Most people have at least a little geek in them. It might be the driving force behind an addiction to Dungeons and Dragons or the online World of Warcraft. For others, it's the subtle voice prodding them to understand the artistic merits of Radiohead or to watch "The Fellowship of the Ring" for the umpteenth time. This dork factor has carved out a healthy niche on the Internet -- one crammed full of movies and music catering to the geek in all of us. \nThese productions are rarely meant to be taken seriously. Often, they are self-deprecating. Geeks and gamers have a nonchalance about them that is often honed from being on the receiving end of misapprehensions and derisive laughter. However, attempts to fuse dorkdom with pretentious expressions of "serious" art have led to some unintentional comic gold. Regardless, a few good laughs are often the best way of feeding your inner-geek:
www.gamers-themovie.com\nAccording to the movie's Web site, "'Gamers' is a comedy about the lives of four hapless friends (and one obsessive interloper) and how they evolve over a 23-year span." This mockumentary might be to role-playing games what "This is Spinal Tap" was to rock 'n' roll music. All in all, "Gamers" looks to be something halfway between "Super Troopers" and "Drop Dead Gorgeous." Though the movie isn't likely to make it to video for quite some time, the Web site features several hilarious video clips -- particularly the one for the song, "Wake Up Dick."
www.mybarbarian.com/video.html\n"My Barbarian" is a Los Angeles-based collaborative project that is part avant-garde music band and part performance art. If the low-budget barbarian movie, "Deathstalker III," were ever filmed in the style of "Breakin' 2: Electric Boogaloo," it would resemble the band's music video for "Unicorns L.A." Like a train wreck performed through interpretive dance, it's hard to look away. Still, what "My Barbarian" might lack in talent, they make up for in ... chutzpah?
www.kaledon.com\nThe Italian band, Kaledon, is most certainly mighty. Its Web site lists a mighty diary, a mighty forum and songs like "Mighty Son of the Great Lord." Every song is part of an ongoing rock opera about the kingdom of Kaledon and its struggle against the evil Carnagus and his "not-dead" armies. The video for "The New Kingdom" is a classic, overblown rock montage of leather pants, guitarists posing in their best rock-stance and a singer gesturing as though his life depended on it.
www.dungeonmajesty.com\nThe premise of Dungeon Majesty is attractive women playing Dungeons and Dragons. It is goofy, low-budget public access television at its finest. The sheer awkwardness of the premise is enough to elicit a few good laughs. Two of the episodes are available on the Web site, if you can stand to sit through the copious advertisements.
