader. We also offer a few thoughts about Lucas’ last big changes, including more Mos Eisley, more Jabba, and way more Darklighter.

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In honor of this week’s re-release of Star Wars Episode 1 in 3D, we fire up our cheap-ass 2D DVD of the movie and take you along for the ride. If you like, you can grab your own copy, sync it up, and follow along with us as we enjoy the effects, lament the childish J**J** moments, and get a big kick out of the droids. But it’s not necessary. Feel free to enjoy this podcast as you wish. Next week we’re following up with an Episode 4 commentary, comparing and contrasting the “firsts” of two different generations.

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In this bonus episode Chuck and Juan podcast live to answer questions from chat about the upcoming 2012 GWC International Meetup in Dallas, TX March 16-18. If this is your first GWC podcast, you might want to look back (or ahead) one for a normal GWC experience. Announcements: Our block of rooms releases on February 16th, so if you want to stay at the host hotel, it’s best to book sooner rather than later. You may have trouble getting a room there after the 16th (though you can still attend, of course). Please RSVP if you want to attend. Even though there’s no cost, we need the numbers for planning (you know, in order to keep it low cost). We also talk about some of the new events this year, like our additional live podcasts and sweet roundtable talks, plus tell some stories of meetups past.

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We watch and greatly enjoy Disney’s take on Rapunzel, Tangled, discussing falling as a form of fairy tale death and the role of single parents in fairy tales. Audra takes us through the long history of the Cinderella tale, with a side of Bobbit. (No, really.) And we run down the week in geek, including VW’s Star Wars-themed dog ads, facial recognition applications in advertising, and a copyrighted Batmobile. Also, we have some fun at the expense of Ikea and the concept of shopping tourism.

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We continue our delve into fairy tales with a discussion of the origins and history of the Cinderella story and a critical viewing of Ever After. We talk mousewashing and how it’s changed stories over the years, track Cinderella all the way back to 1 B.C., question the one-true-match theory, and get a big kick out of Cinderella as a tomboy, a killer father-daughter relationship, and the role of Utopia as a bond between them. We also run down the week in geek, including some Fassbenderesque boobs-against-the-window NYC exhibitionism, Sean’s take on the new Underworld flick, a possible Spidey intro in the why-can’t-I-see-this-today-Crom-why Avengers movie, thoughts on just how much early Dark Knight press is enough, Patrick Stewart’s expressed desire for a film career, a serious Trek fan’s divorce-fueled loss of his prize possession, creator’s approval for the new Dredd re(boot/make), and joy for new Spartacus and new (Hooper-tastic) Archer.

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We kick off our fairy tales arc with a watch and discussion of The Brothers Grimm. And we run down the week in geek including some spoiler-free BBC Sherlock season-finale discussion, a bit on Jonathan Coulton as an “old man who knows how to use the internet,” and some thoughts on what makes a fairy tale a fairy tale. Also: lots of classic, fun GWC off-topic chat, like a serious discussion on what constitutes the best cheap-ass beer, some frank talk about Peter Berg, and Chuck’s scary gym LOL moment.

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We dive into the ’90s Bill and Ted sequel, addressing some serious points about the duo’s psyche and home life as well as the heart we find in rock ‘n roll. And we run down the week in geek, including Dark Knight tix already (no, really) on sale, the miserable Bane ‘Knight trailer, our take on digital media availability, and the new medical tricorder X-prize (think Siri meets WebMD).

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We tackle the 80s time travel classic in style, giving it the geek cred recognition it so richly deserves. We note some significant trek connections. We talk about Bill and Ted’s untainted honesty, focus, and ability to grow without change. We discuss standards of beauty and Bill’s uncanny resemblance to some famous art. We note that inflation affects more than cash. And we run down the week in geek, including incredibly new BBC Sherlock, Sean’s Arkham City experiences, more ME3 news, and Chuck and Audra’s recent viewing of Thor.

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It’s our last podcast of 2011, and we spend it running down the week in geek, including some detailed discussion of Forza Motorsports 4 and it’s awesome new get-insulted-by-Jeremy-Clarkson gameplay, a tease of a don’t-we-wish Helen Mirren as the next female Doctor, some spoiler-free opinions on Mission Impossible 4, lots of interest in the Precinct 17 “leak,” and (of course) trailer talk about Snow White and Avengers. Joining us in-studio this week are long-time friends and GWCers Lady D and Topgun. See you in 2012!

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We’re joined again by Christmas TV Companion author Joanna Wilson, this time to discuss sci-fi Christmas specials. We listen to Bwana’s response to our honor of naming a GWC news section after him, which inspires some gaming discussion, like what it means to be a gamer and our take on the new XBL dashboard. Donnie Iris and the Cruisers serenade our audience with another awesome Christmas tune. And we run down the week in geek including the Prometheus, Lost Girl, and Three Inches trailers, new Spartacus, floating cities of the future. Also: We call out some awesome GWCers who tweeted us during recording. Happy holidays, everyone.

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We offer up some holiday entertainment to hopefully help make that Christmas travel just a little bit easier this season. Rock legends Donnie Iris and the Cruisers join us with a special performance to set the holiday tone. Joanna Wilson, author of ‘Tis The Season TV and the Christmas TV Companion walks us through the ins and outs of the Christmas special. And, of course, we run down the week in geek, including our quick take on Sherlock 2, some Skyrim bug fixes (less arrows to the knee, we hear), awesome news on the private orbital space flight front, and lots of trailer talk — Dark Knight, Battleship, Snow White, and MIB3 to name just a few. Happy holidays from your friends in Texas, y’all.

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We round up some of the Best of 2011 in our new patent-pending Top (n) lists. And we run down the week in geek, including some analysis of the analysis of Trek 2/12, Baldwin’s now-infamous Words With Friends addiction, a cool new take on Snow White, and the latest trends in ePublishing.

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