Knights of Badassdom

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Before we get started, there is a section at the end of the podcast where Derek talks about a shirt he had made with his pal Troy Parker's face on it. He explains why and also the interest from others about having one for themselves. So he made a group order form at CustomInk for anybody who wanted to order one. (His big hope is to have at least one of you out there buy one and then send us a picture of you wearing it, because Troy would get a kick out of it.) Anyway, here's the shirt:

Do not let Derek's large head sticking out of it
distract you from the shirt's awesomeness.

So, if you want one, please click the link above. And send us a pic when you get it! Now on with the show...

Larry couldn't make it to this week's recording session, so Derek and Jake had to pull a movie out of their collective behinds to watch because they couldn't do a Re-View without all three of them there. Fortunately, Jake had one at the ready, in the event of just such a situation: Knights of Badassdom, starring Ryan Kwanten, Steve Zahn, Summer Glau and Peter freakin' Dinklage! Not to mention Jimmi Simpson, Danny Pudi, Brian Posehn, Josh Molina and countless others.

A group of LARPers (Live Action Role Players) is playing a campaign in the forest, and the group's wizard, Eric (Zahn), is about to reveal the cool old spell book he bought on eBay, but the ceremony is interrupted by a group of paintballers who attack them and chase them off. One of them picks up Eric's book, which was dropped in the melee, and looks inside. The book attacks him, leaving printing tattooed on his face. then it disappears and reappears in Eric's van.

The next day, we meet Joe (Kwanten). He is living what he believes to be his best life. He has a job he likes, good friends and a girlfriend (Margarita Levieva as Beth) he loves enough to write Doom Metal songs about. But when Beth breaks it off with him because she thinks he isn't doing enough with his life, Joe takes an immediate downward turn and goes home to write power ballads while he drinks himself into a stupor.

Beth: The cause of all the problems. AL OF THEM.

Fortunately, Eric and Hung (Dinklage), Joe's two best friends, sympathize with him and decide what he really needs is a distraction. In the form of enough weed and whiskey to make him pass out so they can dress him in armor and take him to a big LARPing festival going on that weekend.

When Joe comes back around he is only moderately surprised to find himself at the festival, but still isn't happy about it. Eric and Hung explain that they brought him there so he can have some fun, and he relents. All that needs to happen now is for the host, Ronnie (Simpson), to allow Joe to participate, which might be a problem because Joe once caught Ronnie masturbating to a D&D Monster Manual and told everybody about it. Ronnie agrees, but says that they have to resurrect Joe's old character with a spell that will transfer a different former player's "life force" to Joe. Eric agrees, hoping it will allow him to become a 27th-level wizard.

Ronnie never got the hang of the Vulcan salute, so he became a LARPer.

A pentagram is made, Joe is placed in it, and Eric pulls out his new spell book, singing the words from a random page.  When a jewel on the spine of the book starts to glow, Joe starts to worry, and rightly so, because it turns out that the spell Eric is singing is meant to call a lesser demon to Earth. Oh, and the book is a real spell book written by an actual wizard hundreds of years ago. This is why you should always be aware of eBay's return policy.

Joe is concerned, but the others are less so, especially Hung, who has taken a bunch of mushrooms and is ready to fight. Eric is more concerned with becoming a 27th-level wizard, as well as trying to sell contraband actual medieval-style weapons out of the back of his van. And Ronnie just wants the campaign to go well.

And Gunther (Bret Gipson) wants to slay monsters.

At first, nobody notices when one of Ronnie's guys disappears. They start to get suspicious when a female "sprite" (formerly a "faerie") is killed, and someone who looks just like Beth is found eating her throat. But when Ronnie and another LARPer, Lando (Dani Pudi) sees Demon Beth kill Hung, they tell Eric, Joe, Gunther and Gwen (Glau), who take matters into their own hands and call the police. Well, Eric, Joe and Gwen do. Gunther runs off into the woods, ready to make battle with evil. He's an odd guy.

It turns out the police are the guys who attacked Eric's group with paintballs at the beginning of the movie, and they want to really take the LARPers down hard, so they gear-up and head down toward the park.

At the same time, Eric decides that, since the spell book brought the demon out, maybe he can sing it back to wherever it came from. So they track Demon Beth down and he sings at her. Unfortunately, he sings the wrong spell, causing her to turn into Abominog, a Hell Lord.

You've changed, Beth...

Ronnie takes a look at the book and realizes that it is written in the ancient language and tries to find the correct spell to send the monster back. The roar of the beast awakens Ronnie's minions, who think the big Battle of Nevermore is supposed to start, so they get up and take the truck with a papier-mâché dragon mounted on it out to the field, where the other LARPers are preparing for battle,

The monster arrives at the same time as the dragon truck, and the monster quickly destroys it. While they watch, Joe takes a moment to ask Gwen out on a date, because timing is everything. But will they be alive later to go out? Will Ronnie find the right spell? And what about the paintball guys? Will they save the day?

No, they will not.

You'll have to tune in to find out!

Derek was pleasantly surprised. He really liked this one, but really...how can you not? He is also certain that Steve Zahn is some sort of ageless immortal. And Peter Dinklage can do no wrong.

Jake is also a fan. He has seen this movie numerous times, and he was waiting for just the right moment to spring it on the guys.  He is also a big fan of Dinklage, who, again, can do no wrong.

Larry watched the movie at home and told the guys he liked it a lot, although he had a few issues with it. He straight-up hates the "gorilla gang," a group of guys in cheap green gorilla suits.

So grab your Bag of Holding and your foam sword, don your Cloak of Power, and check out this week's episode!