Author: GeekscapeStaff

A Geekscape Goodbye To Gerry Anderson

by GeekscapeStaff

Gerry Anderson, creator of science fiction shows Space 1999, U.F.O., and Children’s shows Thunderbirds, Captain Scarlet and the Mysterons, Stingray, and Supercar XL5 has passed away at the age of 83 in his sleep.

Anderson was trained as a cinematographer, but later went on to create his own projects. Gerry Anderson and his wife Sylvia used advanced motorized marionettes (which as a joke they dubbed supermarionation) to make their children’s shows.

DVD cover for season one of ‘The Protectors’

Eventually, the couple moved on to live action titles, the first called U.F.O. Later, Anderson created the successful series The Protectors starring Robert Vaughn. He started production on a second season of U.F.O., but unfortunately he couldn’t get it off the ground. Instead, he used some of the sets intended for that second season for a new show called Space 1999, which was the most expensive show ever made at the time.

Gerry and Sylvia split after the first season of Space 1999, and Gerry signed away the rights to his earlier shows to pay separation debts, a decision he later said cost him many millions of dollars.

In the early 1970’s Gerry was asked to write and produce the space scenes for Moonraker. His work wasn’t directly used, but it’s thought the film would have been drastically different with Anderson’s involvement.


In the 1980’s, Anderson again moved away from live action, this time focussing on motorized hand puppets. The new show has a small cult following, but didn’t get the vast respect that his earlier shows received. Working on Space Precinct in the 1990’s, Anderson used some highly advanced costumes, including motorized facial manipulation for aliens; this sort of work typically appeared only in feature films and not TV shows. The storylines however were somewhat limited and the show was reviewed poorly.

Anderson was approached to lend his name to the live action Thunderbirds movie, but wished to have no involvement. Upon its release, he refused to endorse the production. When Team America: World Police released (a “Supermarionation” movie that clearly gave a nod to Anderson’s earlier works), Anderson fully supported it.

A screenshot from on of Gerry’s earlier shows, ‘U.F.O.’

The New millennium saw a resurgence in popularity of Gerry’s older live action projects Space 1999 and U.F.O., and he was able to rebuild his finances.

Gerry Anderson is survived by four children who took care of him through his battle with dementia.

Gerry, you’ll be missed. Thank’s for all you’ve given us, and we hope you rest in peace.

– Phil ‘Satori’ Dobson

The Season Finale of The Common Cult Has Been Summoned!

by GeekscapeStaff

Our friends at Working Fish premiered the season finale of The Common Cult at the Lounge Theatre in Hollywood on Friday. Cult is a comedy about a group of friends in their thirties. Also they’re in a ritualistic blood cult that’s trying to raise a Great Old One to our plane of existence.

It’s a great show, and we at Geekscape are big fans. And you can watch a playlist of all six episodes right here!

Geekscape Roundtable: Black Friday Deals!

by GeekscapeStaff

You’re stuffed. You just ate more than you ever thought possible. There is literally a gravy/cranberry mixture extruding from you pores. You’re having trouble even thinking, let alone moving. What are you to do? Let out another notch on your belt and SHOP, Black Friday’s here fool!

We threw a note out to the Geekscape staff: let us know about some crazy deals that caught your eye, or maybe a few things you’re thinking about picking up for yourself! It seems like most of the staff was already in line however, as we only had two submissions, and one of them was all the way from Canada!

Let us know what you’ll be picking up tomorrow, and read our suggestions below! Check out a couple holiday related tunes as well, just to turn your Thanksgiving cheer up to 11!

Shane O’Hare

 I’ve never been a huge Black Friday shopper. I usually just stay up all night playing games and end up wandering out to the stores and watch all the crazies fight over bed sheets and printers. This year however, I have my eyes on two deals:

1. The Mega64 Boyz are putting out a brand new compilation DVD along with a stack of new shirts, posters and special prizes. The list of stuff that Mega64 has available is staggering!

2.  My other Black Friday must have is the epic sale going on over at DJ Tech Tools. It’s time for a new DJ controller for me and this sale is the perfect opportunity!

Derek Kraneveldt

As the frozen wasteland around me gets colder and colder, I can’t help but let out a visible sigh. Condensation rolls down my igloo window as if even the cold, dead ice of its construct knows my sorrow. My thoughts bring me to October 8th, the Canadian day of giving thanks, long past. My mind wanders, confused at the lack of insane prices and deals, before I finally realize: Canada has no Black Friday.

 I don’t actually live in an Igloo, but the thing about Black Friday is true. Sure, we have Boxing Day (December 26th), but from what I’ve seen, the savings are not even close to what everyone stateside is about to experience. In any case, I’ve seen a few deals that I know I’d be taking part in had I not been born a Canuck. Here goes:

1. Toys R Us – The Wii U is less than a week old, and while consoles may already be in short supply, everybody needs games! This Friday, all Wii U titles are buy one, get one 40% off. That’s fantastic for Wii U owners (or soon to be), and Toys R Us will also be having great sales on Skylanders and other games too! I found out about their offerings here.

2. Best Buy – Looking for a new TV? Might want to check out the offerings at Best Buy. They’ve got plenty of models with ridiculously low prices, and it looks like many of them are even 3D compatible. If I weren’t so far above the border, I could definitely see myself headed here!

3. Apple – How about a new Tablet or Computer? I’m an Apple guy, and the stuff basically never sees discounts (it typically sells itself it would seem). One day every year, which happens to be Black Friday, Apple actually puts on a sale, netting you ~10% off on a lot of their items. I’d love an iPad mini! There are also a TON of app store developers putting their catalogue’s on sale this weekend. From EA to Gameloft and many more, you can save up to 90% percent on dozens of awesome games. Stan Lee’s Verticus has also gone completely free for one day!

4. More Games – You’re going to want to check out Steam, and you’re going to want to check out Good Old Games. They both have insane sales going on, and you can participate even if you don’t live in the US!

These people all look miserable. YOU’RE SAVING SO MUCH MONEY!

That of course, is not even the tip of the iceberg. We’re all curious to see what you pick up, so make sure to let us know! Of course, please stay safe! A cheap TV is not worth your life, and we certainly don’t want you starring in the 2012 Black Friday Rampage Compilation on YouTube (check out 2011 below!).

Happy Thanksgiving from everyone at Geekscape (even the Canadian)!

Watch Fandom Planet’s Live Stream From Long Beach Comic Con All Weekend Long!

by GeekscapeStaff

Not in California, but still like comic conventions? You’re probably aware that today is the opening day of Long Beach Horror and Comic Con in beautiful Long Beach California. If you can’t be there, you’re not completely out of luck!

Our friends Tim, Sax, and Sam from Fandom Planet have got you covered! They’ll be livestreaming from the show floor the ENTIRE weekend! You can watch it right here on Geekscape, and we encourage you to comment on anything you see! They’ve also got a great lineup of guests scheduled, so make sure you keep your eye on the floor!

Join us in the chatroom

powered by samproof.tv

A Very Geekscape Halloween: Our Staff Movie Choices Of Terror!

by GeekscapeStaff

Well ‘Scapists, we’re not far now from the sacred night of October 31st. This Halloween will see many of you donning your best geek gear, and heading out for a night of absolute TERROR (or fun, whatever you’re into). Maybe you’ve already been out, who parties on a Wednesday? In any case, get it together and show us your costumes in the Halloween thread!

We asked some of the Geekscape staff what their favourite movies for the Halloween season are. These are the films that were chosen! Enjoy, and make sure to sound out below on your thoughts!

Matt Kelly

I host a horror themed podcast and anyone who’s read my Guilty Pleasures articles know I have a very open and deep love with the genre. This has lead to people asking me what the greatest horror movie ever made I have had the same answer for over 10 years… Texas Chainsaw Massacre.
Tobe Hooper’s 1974 film is one of the few truly terrifying horror films and age has not changed this film at all. It’s ultra low budget only enhances the horrors within, creating the feeling of genuine danger. This could be due to the fact that everyone involved was in genuine danger.
If you’ve managed to avoid this film your whole life, make this the halloween night that you shut off all the lights and experience 89 minutes of pure terror.

Eric Diaz

My favorite Halloween movie might not be as well known as many, but I’ve come to love it just as much as many older classics in a very short period of time. I’m talking about writer/director Mike Dougherty’s Trick r’ Treat. Made in 2006, the film was delayed for years by studio Warner Brothers, that simply didn’t know how to market this horror/comedy anthology film, and was terrified of releasing a Halloween film against the then powerful Saw franchise. The film made the rounds in film festivals and special screenings for a few years and gained a reputation, so Trick r’ Treat was finally released in 2009 as a straight to video movie and has since become a favorite among horror fans. A combination of Creepshow and 80’s Spielberg films with a dash of Goosebumps, Trick r’ Treat has become my most recent “must watch” movie every October 31st. The best way to describe the film’s place in the Halloween movie canon is this; if Carpenter’s Halloween is the It’s A Wonderful Life of the Halloween season, and The Nightmare Before Christmas is it’s How The Grinch Stole Christmas, then Trick r’ Treat is the A Christmas Story for this time of the year. And that’s not a bad thing to be.

Kari Lane

‘The Faculty’ is one of those underrated 90s horror flicks. I remember enjoying it when it came out, and I am rather fond of the mainstream 90s horror films. Recently, ‘The Faculty’ was screened at a Halloween party I attended and I was pleasantly surprised that it still holds up. There are numerous famous actors before they were famous (Usher, Elijah Wood, and even Jon Stewart), which makes for fun flashbacks. The plot is pretty straight forward and keeps you guessing who is the real monster. The film is more about the students rather than the faculty but then again who didn’t feel like their teachers/authority figures were out to get them at some point. The film is packed with dark humor/satire and isn’t afraid to make fun of itself.

Shane O’Hare

My favorite movie to watch on Halloween is an Anime. I know what you’re gonna say “ROBO TITTIES!” but hear me out.
Cowboy Bebop: The Movie (Knocking On Heavens Door) is one of the best films of all time. It takes place on mars during Halloween celebrations. The villain, Vincent (who is based off of Bob Dylan, hence the sub title) plans to release a virus during the yearly parade. The movie has some of the greatest set pieces in Anime history, THE best music in an Anime and a plot that keeps you thinking the whole time. Shinichiro Watanabe was able to take a perfect series and make a perfect movie. Halloween is about leaving this world for a night and becoming someone or something else, and Cowboy Bebop: The Movie is my go to movie for that.

Derek Kraneveldt

Halloween naturally goes hand in hand with horror and Zombies of course are the epitome of horror at this time in our history. Who hasn’t taken on the role of a zombie at some point in their lives? Whether it’s for a night like October 31 or just your daily commute to work, we’ve all stepped in those brainless, shambling shoes, and most of us seem to wear it quite naturally.
Night of the Living Dead is really the piece of media that started the whole “undead” craze. It’s a film that I’ve had the pleasure to watch many times, and almost every single viewing will bring back memories of Halloween night throughout the years. Whether it was myself donning the zombie garb, or handing candy to a youngin’ that wore it with an outstanding energy and presence, Halloween and mainstream media would certainly look much different today if this film had never been released. Halloween is the night of the living dead, so what film could really represent it better? Thanks George!

Jonathan London

Since Derek wrote about my absolute favorite horror film of all time, I’m going to tell you about the one that scared me the most as a kid (also from the mind of George Romero)! Creepshow, the original 1982 anthology film from Romero and Stephen King, was one of those VHS treasures that your parents should have never let grace your eyes. Five stories of terror starring the likes of Leslie Nielsen, Adrienne Barbeau (who I loved from Swamp Thing and Escape From New York) and Ted Danson. Sure, most of the stories are great (‘Something to Tide You Over’ is really great) but it’s the Stephen King directed The Lonesome Death of Jordy Verrill that really messed me up and continues to inspire me today. King stars as a luckless hillbilly who discovers a meteorite in his backyard. Thinking it’s his lucky day, he brings it home… but instead the meteorite ends up growing an alien plantlike on anything it touches… and there’s no stopping it. Soon, the plant consumes Jordy and more. I was completely horrified by the last lingering shot but I won’t spoil it for you here. Just know that there’s a lot of The Lonesome Death of Jordy Verrill in my script for Gay by Dawn and the one time I talked to King in person, years ago, this short (his directorial debut) is the only thing that we talked about. But that’s a story for another time! Happy Halloween!

That’s it everyone! Have fun tonight, and stay safe! You should also be posting pictures of yourself in our Halloween thread!

How To Make a Solid DIY Black Widow Costume For Halloween!

by GeekscapeStaff

Recently TheStylish (a fashion and style YouTube channel) has been branching into the geek style universe of cosplay and printed t-shirts. They have more than a few good explorations of what is Geek-Stylish, and recently they worked with hero Cosplayer (and friend of the ‘scape) Kit Quinn on two DIY videos for Avengers movie Black Widow costumes.

We can’t all be the sewing intuitives that it takes to create cosplay greatness out of thin air, so if you feel like being geeky (and sexy) at your local Halloween party and you don’t have a degree from FIT, well this might be the video for you.

If you’re a guy you can watch the video for the articles (except we think that Shane O’Hare might actually try this).

Dress like you’re a Russian assassin with a checkered past… or the world’s biggest Scar-Jo fan by way of this video:

 

And here’s a makeup tutorial to go alone with it:

Enter Our Contest For ‘The Raven’ To Win One Of Two Prize Packs!

by GeekscapeStaff

In honor of next Tuesday’s Blu-ray/DVD release of the thrilling and chilling horror film The Raven staring John Cusack, we’ve got a new contest for you! This contest will have not one, but TWO (2) winners! The prize two packs include:

Grand Prize winner will receive:
DVD copy of THE RAVEN     
Mini poster     
Hard cover copy of the book The Complete Tales and Poems of Edgar Allan Poe
 
Runner up will receive:
DVD copy of THE RAVEN
Mini poster
 

 

The rules for entering the contest are super easy:

1) Simply go to the Geekscape Facebook page and click ‘like’

2) Then find our contest post (featuring the image below) on the Facebook page and ‘share’ it on your personal Facebook page.

Share me to win, bro!

See? We told you entering was easy!

The contest is only open to residents of the United States!

The deadline to enter is contest is 11:59 PST on October 11th, so enter before it’s too late!

Once the contest ends we will randomly select two (2) lucky winners.

All you’ve got to do is share the contest with your friends and you’re entered. Good luck!


THE RAVEN arrives on Blu-ray and DVD October 9 from Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment in time to commemorate the 163rd anniversary of Edgar Allan Poe’s mysterious death (died Oct 7, 1849).

 John Cusack and Luke Evans star in this blood-curdling tale of terror that’s as dark and haunting as the legendary master of the macabre who inspired it – Edgar Allan Poe.

Baltimore, 1849. While investigating a horrific double murder, police detective Emmett Fields (Evans) makes a startling discovery: the killer’s methods mirror the twisted writings of Edgar Allan Poe (Cusack). Suspecting Poe at first, Fields ultimately enlists his help to stop future attacks. But in this deadly game of cat and mouse, the stakes are raised with each gruesome slaying as the pair races to catch a madman before he brings every one of Poe’s shocking stories to chilling life…and death.

Geekscape Contests: Enter For A Chance To Win ‘The Princess Bride’ On Blu-Ray!

by GeekscapeStaff

Inconceivable! It’s been 25 years since Princess Buttercup and Wesley found true love in one of the only fairy tales a guy isn’t ashamed to admit he enjoys. The 25th Anniversary Edition Blu-ray of The Princess Bride is out next Tuesday, Oct. 2, from Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment and in celebration Geekscape is holding a picture caption contest to give one lucky fan a copy of their own . It’s free to enter and easy to do!

Here are the rules: Come up with the BEST caption for the picture below. Then find our contest post on our Facebook page and leave your caption in the comments section (please keep the captions clean and profanity free) and whichever caption has the most “likes” by Monday (10/1) at 11:59PST is the winner. Pretty easy right? Now get to work captioning and sharing the image with your friends and win yourselves a Blu-ray copy of Princess Bride!
Again, the contest is only open to residents of the United States (because we support freedom and democracy but mostly due to postage being waaaaay cheaper)!

Stan Lee’s Comikaze Expo 2012 In Pictures!

by GeekscapeStaff

Stan Lee’s Comikaze Expo took place this past weekend (September 15-16) in Los Angeles and you best believe that Geekscape was there! Our home for the weekend was booth #1148 and friends like Travis Langley (author of Batman and Psychology: A Dark and Stormy Knight), the ‘Batgirl Spoiled‘ cast and the Space Command team all stopped by for a visit. The following pictures are just a small taste of the fun we had this weekend, enjoy!

Geekscape Presents Warm Up: Dave Ross

by GeekscapeStaff

I think that sitting down with a comedian and kicking off a conversation with ‘what kind of stuff are you geeky about?’ is my new favorite thing. I did not expect to get into a state of the comedy union, comparing the career of a comedian to the popularity of Dischord Records with Dave Ross, Los Angeles up and comer and host of the wildly popular indy comedy show Holy Fuck, but I’m pretty damn glad that I did. Dave, who is performing at tonight’s Geekscape Presents in Burbank, and I sat down for an conversation that made me wish I still had my Refused hoodie and a healthy addiction to Camel Lights.

Geekscape: So we’re starting all of these with the same question and just seeing where they go from there: What kind of stuff are you geeky about? 

Dave Ross: I am a punk rock geek. I know a stupid amount about 90s punk rock… I’m currently obsessed with Ian Mackaye.

Geekscape: A Fugazi fan!

Ross: Fugazi, Minor Threat, Embrace, Teen Idles, Dischord Records, Pailhead…I love all of it.

Geekscape: Mackaye came up with ‘straight edge,’ right?

Ross: He did, but he hates that it’s a movement. I’ve been reading this book Our Band Could be Your Life, which is a chronicle of American punk rock and hardcore through the eyes of specific bands. It’s really great, thought I thought Mackaye was more of a peace punk his whole life than he was. That was a bit of a let-down. And it seems he’s way more pretentious than I thought. I guess I should’ve expected that. So the Minor Threat chapter, this book claims that one of the reasons Minor Threat broke up was because of how stubborn Ian was… That he wanted what he wanted and the rest of the band didn’t necessarily want that. They didn’t like straight edge, and they didn’t want to claim being absent of alcohol because they weren’t. It’s ironic, because when other straight edge bands started popping up Ian said that he hated it, because his whole straight edge philosophy was about him taking his own path and being proud of it. The message was supposed to be that you should follow your heart, not conform to what people think is cool. Yet here we are with people building their lives straight edge.

Geekscape: It’s like ‘Born in the USA.’ It’s a huge protest song, but rednecks fucking cry and salute when they hear it. People hear what they want to hear in a message and run with it.

Ross: Everyone wants to be a part of something, but it’s very rare that people start something on their own. It’s hard to have that kind of conviction. That’s why I love Ian Mackaye so much. Also, Jesus.

Geekscape: Ian is like a DIY Jesus in a hoodie.

Ross: Totally. And more of a dick. And that’s the problem. Does blazing a trail makes you arrogant and self-important? Or does the fact that people follow you down that trail do it?.

Geekscape: I feel like it sort of takes an arrogant and self important person to blaze a trail that strong.

Ross: I disagree, actually. I mean, historically, you’re right. Henry Rollins, Zach de la Rocha, Bob Dylan, Che Guevara…these are all unapologetic people who were inspiring because of their confidence but still very self-important. So I’ve been reading a lot about Ian Mackaye, and I was hoping to read two things about him: 1. That he was completely non-violent. I’d heard that he breaks up fights at shows and stops shows dead in their tracks if someone’s getting fucked up. He didn’t start doing that until Fugazi…And that’s fine, it’s just sort of a letdown to learn one of your heroes used to respond to his own angst by straight fucking dudes up. 2. That he was really, incredibly nice. Which I think he is, but he was also so insanely obsessed with his beliefs and so indignant of people’s lack of understanding for him that he removed himself, and like I said, fought people.

And I read that and I was bummed, at first. Because really what I want to do in comedy is remove the industry from the equation. If I could cite a number one goal in the entertainment industry, it’s to build a Dischord Records for comedians: a system that’s monetized and makes sense and cultivates great art while helping comedians make a living. And I know that you can do that while being all-inclusive and nice.

We’re already doing that with Holy Fuck. Holy Fuck doesn’t turn a blind eye to any comedian, and we’ve never been rude or aggressive toward anyone. It’s been successful solely on its respect for the fact that no one has money, people love comedy, and people want to be a part of something.

I’m all over the place, I know. I can go on about this forever: My aspiration is to be the Ian Mackaye of comedy, basically. Huge long shot.

Geekscape: First you’d have to stop pits from forming at your shows. You can compare your disappointment in young Mackaye to the growth of a comedian: You didn’t do your current set at your very first open mic. Your ideas have changed and grown. Young Ian was probably like ‘yeah, there’s freedom in that fucking pit’

Ross: I think I’m trying to say like three things at once, because I have horrible, fucked up ADD. The first is that I respect Ian Mackaye in the way he’s conducted his life, and how incredibly respectful of art and people he’s managed to be while still making a living at what he loves. The second is that he’s been insanely aggressive and angry in his life, and very pretentious in ways, and i think that i can do it without that part. The last is that I fucking hate the entertainment industry, and I think it’s ridiculous we have to kowtow to some old-world understanding of what good entertainment is in order to make a living. The whole world still thinks the best comedy is on TV or in comedy clubs. Why isn’t there an underground comedy scene that’s sustainable? You know what i mean? Music can do it. You make a living, albeit a shitty difficult one, but a living, as a touring indie band.

 Geekscape: Would you consider Brian Regan a decent example of that? I mean, he’s a club guy, but he’s found his success on his own terms.

Ross: Brian Regan is amazing. And yeah, he’s managed to do it. Even Dane Cook. Granted, he stole a joke or two and seems to be a real dick but I have to respect both of their careers.

Geekscape: I think the sad thing for Dane Cook is that his ‘young dickwad Ian’ years for very VERY publicized. Ian McKaye got to work out his preFugazi ‘kind of an asshole kinks’ in relative obscurity, whereas Dane Cook skyrocketed before working out the whole ‘I’m sort of a young brash asshole’ thing and now the whole world is like ‘oh that guy? Dickbag.’ Which he deserves, but if he grown up more before hitting that fame, 40 year old Dane Cook is probably the best comedian of all time.

Ross: (laughs) Nah, he sucks. Fuck that guy.

Geekscape: Fuck you, Future Dane!

Ross: Why isn’t there a more sustainable alternative comedy lifestyle? Like, Dischord Records is huge, you know? Alternative Tentacles? Huge. And everything’s on their terms. They don’t make as much money as if they were on MTV or whatever, but there are huge, major bands on those labels. But with comedy, it’s so god damn hard to get good that by the time you’re good enough to put out an amazing album…

Geekscape: You’re getting paid by the industry already.

Ross: And it’s all you know. We’re just as much to blame as anyone else. When I go on the road, I look for shows and bookers my friends have done before, or I try to do clubs or whatever, but what we SHOULD be doing is just finding the one or two fans we have, and throwing a show at their house or in their basement or whatever. We should have a home base comedy club in LA that always has five dollar shows, that’s all standup, that doesn’t allow heckler assholes in, and has a good, young, exciting, welcoming, fun vibe to it. We should be branding smart comedy across the country. I don’t want to hear someone tell me what won’t work in some room. I don’t want to hear what can’t be done, and that people in the bible belt don’t want to hear jokes about Jesus. That’s fucking bullshit, because there are kids in high school in Alabama and Missouri and Indiana who hate it there and are terrified, and just want someone to relate to them.

Geekscape: And they’d love a scene like LA has for comedy.

Ross: Yeah. Give strangers a home. I think we can do with stand-up comedy what they were doing with punk rock in the 80s.

Geekscape: the funny (in a sad way) thing about what you’re talking about, is that LA’s comedy scene has the legs and the base to start that movement, but because it’s LA, the scene, whether it likes it or not, is still pretty focused on the industry you want it to avoid. We have all of these great indy rooms, sure, but at the end of the day we’re still fighting for Conan spots.

Ross: Yeah. Well, and I should also say that I judge no one. I’m part of the industry. I have a manager, I want to make a living! And maybe this ideal doesn’t happen. And if it does, it’ll be on a smaller scale than I’d like. It’s funny. As I’m talking about this, I’m realizing i don’t actually have a solid idea of what i want. I’m not even frustrated about my own career. I just know i’m angry

Geekscape: Which is pretty punk rock.

Ross: Sorry I’m so scattered. I’m hoping that I find more direction in my anger soon! It’s all over the place now, and I think what’s the most ironic is that I’m ANGRY that the world isn’t NICER. That’s my major point of frustration with our world: JUST BE FUCKING NICE.

Geekscape: Or I will curbstomp you STRAIGHT EDGE STYLE.

Satori And Son On Assignment: A Geekscapist’s Trip To Fan EXpo

by GeekscapeStaff

Fan Expo has been around in some form since 1995, but I feel  they really hit a home run on organization this year. Having said that, with an 8 year old in tow I had a very specific agenda this year: is Fan Expo too old for an 8 year old? Like most boys his age he loves nearly everything Fan Expo has to offer. What does it have you ask? Well it includes The Comic Book Expo, Anime Expo, Science Fiction Expo,  Horror Expo, and Gaming Expo.  With this many Expos rolled into one it’s easily the largest of it’s kind in Canada and is now one of the largest in the world. Not bad for the tiny population of Canada to cobble together something so big. Because of the size, logistics can be extremely hard to organize, but Hobbystar has really nailed it and line ups moved quickly and smoothly. Last year they had really improved the line situation and I think I waited about 5 minutes, this year I didn’t wait at all. Taking a child through the shortish lines was a dream compared to something like taking our little guy to an amusement park.

Fan Expo rolled into Toronto on August 27th with all the wonderful promises it’s alway brought us, lots of panels to see, lots of things to buy, lots of autographs to be had. Oh, and the cosplay, the never ending cosplay is as wonderful as ever. This year I went with my 8 year old son for the first time and it really gave me a new view of the entire event. I’ve passed the torch onto this little guy and he grabbed a hold of it with both hands… dressed as a ninja of course.


While none of us geeks want to talk about marketing, the fact is that it’s the mighty dollar that creates the investment to make many of the things we like happen. The rise of marketing to geeks is not something new, we’ve been talking about mainstream geek culture for at least the last 15 years. Marketing companies finally figured out that all those kids living in their parents basements had disposable cash. A market like that brings investment and with investment comes better quality in some cases, and in other cases it brings a flood of low end but sometimes high value products.  A lot of movies and comics that are out there are for kids and young adults. Some of the more expensive items are for full on adults like myself who have embraced their childhood passion for movies, toys, video games and comics. Of course our wives might call it arrested development, but in my infinite wisdom, I think of it as the stuff I like to read and watch when I have 5 minutes away from my son. The thing that I’ve been noticing lately though is that some of those big ticket items for parents are actually for the kids of those parents. What I’m saying is that we’ve come full circle, there are some insanely great expensive toys that only someone with means could afford, but only someone who is 7 or 8 would really enjoy. I think the idea is that parents are supposed to buy these toys and live out their second childhood through their kids.

Fan Expo has typically focused on the adults, but this year I noticed more children there, and there appeared to be more booths focused on the kids as well. Something I really appreciated was that Hobbystar offers a free coupon for kids between 7 and 12 accompanied by a paying adult. It’s $10 if no adult is present and it’s completely free for kids 6 and under. This is all good because they know we’re going to spend our dough on their vendors, and if the vendors are happy they keep Hobbystar happy. It’s all one big happy circle of life.

I’ve yet to meet a child that was not into comic books, so the comic area was certainly of interest to our little dude. The Horror Expo might be out depending on the age, but there’s a fair number of kid friendly booths in the Horror area as well. Nothing is as wonderful as all the little Cthulu for kids books and figures they had to offer.

From the get go I skipped over the panels, they’re not something a child is going to want to get into, but he loved all the costumes so we’d walk past the lines in order for him to have a good view of everybodys attire. We spent ages going through the lego areas, the various action figures and the models also went down well. Thing was that it wasn’t until we got to the boutique art places that I really saw my son come alive. So many wonderful artists for him to ponder over. You can see all the comics and figures all sorts of other places, but this one of a kind type thing that you can actually purchase kind of blew his mind.  The only thing I’d wished was that there was more room in the aisles, but all in all things moved ok, and I certainly can’t fault the artists and vendors for drawing such a great crowd.

Overall I think that this year’s Fan Expo was a complete success, and if you’re a parent wanting to take your child you should really give this a green light. It’s something they’ll be talking about afterwards for weeks.

Geekscape’s Love Letters To Nintendo Power

by GeekscapeStaff

With the news earlier this week that Nintendo Power magazine will be ceasing publication as of December it was yet another sign that print is dying. For years Nintendo Power was one of the only ways to get the inside scope on the latest news about our favorite games. It helped shape and change the lives of geeks everywhere, especially around here at Geekscape. With that said, some of the staff wanted to share some of their memories regarding Nintendo Power. These are their love letters, enjoy.

Ben Dunn

I read Nintendo Power as a kid, not because I needed updates about the games that I would be enjoying soon, or tips on games that I was playing now, but because it was the closest my parents let me get to video games. Yes, I wasn’t allowed to have video games in the house until I was 15. Before that I could only play NES, Super NES or Gameboy  when I went to friends houses. In fact, the only reason I got my first girlfriend was because I was always over at her house playing her NES and I helped her beat Mega Man 3. (With the tips I learned from reading Nintendo Power.) So even though my parents wouldn’t let me have them in the house, they did let me read about all of the great games I was missing.

I think my favorite part was the envelope fan art submissions. I must have drawn the Triforce on at least 15 different envelopes trying to get in there. Never did though. I think it was because I never actually included anything in the envelopes when I sent them and the postal office had them destroyed along with all my letters to Hanukkah Harry. While I haven’t read NP in years, I still have my player card somewhere in a trunk and will never forget the hole it filled in my video game free childhood. RIP Nintendo Power. May flights of winged koopas sing thee to thy rest!

Shane O’Hare

The moment I heard Nintendo Power was going to stop, my heart sank. I felt like a great childhood friend was going away for good. I remember discovering Nintendo Power for the very first time. It is one of my oldest and fondest memories.

It was the Christmas of the Nintendo 64. I had it up and open and I was bummed that I had to wait until tomorrow because we didn’t have the RF adapter. Another gift of mine was the Super Mario 64 soundtrack and inside that was an ad to get a 12 month subscription to the magazine. My dad saw it and said “Hmmm this looks cool! You get cheat codes and stuff, Ill mail this out tomorrow for you”.

The next month I had my very first issue. I will never forget the cover. It was Star Wars: Shadows of The Empire and that issue was the reason I bought that game. Since then my childhood all the way up until Junior year in high school was filled with Nintendo Power. I couldn’t wait to see what the next month’s cover was. what the fold out poster was and what were the next games we could expect in the coming months. No other magazine could keep my attention like this. Subs to Popular Science and various car magazines have come and gone, but my good ole’ Nintendo Power stuck by. Any time during middle school, if you walked into my bathroom the floor was covered with back issues, all very well read.

Nintendo Power introduced me to Pokemon, Jetforce Gemini, Forsaken 64, Goldeneye and Turok. My parents played a great prank on me when Super Smash Bros suddenly “showed up” in the mail, only because they had heard me talking all about this amazing next level game while reading about it in Nintendo Power. I would bring my issues to school and be the badass of the playground.

Let me put it this way: I discovered my favorite creators (Mega 64) because Nintendo Power ran a blurb about their Tetris video in an issue. And those guys have been a huge influence on my life. Hearing the news that Nintendo Power is going away made me very sad. I am going to renew my subscription as a last goodbye and that final issue will be framed.

Josh Jackson

 I have two major memories of Nintendo Power growing up, and despite my love for the magazine for so many childhood years, neither of them are good.

The first was introducing me to Earthbound, which was far from bad in and of itself. It was the way they did it.

The magazine had a set of scratch and sniff stickers with the brilliant tag line of, “This Game Stinks!” Needless to say, they weren’t kidding. Those damn things all smelled god awful! Hey Nintendo, that’s a great way to sell a game. Let’s have a sticker with Ness on it that smells like flaming charcoal ass farts. How did that work out again?

The second was Star Fox. Not the space badass that saves the Lylat system from the mad scientist, Andross. No… I mean this guy…

Yes, this Fox. You know, this scary asshole. The one who looks like he’s going to rip your throat out in your sleep. The one who literally had his legs chopped off and replaced with robotic implants. Yeah… That Fox.

So yeah, thank you Nintendo Power. Thank you for giving me nightmares and almost burning out my fucking nostrils.

But seriously, it was a great run filled with many other great memories of running down to the mailbox every month to get the latest news on my favorite Nintendo games and instantly become the coolest kid on my block. If it wasn’t for that, I might not be writing here for Geekscape today.

So cheers Nintendo Power. Thanks for the memories. No matter how messed up they are.

Jonathan London

Gaming news sites these past few days have been lamenting the news that Nintendo Power will end publication this December, but how many of them have voiced responsibility for these turn of events? Let’s face it. With the proliferation of the internet and geek culture news sites such as our own, the need for print publications like Wizard, Electronic Gaming Monthly and now Nintendo Power has gradually (and then steeply) declined. We can voice our sadness, but how many of us still subscribed to any of these publications? Not many of us.

Which really is the irony, since Nintendo Power was the first magazine that I ever had a subscription to. In many ways, those issues from the mid to late 80s inspired the sharing of enthusiasm, knowledge and opinion that you’re experiencing right here at Geekscape. I remember seeing the claymation cover announcing Super Mario Bros. 3 and losing my 11 year old mind. What about the fully realized drawings of game characters like Link and Samus that filled in the gaps left by trying to fully realize something you’d only seen in 8 bits? For me, the highlight was always the multipage game maps that would unfold in each issue, a precursor to the internet’s Walkthrough guides, that showed you were the different platforms and traps were or how to navigate Hyrule in the first Zelda. My friends and I all had that map cut out of Nintendo Power and taped up on our walls or folded in our school folders. The map to Tim Burton’s Batman game saved my life many times, as did the one for the Roger Rabbit and Dick Tracy games.

The one I’ll always remember was the 2D fold out map for some of the stages from Super Mario Bros. 2. As if the game wasn’t already enough of a stylistic departure from the first one, you could now play as different characters with different abilities. Hearing about the end of Nintendo Power this week jarred a memory that I’d forgotten for decades: I created a different Super Mario Bros. sequel (or spin off game) and designed the entire thing on taped together pieces of construction paper designed to imitate one of those Nintendo Power fold out maps. The game was centered around Toad, Princess Peach’s mushroom capped retainer, and was called Toad’s Maze. In reality, it was basically the second Goonies game but with Toad as your main character. You fought bats, collected items, jumped platforms and went through different doors in order to escape a giant cavernous maze. I now realize that calling a game Toad’s Maze, and then having you play as the character of Toad lost in his very own damn maze is pretty stupid. Toad would have to be a complete idiot to get lost in his own maze or even set foot in a maze which he owns that is littered with a zillion death traps.

Come to think of it, the game probably wasn’t that great, but it was an extensive piece of work, probably as lengthy as the fold out maps from each issue of Nintendo Power. I was 10 years old and I had designed my own game. That’s pretty amazing looking back. As listeners of the podcast know, I’m a Nintendo fanboy to this day and have been my entire life. I even competed in the Nintendo Championships back in 1991. But with games at $50 a pop, the 10 year old me had to either borrow friend’s games or make them up himself. For all of my game cravings in-between, there was Nintendo Power magazine.

Like a boss in my Nintendo Championships t-shirt!

Enter Our ‘ParaNorman’ Contest For A Chance Win A Prize Pack From Focus Features!

by GeekscapeStaff

In honor of this Friday’s release of the Focus Features film ParaNorman we’ve got a new contest for you! One lucky fan will win a prize pack that includes:

·         $25 Visa Gift Card for a night at the movies
·         Adult T-Shirt
·         Keychain
·         Notebook
·         Slippers
·         Toothbrush
·         Backpack

The rules for entering the contest are super easy:

1) Simply go to the Geekscape Facebook page and click ‘like’ 

2) Then find our contest post on the Facebook page and ‘share’ it on your personal Facebook page.

See? We told you entering was easy!

The contest is only open to residents of the United States!

The deadline to enter is contest is 11:59 PST on August 19th so enter before it’s too late!

Once the contest ends we will randomly select one (1) lucky winner.

All you’ve got to do is share the contest with your friends and you’re entered. Good luck!

 

The new 3D stop-motion comedy thriller from animation company LAIKA, reteaming the company with Focus Features after the groundbreaking Academy Award-nominated Coraline. ParaNorman is, following Coraline, the company’s second stop-motion animated feature to be made in 3D.
In ParaNorman, a small town comes under siege by zombies. Who can it call? Only misunderstood local boy Norman (Kodi Smit-McPhee), who is able to speak with the dead. In addition to the zombies, he’ll have to take on ghosts, witches and, worst, of all, grown-ups, to save his town from a centuries-old curse. But this young ghoul whisperer may find his paranormal activities pushed to their otherworldly limits.
Starring
Kodi Smit-McPhee, Casey Affleck, Anna Kendrick, John Goodman, Leslie Mann, Jeff Garlin, Christopher Mintz-Plasse, Elaine Strich, Tempestt Bledsoe, Bernard Hill, Alex Borstein, Tucker Albrizzi
Directed By Sam Fell and Chris Butler
Written By Chris Butler
Screenplay By Chris Butler
Produced By Arianne Sutner and Travis Knight
Rated PG

Geekscape Roundtable: Geekscape’s Favourite Action Movies!

by GeekscapeStaff

The Expendables 2 is out this Friday and we are already getting details about a third installment in the franchise. So, right now we here at Geekscape are on an adrenaline high and what better time than now to tell you guys what our favorite action flicks are. So lets get into it!

Andy Breeding – I cannot resist Rush Hour 2. The comedic chemistry between Chris Tucker and Jackie Chan is amazing on how well it works. Every joke is well delivered and makes me laugh every time. With Jackie Chan, you know you are getting awesome fight choreography right from the start. For someone in his condition, he still took the risks that most people would make a stunt person do while they would sit off in their trailer eating a ham sandwich.

 

Thrill Murray – I considered abstaining from this activity because the parameters are obscenely vague. IMDB lists 23,103 films as residing within the action genre. Fortunately, 23,102 of those movies are irrelevant because DIE HARD.

 

Allisonnnnn – Chronicles Of Riddick. We have an underground jail on a planet whose sunrise is akin to a nuclear explosion inside an EZ-Bake Oven, a cult of ass-kicking fanatics in H.R. Giger inspired armor, and Vin Diesel constantly flexing those manly arms of his as he lays waste to his enemies. Oh, and Karl Urban: Sex God Extraordinaire, being hotter than any mortal man has a right to be. Seriously, in the Director’s Cut, the things he gets up to with Thandie Newton… I’ll be fanning myself for weeks.

 

UncannyShawnMadden – This is a hard one to decide on. I narrowed it down to a list of five movies (three of which starred Jean-Claude Van Damme) but when it came down to it I had to join Jack Burton on the Pork Chop Express. Big Trouble In Little China had everything you could possibly want out of an action flick. Okay. You people sit tight, hold the fort and keep the home fires burning. And if we’re not back by dawn… call the president.

 

Shane O’Hare – My favorite action movie has to be Shoot ‘Em Up. Not only is the entire plot given to you in the title it can easily describe half the movies out there in the Action genre! From the very beginning it is in your face crazy fun. The term “creative kills” is perfect for this film, when one of the first deaths is caused by a carrot!

 

Scott Alminiana – My favorite action movie has got to be Lethal Weapon 2. It took everything great about the first one and cranked it to 11. Mel Gibson and Danny Glover have perfect chemistry as Riggs and Murtaugh. The addition of Joe Pesci’s Leo Getz is fantastic. He’s got some of the best lines in the entire movie “They FUCK YOU at the drive-thru, okay? They FUCK YOU at the drive-thru!” and he steals every scene he’s in. Anytime Lethal Weapon 2 is on I will sit and watch it waiting for bad guy Arjen Rudd (Joss Ackland) to say “diplomatic immunity” so that I can crack my neck along with Murtaugh and say “it’s just been revoked!”

Molly Mahan – Kill Bill, to me, is the greatest love story of my generation, and a truly amazing action film that happens to be led by a woman (hell yeah!). Tarantino—love him or hate him—knows how to make a film. It’s a classic revenge story, which I am a sucker for, with amazing fight sequences—the 30-minute ballet between the Bride and the Crazy 88s at the climax of volume 1 and the battle between the two blonde assassins in volume 2 shine particularly bright in my mind—and the characters have depth, not just of purpose but emotional awareness that isn’t always apparent in the genre. When we come to the end of The Bride’s journey and see her interact with Bill, there is always a part of me that wishes they can get back together and work it out (no matter how foolish or big of a let down it would be after four hours of watching her roaring rampage of revenge). But despite the basic premise, their relationship isn’t the only one that we see on display. The love she has for her daughter, the disdain and respect each of her opponents and former colleagues have for her are all evident. The layers that every character has is pretty remarkable. You could see each of them headlining their own film if they had to, or a comic book run. In the end, Kill Bill doesn’t force me to change my knickers as often as the trailer for Expendables 2 does, but it makes my heart sing. And that is something remarkable.

 

Jonathan – I think anyone who reads this site is expecting me to put a Van Damme movie here but I’m going to take the opportunity to share my love for another action film, probably one of the most revered in the genre: John Woo’s 1989 film The Killer, starring Chow Yun Fat, Danny Lee and Sally Yeh. This was the only movie poster that I had in my room all 4 years of college and not a week went by that I didn’t watch at least a few scenes from it. I could still watch it every week today. The plot is simple and has been done before. A conscientious hitman (Chow Yun Fat), pained by a hit gone wrong and blinding an innocent woman (Sally Yeh), swears to retire. But he takes one last job in order to pay to make things right. And in a classic modern-noir fashion, that was one job too many. Not only are his ex-employers on his tail to wipe him out but so is a driven cop (Danny Lee), intent on bringing him to justice. Some prefer Woo’s Hollywood calling cards of Hard Boiled and A Better Tomorrow 2 or the more gray area’d A Better Tomorrow but The Killer is where Woo really put his stamp on the genre, complete with slow motion doves, antagonists finding a common respect in a ballet of bloodshed and a dangerous men with moral codes. This movie influenced a wave of 90s action filmmakers, from Rodriguez to Tarantino, and forever reinvigorated a genre that had been exhausted by the end of the 80s. Throw any action film you want at it, The Killer still stands towards the top. And if it’s any consolation, John Woo did end up making a Van Damme film, 1993’s Hard Target.

Geekscape Contests: Enter For A Chance To Win A Copy of ‘Spaceballs’ On Blu-ray!

by GeekscapeStaff

After 25 years, the Schwartz is still with you! The 25th Anniversary Edition Blu-ray of Spaceballs is out this Tuesday from Fox Home Video and in celebration Geekscape is holding a picture caption contest to give one lucky fan a copy of their own . It’s free to enter and easy to do!

Here are the rules: Come up with the BEST caption for the picture below from Episode 1. Reach down deep and find your inner Mel Brooks. Then find our contest post on our Facebook page and leave your caption in the comments section (please keep the captions clean and profanity free) and whichever caption has the most “likes” by Wednesday at 11:59PST is the winner. Pretty easy right? Now get to work captioning and sharing the image with your friends so you can gang the system and win yourselves a Blu-ray copy of Spaceballs!
Again, the contest is only open to residents of the United States (because we support freedom and democracy)!

May the Schwartz be with you!

Enter Our Latest Contest And Win A Copy Of ‘The Dark Knight Rises: The Official Movie Novelization’!

by GeekscapeStaff

Who doesn’t love winning some free stuff? I know I sure do! Well, we’ve got 3 copies of  The Dark Knight Rises: The Official Movie Novelization to give away. And the rules for entering the contest are super easy:

1) Simply go to the Geekscape Facebook page and click ‘like’ 

2) Then find our contest post on the Facebook page and ‘share’ it on your personal Facebook page.

See, told you entering was easy.

The contest is only open to residents of the United States and Canada!

The deadline to enter is contest is 11:59 PST on August 5th so enter before it’s too late!

Once the contest ends we will randomly select 3 winners.

All you’ve got to do is share the contest with your friends and you’re entered. Good luck!

Christian Bale, Michael Caine, Gary Oldman and Morgan Freeman return in the thrilling and hotly anticipated conclusion to Christopher Nolan’sDark Knight Trilogy.
The blockbuster movie will introduce new faces to the franchise as well, including Selina Kyle (Anne Hathaway), Bane (Tom Hardy), John Blake (Joseph Gordon-Levitt), and Miranda Tate (Marion Cotillard).
From the team that brought you Inception, The Dark Knight Rises is guaranteed to be the blockbuster hit of 2012. This enthralling official novelization will transport fans into a Gotham City once again under threat.

Geekscape And Distrify Bring You The Hilarious “Klown”! Watch It Here!

by GeekscapeStaff

Geekscape and the folks at Distrify and Drafthouse Films have now teamed up to bring you the hilarious Danish comedy Klown, viewable right here on this very webpage!

In what critics are hailing as “the funniest movie of the year!” (IFC), KLOWN follows two wildly inappropriate friends — played by celebrated international comedians Frank Hvam and Casper Christensen — as they run amok through the Danish countryside, plowing through endless awkward confrontations and unspeakable debaucheries. Hopelessly wrongheaded Frank “kidnaps” the 12-year-old nephew of his pregnant girlfriend in an eager attempt to prove his fatherhood potential, and they join sex-crazed Casper on his secret adulterous weekend canoe trip. Rampaging through exclusive brothels, hospitalizations, armed robberies and even prison, the three paddle downstream from one chaotic misadventure to the next, all culminating in a surprisingly sentimental portrait of friendship and a final shocking reveal that you’ll never be able to unsee.

If you don’t know what Klown is, it’s a feature film from the creators of the popular comedy series Klovn, which followed real-life comedians Frank Hvam and Casper Christiensen through ridiculous NSFW adventures. Click here to read our review and watch the green and red band trailers. Again… this isn’t necessarily safe for work stuff, but it is hilarious. Our reviewer Scott gagged several times while watching this mix of The Hangover and Curb Your Enthusiasm (in fact, The Hangover‘s Todd Phillips and Zach Galifianakis have already optioned the Hollywood remake rights).

So what are you waiting for? Do you really want to blow twenty bucks going out to see The Watch this weekend (currently 11% on Rotten Tomatoes, ouch) when you can sit right where you are right now and watch Klown for $7 instead?

Yeah. We thought so. Enjoy. And tell your friends.

Geekscape Roundtable: Epic San Diego Tales!

by GeekscapeStaff

Every year, the internet gorges itself like on post Comic Con panel recaps and celebrity events like a zombie in a nursery school. So for a change of pace, here’s a few personalized tales and thoughts from the Con from your Geekscape staff. 

Molly Mahan: Women be Shoppin’

In addition to some solid panels and run-ins with nerd celebs, I did the wise thing and actually bought some stuff this year, and not just squee over the free swag I would later toss out. I’m typically really conservative with my money, but this year I snagged an awesome Cliff Chiang signed print of some DC heroines dressed as 80s rockers
. How could I not? Canary and 80s karaoke are two of my favorite things. It is pure gold in my book. I commissioned an amazing sketch of a female Predator by Anthony Diecidue, managed to get Gail Simone to sign a copy of her first issue of Birds of Prey, #56 with Black canary on the cover, while dressed as Black Canary, AND I won a free Archie shirt by cosplaying as Betty Cooper on Sunday of Con- easiest cosplay ever AND I got to wear sneakers instead of boots. I also took some fun novelty pictures (such as sitting in the Captain’s chair at the Roddenberry booth, red carpets, etc). They’re simple, free, and a great souvenir. While the pins and things are fun at Con, having to figure out what to do with them post-SDCC is difficult. I definitely suggest buying some cool stuff instead.

Big improvement over Scott Summers

As always, I did learn a few things. As a neophyte cosplayer, I swear that next year I am bringing a pair of sandals and a possibly a change of loose, light clothing to change into mid-day. Walking around the convention floor and through the Gaslamp district takes its toll on you in sneakers, let alone in 5-inch heels. By 5PM on Friday, my feet were in so much pain I wanted to cry (I think I even did for a bit).  I also need to remember to get out of the Convention Center proper and spend more time running around outside. There’s so much other stuff going on in the Gaslamp district it’s insane.

Matt Blackwood: Emotions!

You never know who will read your writing or how it will affect them.

I went Thursday to a panel celebrating the legacy of Ray Bradbury. Shadow Show, a new anthology dedicated to the late legend, had just been released, and writer/editors Sam Weller and Mort Castle and writers Joe Hill and Margaret Atwood discussed their roles in making it. They talked about the magical quality of Bradbury’s writing, about how much he had inspired them and others they knew. They also spoke of their personal experiences with their friend Ray. Their remembrances were very moving.

The next day, I ran into the group in the hall and told them my story of bawling my eyes out in public while writing Geekscape’s Bradbury eulogy in a coffee shop. To my surprise, Sam Weller had read the piece on the day and loved it! With the universality and anonymity of the Internet, you never know who will read the things you put out there. But finding out my words had touched someone so close to Mr. Bradbury meant more to me than meeting any celebrity or hearing any nerd news tidbits.

Scott Alminiana: Geekscape Talon

The Court of Owls mask that DC was giving away was incredibly cool looking and proved to be something that I had to work my ass off to get a hold of. It took me two days to get my grubby little mitts on one. When I got onto the floor on Thursday I started seeing people with these awesome masks and immediately knew I had to have one but I had no idea just how difficult it would be to get one. Asking around, I found out that they were being handed out at the DC booth. I quickly (which really isn’t quick at all when one is at SDCC) made my way to the DC booth and started looking around for the masks. The few people handing out issues of ‘New 52’ books told me the same thing: “they just randomly hand them out so you’ve got to keep an eye out.” It was still early in the day so I decided to come back later.

Later turned out to be Friday and as I was prowling the DC booth like Batman prowling the streets of Gotham, I finally saw a lady with a stack of Owl masks. She was only about ten yards from me when I made a beeline for her but again, floor traffic. As I got closer the stack got smaller and smaller. By the time I was two feet from her there was a pack of wild nerds reaching for the masks like zombies reaching for fresh meat. The masks were gone and the pack dispersed.

Well earned creepiness

“God dammit,” I muttered to myself as I sulked my way back to my friends. As it turns out both of my friends had been busy flirting up a girl who was selling Entertainment Weekly subscriptions at the booth. They all looked at me and saw the sadness in my face- I was like a kid who hadn’t gotten picked for dodgeball. Knowing how bad I wanted the mask they asked the gorgeous EW girl if she could keep an eye out and snag us some. She gave me a wink and said “I’ll do my best, come back in a little while and hopefully I’ll have some for you.” After grabbing lunch in the Gaslamp district we came back to the DC booth and wouldn’t you know it, she had come through for us (and me specifically). I know have an awesome mask of my own thanks to @luxiboo! Lux, where ever you are you are my hero! Thank you!

Shawn Madden: Hall H Veteran

As covered on Saturday, my SDCC highlight was Saturday’s Hall H line-up. This was hands down the best Hall H presentation I have ever seen and can honestly say that I can’t stop thinking about Iron Man 3, Guardians Of The Galaxy, and Ant-Man. I am not a fan of Superman, and the fact that Man Of Steel has me excited is an impressive feat. It’s a Hall H miracle!

Shane O’Hare: Man in the Booth

This was the first year I primarily worked the Geekscape booth. I thought it was going to be a tad boring but then I saw who our neighbors were: Maddox, Legendary, Konami and ABC Family. I thought “Holy shit this is going to be busy”. OH and it was. I got to meet some of the greatest and nicest people working the booth. Getting people to sign up on our list in creative ways was so much fun. We had a mystery price box, full of prizes and giveaways. Some were REALLY good, like a Blu ray and a competitive PS3 controller and some… not so much. Like a couple Cesar Milan books. I had people compete in a three geek challenges. 1: Defend your favorite movie. 2: Prove Geek Cred and 3: Dance Off. We only had a few dance off’s but they were hilarious to watch. Seeing people trying to defend their favorite movies while me and Zack Haddad (AKA Mr. Terrorist) ripped them apart brought back memories of my Random Rants.

The morning where I opened the booth I had two hours of boredom to kill, so I got creative: I started “editing” some of the prizes. Soon we were handing out posters celebrating Geekscape’s 50th anniversary and the Geekscape Press best seller “Solving the Geekscape Enigma: How to Come”. I had some great times, meeting old friends and making new ones. That 8X10 box filled with friends, prizes, conversations and memories was my home for five days and I miss it. To the great guys at Maddox, ABC The Neighbors Booth, Legendary, The Mega64 Boyz and everyone else. I’ll miss you and I can’t wait to see you again next year.

Also at one point I was wearing my My Little Pony Rarity Cosplay and sat on my own tail. That was the most odd and uncomfortable sensation I have ever had in my entire life.

Stephen Prescott: Who?

Anytime I was near the Warner Brothers booth, it was quite apparent to me that Warner Brothers simply does not care about their fans. The first time I walked up to their booth I was excited to see the “Man of Steel” Superman costume on display. Unfortunately it was turned so that it could only be viewed straight on from inside the booth. I tried to view it from behind a rope but was quickly moved along. Once inside the booth I stopped for a better view and less than 30 seconds later I was once again moved along by WB staff. I guess they simply didn’t want me to see it. Each time during the weekend I was near that booth I was told either to keep moving or that the pathway was either one way or simply shut down. I understand they need to crowd control, but I didn’t run into militant security like this at any other booth. It felt as if the fans were simply cattle being herded through. And where were the Faora and Jor-El costumes that were on display at other conventions? WB needs to stop thinking about press and publicity and start thinking about the people.

The irony was that Tumblr was down when they walked in…

The BBC America Doctor Who Tumblr Meetup was my favorite moment. I’m not a major Tumblr user, but I was taking every opportunity possible to promote my podcast so of course attending a Doctor Who Tumblr meetup sounded like a good idea. Even though I felt like the oldest person there, all of the fans were so incredibly nice and sweet. I posed for and took so many pictures including one with a stuffed sheep wearing a fourth Doctor scarf. If all that wasn’t enough, Matt Smith, Karen Gillan and Arthur Darvill showed up unannounced at one point to say hello and it was like Beatlemania all over again. The screams from the back of the audience were insane but wonderful. So much fun was had.

 Allison McKnight: Nightmare Before Hall H

As the sad lonely resident Goth kid abandoned by my brethren, one of the best things at Comic-Con for me was the Frankenweenie Exhibit down in the Gaslamp.  In a stroke of absolute genius, the exhibit was partially sponsored by the HGTV, which means that not only did we get a life-sized Tim Burtonesque cemetery to walk through (complete with lightening storm!) but we were treated to a garden full of deadly plants labeled with the ways in which they could kill you.  I absolutely melted.

Here lies an emotionally satisfied Goth girl…

While there isn’t much bad I can say about my Comic-Con experience (at least without getting slapped with some lawsuits), I really have to question how Hall H events are treated.  Some people choose to spend their entire con experience waiting in line for I can’t imagine how many hours for a brief block of time in which they are treated to a teaser and a viewing of some of their favorite celebrities a football field’s length away.  To those people, I have to say: get the fuck over it, go to the Gaslamp.

 

Geekscape’s SDCC 2012 In Pictures!

by GeekscapeStaff

We had an awesome time at Comic-Con 2012 but sadly it’s now over and we’ve returned to our normal lives.

Luckily we still have fond memories and plenty of pictures to go along with it. This year we made an Instagram account @GeekscapeDotNet (follow us, you know you want to). It allowed us to take plenty of cosplay photos as well as a few photos from panels and other cool stuff.

So without further ado here is the Geekscape 2012 Comic-con photo gallery!

Welcome to “Marvel Mania Hollywood” – The Restaurant That Time Forgot!

by GeekscapeStaff

With the success of The Avengers and the upcoming release of The Amazing Spider-Man, Marvel fandom is at an all time high. But there was a time, only 10 years ago, when this wasn’t the case, when the idea of having our favorite Marvel characters inhabiting our cinema screens and being widely accepted as cool was merely a dream. In that day, before the X-Men and Spider-Man films blew the doors open, there was still a place you could go to see your favorite Marvel characters in real life… and maybe even share a drink with them!

In November of 1998, at Universal Studios, the Marvel Mania Restaurant opened its doors for business. It offered food and drinks based on almost every Marvel hero (and villain!) that you could imagine. Sadly, it was closed less than a year later, in September of 1999. What happened? Why did it go under? What fiends were responsible (I’m guessing the chefs and the prices…)?

We may never know. But here, Geekscape has provided scans of the two original menus for you to look over… so that you can dream of a day, before Marvel was widely accepted as cool, when you could feed your feelings of geekdom alongside its largest symbols.

Personally, I’m a fan of “Doc Ock’s Wok”. What’re your favorites off the menu?

Bonuses: Jonathan and his wife Laura read over the menu in this episode of Geekscape. You can also download the Kids Menu here as a PDF, compliments of TheStudioTour.com!

Geekscape Roundtable: Fictional Characters We’d Bang… PART TWO!

by GeekscapeStaff

It’s part 2 of the most important discussion known to mankind!

Everyone has a fictional character they’d bang, whether it’s someone from a movie, a comic, or a car insurance company. So the Geekscape staff put together their top 5 lists, High Fidelity style. 

Joe Starr

Black Widow: Specifically the Iron Man 2/Avengers Black Widow. “Is that dirty enough for you?” COME ON. I actually wasn’t on the ScarJo train until Iron Man 2, and by the time the Avengers credits were rolling I was riding the train like a DJ from the Quad Cities.  Note to self: Do more things like a Quad City DJ. She’s hot, she’s tough. Plus, she’s written by Joss Whedon so you know we will have clever banter. OH the banter we will have.

Arcee from Transformers Prime: This one isn’t about sex. I mean, that happens, but I’m pretty sure that this is the first female character that I’ve found myself admiring and investing in in years. I mean, she’s amazingly strong and independent, a tough but warm woman you can’t help but respect. She’s a breath of fresh air from fake stupid pixie dream girls like The New Girl in the same way that Thor and Captain America were a nice break from ‘guys that want to focus on their photography’ for ladies. It’s not my fault she’s a robot that turns into a motorcycle that I’d have sex with.

Margaery Tyrell: Tyrell is unnervingly beautiful. She’s a subtle player in the Game of Thrones making smart moves. After all, remember what Training Day Denzel said: This is chess, it ain’t checkaz! Tyrell is a chess player. And sometimes she shows her boobs sometimes.

Emma Stone: Ok, look. Emma Stone isn’t real. She can’t be. She’s got all of the hotness Lohan had going for herself circa Mean Girls and none of the coke and coke and coke and coke. Also, she seems pretty rad. Way too rad to be real. It’s like life’s writers felt bad about Lohan and gave the world a do over. I want them to fight. It would be fucking epic. I’m pretty sure Lindsay would work as an alt dimension evil Emma, because she’s starting to get a bit of a goatee.

Kaylee Frye: Look, if we’re gonna go Pixie Dream Girl let’s at least go with one that can fix a starship with a roll of duct tape and sheer will. This chick would roll her eyes at Zooey Deschanel and then hit her with a wrench. And then have sex with me fingers crossed?

Allison McKnight

David Xanatos from Gargoyles:  Look, I’m just going to lay it all out there.  He’s hot.  Look at that stylish ponytail, that jawline and those shoulders.  And not only is he infinitely bangable, he’s a mastermind, manipulating the world to suit his visions.  He moved an entire castle!  How many men can say that?

Caesar from Xena:  Molly may have her heart-on for Ares, but we all know where it’s actually at: Caesar, as played by Karl Urban.  Oof.  Can I get that a second time.  Oof.  That is one sexy hunk of sociopathic manflesh, right there.  He can chain me up, torture me, and take over the civilized world any day.

Gregory House: It’s House, for christsake.  This is the man who walks around, scowling, picking people’s brains apart like he was ripping open a wad of cotton candy.  Gooey, emotion-filled cotton candy.  Even with only one good leg, he’s probably a better lay than… well, I’m not going to name names.

Richard B. Riddick: Sure, he’s a bit of a deviation from my usual lust for Magnificent Bastards, but have you seen those pecs?  In all seriousness, that man is a sex ninja.  That’s right: a sex ninja.  I’m talking about going through positions that normally aren’t physically possibleand he’s all bestial-hind-brain driven– you can tell by his opening narrative that he’s not just a growler, he’s a biter.

Mitsuomi Takayanagi from Tenjho Tenge:  This is a bit of an obscure character for most and, man, is his hair odd.  But when you’re an intelligent piece of beefcake that is casually manipulating people into potential deadly scenarios so you can finally bang your angry ex-girlfriend into submission… mrowr.

Russell Sherman

Jessica Rabbit: Now this is the only female character that could make me choose to be straight.  She’s sexy, loves the nerdy type and is committed to her man, sure she likes to pay patty cake but who doesn’t?  This chick is all right in my books.

Dr. Emmett Brown: Inventor of the stylish time machine, the Tardis may have a pool but it’s not a DeLorean.  Who would want to spend their lifetime traveling through time with their lover?  Doc is the whole package, he’s a creator, smart, artistic (although not always to scale) and the man can dance.

Sam and Dean Winchester: Those two have earned sex from everyone on the planet, they prevented the Apocalypse, fought the devil (and won), and are actively trying to make the world a better place even though it keeps taking everyone they care about away.  We owe them this, gay straight doesn’t matter they have earned a spit roast with you in the middle.

Merlin: He’s frikin’ magic for crying out loud, this is a man that could make all of your dreams come true.  If you want to frak on a magic carpet ride he could make it happen.  You want to ride a unicorn down the wedding isle again he could make this happen.

Wallace Wells: The gossip man who owns all the cool things in Scott’s apartment.  He’s sarcastic, Canadian and gay so this makes him the one character on this list that I’d actually have a chance with not to mention if things work out we could actually get hitched and it’d be legal.  That man is good looking in both the comics and the movie and is not afraid to speak his mind.

Matt Blackwood

Aela the Huntress from Skyrim: Face tattoos, mismatched armor, lots of skin showing- she’s like a medieval Suicide Girl. Plus, she’ll kill a storm atronach with a rusty dagger if you ask her. Of course, there is that “wet dog” issue; is there a Valtrex for lycanthropy?

Blink from Exiles: She’s brave, clever, kind. And pink. All over. Also, you never have to worry about being late again; with her portal power, you can go wherever you want INSTANTANEOUSLY! You want to step out for Chinese in Beijing? Bring a Somalian family to the never-ending pasta bowl? Get a Facebook profile pic on the Moon? Blink can make it happen. And did I mention she’s pink?

Terry Griffith from Just One of the Guys: Terry is the best kind of girl- one with balls. As a budding investigative journalist, Terry fights against the rampant sexual discrimination she faces by going undercover in drag to write an expose. She’s tough and funny and smart and willing to fight for the disenfranchised. And if you’re one of the guys who saw the flashing scene in his formative years, I don’t have to tell you what a model of physical perfection she is.

Margrethe from Job: A Comedy of Justice: While God and the Devil play their sick games with our hero (randomly dropping him in alternate realities Sliders-style in this classic Heinlein twist), Margrethe is the only constant good. The Danish stewardess is kind, understanding, and sexy. And anyone who makes sandwiches that can LITERALLY be considered heaven is worth holding on to.

The Mother from How I Met Your Mother: Like JJ Abrams, I’m obsessed with a mystery box. In 7 seasons, we’ve never actually met the mother. It’s the most misleading title since BJ and the Bear. Will we ever actually see her or is she like the alien from Contact? Is the mother just a concept, an ineffable ideal? Well, if the pedigree of Ted’s past girlfriends (including Cobie Smulders, Jennifer Morrison, and Mandy Moore) is any indication, the unseen mother is going to be totally effable.

Brian Gilmore

(Editor’s note: NSFW…It’s Gilmore)

Ariel from The Little Mermaid: Now, you can only really either go kind of masogynist or extremely masogynist on this one. Because you either have a girl that has no other choice but to go with mouth sexies all day all the time or one that’s super hot and can’t talk. She’s really willing to go a long way for you, too with the whole abandoning her people and voice thing. And she’s always pretty much topless, which is awesome. Also she wouldn’t get fat from having kids with you since they’d probably just grow in egg sacs.

This just got weird. Moving on.

Daphne from Scooby Doo: Any girl that wears a vagina-length skirt to a swamp and yet bothers to wear a scarf is fine by me. She’s also an idiot, which is awesome for a 1-night stand… I mean, they’re all idiots on that show unless every crook in the Scoobyverse is good enough at make-up design to be a contestant on Face Off. Also she’ll think you’re awesome in bed, since all she’s used to banging is one of the most infamously closeted gay characters in classic cartoon history. I always kind of assumed he was so obviously fabulous that he dressed her. One day: “gurrrl, how you wearin that fabulous purple dress with no flair?! Here, borrow one of my scarves!” Not only are her insanely hot fashion choices the thing that made me realize that legs rule, but she has red hair, and as we already established, this matters.

Tinkerbell: NO. SHUT UP. HEAR ME OUT. So, I’m not going to try to make the age-old argument of “hell yeah, I’d make her look like a lobster dinner” that you’ve heard pretty much since before we walked upright as a species and consistently every night as a child. This isn’t why we’re here. We’re all better than that. It’s because it wouldn’t entail any actual kind of P-in-V, so it’d be a one of a kind experience. Let me explain. And I’m so sorry for this. She’d be buzzing about at maximum speed all over you and everything would just kind of feel like as if Fleshlights worked themselves hands-free while you sat comfortably in a vibrating chair. She’d be the Brookstone of fictional lovers. Also, awesome fashion choice once again. Strapless dress that goes up to the fallopes even when 90% of the time she’s flying? Awesome fashion choice.

Wait. We can pick people played by actual humans?

Inara from Firefly: The only downside to this is that she might be a little disappointed because it’d be like asking a surgeon to do surgery at home (I swear to God there’s a better analogy for that). But she’s trained to do this. It seriously has to rule. Also you’d be doing it in space, which is awesome. Although technically I guess you’re always in space. But after letting her show you why only rich white dudes can afford her, assuming she’d be hosting (and yes, these are all now Craiglist casual encounters in my head), you could go down to the cockpit and play dinosaurs with Wash, as long as this was a time in which we hadn’t watched how he soared yet.

The Nun That Kate Upton Plays in the New Three Stooges Movie: I just really want to have unprotected Catholic sex with Kate Upton.

Stephen Prescott

Joan Halloway from Mad Men: Va-va-va-voom!

Winifred Burkle from Angel: She is the definition of adorkable and she’s a genius to boot. Zooey Deschanel wishes she had an ounce of the awesome that Fred has.

River Song from Doctor Who: Super smart, omnisexual and psychopathic. Everything I look for in a woman.

Irene Adler from Sherlock: Sherlock’s equal in almost every way. Also any woman who considers getting naked “putting on her battle armor” is a woman I’d like to meet.

Rose Tyler from Doctor Who: I don’t think there will ever be a time where I don’t have a total crush on Rose. I could blather on forever about how clever she is and how gorgeous she is and how much fun it would be to travel through space and time with her. I feel as though I completely understand why the Doctor loved her so much.

Jonathan London

The Cuckoos: Choices 1-3 MADE in a Greg Land drawn mind sexing! And one of them is in profile because Greg Land couldn’t find anymore three quarter model shots to trace in the Sears catalogue!

Gambit: He’s just a shithead. A bangable shithead that smells like cigarettes and strip clubs.

A bunch of pugs dressed up as Elf Quest characters: Editor’s note: JK this exists at London’s house and is not fictional.

Justin Lamb

Zuul The Gatekeeper: Dana Barrett is a triple threat. She’s a culturally affluent Manhattanite who plays the cello. She enjoys aerobics but knows when to spoil herself with a bag of Stay-Puft marshmallows. And she’s the corporeal medium for a demigod worshiped by the Sumerians and Hittites in 6000 BC. Long story short, things could get frigthful, but I ain’t afraid of no ghosts. Our safety word could be proton pack. Are you the keymaster? Yes. Yes, I am.

Pris from Blade Runner: Basic. Pleasure. Model.

Mrs. Brisby from The Secret of NIMH: I feel for Mrs. B. She is a sweet widower who wears that Pixie cut really well. She sort of reminds me of Mrs. Dawes, the 40-something woman who used to live next to my parents. Mrs. Dawes would work in her garden in a swimsuit top and khaki Mom shorts but she would still look surprisingly hot. Who knows, one night after stealing some corn from Farmer Fitzgibbons, maybe I would be cutting through her yard and oops I sprain my ankle. Mrs. B takes me inside to help me ice it down but instead things heat up. And then we put that red hood over those old photos of Jonathan Brisby.

Erin the Esurance Girl: Fearless, smart and sexy – whether she was stopping giant death-ray wielding automatons or saving me up to 25% on my auto insurance, this secret agent always sent me Thunderballing. Esurance stopped using her after she did poorly in a survey of popular corporate mascots. Despite being decommissioned though, she still fires up my Burn Unit.

An adult version of Princess Ruto from Ocarina of Time: I spent so many hours on that fucking Water Temple…I earned this.

Geekscape Roundtable: Fictional Characters We’d Bang… PART ONE!

by GeekscapeStaff

Yeah, that’s right. Part 1. This is such an in depth topic that it’s getting a sequel.

Everyone has a fictional character they’d bang, whether it’s someone from a movie, a comic, or a car insurance company. So the Geekscape staff put together their top 5 lists, High Fidelity style. We even got The Devastator’s Geoffrey Golden in on the action!

Molly ‘Mayhem’ Mahan

Rambo: I actually poised a similar question to my mother the other day (we have that kind of relationship), only it was “Rocky or Rambo?” She went with Rocky and I couldn’t disagree more. While I do love the Italian Stallion, few things get me going more than a man who knows how to wield a bow (It’s the Dinah Lance in me). I remember watching the fourth one (yes, with Old Man Stallone) and the minute he whipped out the compound bow and started laying waste to the enemy, I melted. Additionally, he’s a soldier who disdains the government and authority, but still accepts (or at least performs) his mission, meaning he knows how to follow orders even if he thinks it’s a little weird and will go out of his way to perform. Hardly sounds expendable in the bedroom to me, amiright? And don’t tell me that guy isn’t in some serious need of sexual healing. Bow chicka bow wow.

Ares, God of War: As played by the late-great Kevin Tod Smith on Hercules and Xena: Warrior Princess (did you seriously think you’d get away with me not talking about Xena?). Though a complete and utter asshole on Herc, when the God of War showed up on Xena he was still a bastard, but a lovable one at that. I watched this show during my formative years, so the heat and passion between the two was always something I wanted for
myself, and at times seemed like the ideal. And he could be as sweet as a teddy bear at times, too, so he wasn’t all bad. I watched the show religiously during my formative years, so Ares became without a doubt the embodiment of what I found (and still find) sexy.

Tyrion Lannister: All the other fangirls can have their Jon Snows and Jaime Lannisters, I’ll go with the half-man who has proven time and time again that he knows what to do with a woman. Bonus: he doesn’t feel bad about it nor have incestuous leanings. That clever
tongue of his ain’t half bad either.

Jason Todd: Pre-boot, post-resurrection, and in the Hush black leather costume, please. The man’s got daddy issues, has died and come back, and is hell bent for vengeance. Don’t even try to tell me the sex wouldn’t be crazy awesome. Also, I think that random which patch of hair he had in that costume was cool, I don’t care how little sense it made, it was a neat aesthetic. Plus, banging one of the Robins (especially the one that has been the source of such angst in Bat-lore) just feels so awesomely perverse, I can’t help it.

Saotome Ranma from Ranma 1/2: Although a dude, he can change into a girl when hit with cold water. That must be experienced. Preferably by me.

Looking back on this collection, I realize that I may have some anger issues.

Dave Biscella

Dagger: I’m one of the few that LOVE Cloak & Dagger, so I figure that will give me an in. Plus I could use the line, ‘My addiction to you is one addiction you can’t cure.’

Ariel: She’s clearly pretty confident based on the way she dresses. She’s got beautiful red hair and a nice singing voice. Also, always wet.

Harley Quinn: It’d be like hooking up with a hot Juggalette without having to listen to ICP blare in the background.

Tinkerbell: Petite. Blonde. Looks good in green. Can fly. Can’t talk. Perfect mate.

Ryan Gosling in Drive: He won’t let anybody hurt me.

Ben Dunn

Mystique: The only correct answer to the “Which Fictional Character Would You Bang” question is Mystique. I include all incarnations of this blue skinned she-devil. Movies, comics, video games. The reason being that she can fulfill any sexual fantasy you have. Want to bang Kate Upton? Scarlett Johannson? Ros from Game of Thrones? She can be all of those! You would never have to look elsewhere again.

Echo (Dollhouse): Same reason as Mystique, only she gets to keep Eliza’s amazing body.

Jess (New Girl): Not only is she hot like Zooey Deschanel, but she’s super adorkable! Plus, it seems like she is up for whatever. Definitely couldn’t take her after a few days, so this would probably have to be a one nighter.

Alishia Bailey (Misfits): Her super power seems a bit redundant really, a super hot chick who’s power is to make you want to have sex with her? It’s like a delicious cake having the power to make you want to eat it. Stupid. That being said, I don’t care if I don’t remember it afterward, would still bang.

Thorn (Bone): She has curves in all the right places. Plus she hangs out with a bunch of white Smurf rip-offs, so I would probably be HUGE by comparison!

Editor’s Note: Matt Kelley has called shenanigans on Ben, citing the ‘wishing for infinite wishes’ rule for naming Mystique. This brings up a lot of ethical issues: what do you think, readers?

Eric Diaz

Will Hunting: The titular character of Gus Van Sant’s movie Good Will Hunting, and probably actor Matt Damon’s breakout role. Will Hunting is a rough around the edges, smart ass blue collar type, who is secretly hiding a genius level brain and a sensitive soul. Combined with Damon’s then baby face, floppy blonde hair and lips that look like they were put on this Earth to do one thing, it is all pretty much my own personal form of kryptonite.

Audrey Horne: For twenty years now, Sherilyn Fenn’s portrayal of Twin Peak’s black haired sex kitten in saddle shoes and pleated skirts Audrey Horne has been my go to answer for “if you had to go hetero for one night, who would it be?” My answer will always remain Audrey. Either sultrily smoking cigarettes in high school bathrooms, rolling her eyes at those around her and their small town ways, or causing trouble by going undercover in Canadian brothels, Audrey was always the very definition of sex bomb to
me. It is also possible I really just want to BE Audrey more than bang Audrey…. And that’s not a crime.

The Vampire Lestat: Possibly my favorite fictional character period, Anne Rice’s vampire protagonist is tall, blonde, and kind of a prick (all weaknesses of mine with men) but ultimately a noble soul when it counts. Ya know, except for the whole killing people thing. Instead of brooding about his vampiric condition, he mostly enjoys it and loves all the sensual new pleasures it brings him. Lestat is the prototype for vampires like Spike on Buffy and Eric Northman on True Blood. Although portrayed on screen twice-first by Tom Cruise in an admirable attempt, and later by Stuart Townsend in a movie I’d burn every reel of if I could, neither could come close to evoking the novel’s version of Lestat’s
ambiguous omni-sexual nature. It remains the novel version alone that really gets my juices flowing.

Aquaman: I’m talking classic Aquaman, with the orange shirt, clean shaven face, with the short hair and the big trident (the hippie look Aquaman was a big turn off. I hate long hair on guys most of the time). Why Aquaman? Why not? He’s muscular, super strong and rules 75% of the Earth. Also, he’s tall and blonde, and that’s been my type since I first saw Sam J. Jones in Flash Gordon as a young kid, and got excited for the first time down there. I should mention that runner up in the comic book category has gotta be Dick Grayson/Nightwing. I mean, he’s an acrobat. Do the math.

Chris Evans as Captain America: I’ve never been all that crazy about Cap in the comics, at least not enough to get turned on by him, by Chris Evans’ portrayal of the aw-shucks do gooder with a heart of gold trapped in a little guy’s scrawny body, who then gets turned into sex on a stick gets me going every damn time. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve paused that Blu ray in the scene where he emerges from the super soldier transformation all shirtless and sweaty and hot and…yeah, I’d better stop now. I will
admit, this entry is 50% “omg I really want have sex with Chris Evans” so I don’t know how much of that is him being Cap or not, but I figure I’d get less flack if I posted Chris Evans as Cap and not Chris Evans as Johnny Storm. Who I would also happily have sex with.

Shane O’Hare and Joshua Jackson

Rarity.
Rarity.
Rarity.
Rarity.
Sweetie Belle.

Special Guest Geoffrey Golden: A Girlfriend Approved Sex List

Let me preface this by saying that Amanda, my girlfriend and co-founder of our comedy magazine The Devastator, is not looking over my shoulder as I write this.

The only fictional characters I want to have sex with are ones that won’t make my beautiful, amazing girlfriend jealous. For example, Rosie the Robot from The Jetsons, a robot and not even a particularly attractive one at that (like, say, Lisa from Weird Science, who I definitely never fantasized about every day of 8th grade). Another robot I’d have sex with is Dot Matrix from Spaceballs, voiced by Joan Rivers, a trailblazing comedienne whose work I greatly respect.

Other characters I’d have sex with: Princess Fiona from Shrek, but only in ogre form, because I value inner beauty over outer beauty; the Librarian Ghost from Ghostbusters, assuming the physical contact we could make would be largely unpleasant; finally, Gaia from Captain Planet, who – according to Amanda – would be like having sex with a faint breeze. You know what, I’ll take it! On a related subject, do they make Captain Planet cockrings?

Some women do not want to read the phrase “Captain Planet cockrings” on a computer monitor.

Our culturally significant world changing discussion on cartoons we’d eff continues next week! BE THERE!

Contest! Write a “Snow White and The Huntsman” Themed Haiku and Win Some Prizes!

by GeekscapeStaff

Universal Pictures’ Snow White and the Huntsman opens this weekend and to celebrate Geekscape is throwing a Snow White and the Huntsman themed contest in which you can win some movie-themed prizes!

Up for grabs are 2 of these Snow White and the Huntsman prize packs that include:

A T-Shirt
A Cell Phone Mirror
A Sling Bag
$10 Fandango bucks (which you can use to see the movie or really any movie you’d like but this movie actually looks pretty good)

 

Prize pack valued at $31 per pack
Giveaway open to US mailing addresses only
Prizing courtesy of Universal Pictures

The rules are pretty simple

First, join our Geekscape Facebook group.

Next, post a Snow White and the Huntsman themed haiku. It can also be a Kristen Stewart, Chris Helmsworth or Charlize Theron themed one. Anything that has to do with the film counts!

Then, get your friends to “like” or comment on your post in the Geekscape group.

At Midnight PST on June 7th, the two Geekscapists with the most likes and comments on their haikus win the prize pack!

Easy? We thought so. If you forgot what a Haiku was or how to write them, here are a few examples as a refresher:

So Bella no more
Kristen Stewart is Snow White
Watch her on June 1st

Chris Hemsworth’s hammer
swinging into wicked witches
sex allegory

Kristen Stewarts eyes
gazing into my own eyes
look at her shudder

See? Easy! They are short, 3 line poems of 5, then 7, then 5 syllables each.

Got it? Great! Now go post a few to the Geekscape group because time is running out!

And while you’re joining groups, why not try The Official Snow White and the Huntsman facebook group too?

In the epic action-adventure Snow White and the Huntsman, Kristen Stewart (Twilight) plays the only person in the land fairer than the evil queen (Oscar® winner Charlize Theron) who is out to destroy her. But what the wicked ruler never imagined is that the young woman threatening her reign has been training in the art of war with a huntsman (Chris Hemsworth, Thor) who was dispatched to kill her. Sam Claflin (Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides) joins the cast as the prince long enchanted by Snow White’s beauty and power.

The breathtaking new vision of the legendary tale is from Joe Roth, the producer of Alice in Wonderland, producer Sam Mercer (The Sixth Sense) and acclaimed commercial director and state-of-the-art visualist Rupert Sanders.

Geekscape Roundtable: Reasons For Living in a Post-Avengers World

by GeekscapeStaff

The Avengers has come and gone, having assembled close to a billion dollars worldwide. What’s your reason for living now? Geekscape’s writers have a few reasons to survive at least through the end of the summer. Spoiler alert: It’s Prometheus.

Matt Blackwood: Indies and Gingers

After The Avengers, I am most looking forward to a couple indies. I know that sounds pretentious, and I certainly don’t want to impugn the inherent buzz of this summer’s blockbusters, but these two particular films each have something about which I’m even more excited. The first is God Bless America, Bobcat Goldthwait’s bloody indictment of reality TV’s subjects. Goldthwait’s previous two comedies, Sleeping Dogs Lie and World’s Greatest Dad, began with sick, over-the-top premises and ended up transcending their genre trappings and becoming beautiful messages of hope. The other film is Sarah Polley’s Take This Waltz. I’m not proud of the reason I’m excited about this one, but I’ll show up for Sarah Silverman’s rumored full frontal and stay for the nuanced drama Polley has become known for.

I’m also pretty hopeful about Prometheus. I love Alien; hell, I even love Alien Resurrection! A new horror/sci-fi set in that universe, with Damon Lindelof involved? I’m intrigued. Plus, according to the Gambler’s Fallacy, Ridley Scott is due to make the greatest movie of all time by now.

Finally, there’s Pixar’s Brave. Pixar probably has a better critical batting average than any studio in history, the sad bunt that was Cars 2 notwithstanding, but I usually don’t make an effort to see them. If you have ANY children in your life- cousins, students, illegitimate offspring- you WILL see them whether you want to or not. They are inevitable. I haven’t tried to see one since The Incredibles, and yet I’ve caught them all. But Brave, the tale of a young Scottish girl following her dream of being a highland warrior, is a story I’ll make a trip to the theater to see.

Haterz Gonna Hate

Jae Renfrow: Aliens Resurrected 

So now you’re aimless wandering around, wondering what you’ll do now that you’ve finally gotten to see Thor and Hulk square off on the big screen. Why don’t you come hop aboard the Prometheus train with me? We’re invited(….or are we?) to a far off planet where we’ll get to witness Ridley Scott direct a sort-of prequel to one of the greatest horror films of all time, Alien.

Prometheus has had one of the best ad-campaigns in a long time. Instead of over exposing you with TV spots, 10 minute scene clips and Japanese trailers, they’re dropping wacked out viral clips of futuristic TED talks, and Michael Fassbender showing more range as a soulless robot than Jeremy Renner did as Hawkeye. I’m just sayin’… he didn’t have much to do, did he?

I still don’t know what the hell is gonna happen in this movie, but what I can guarantee is that whatever aliens are in this movie, they’ll be 100% more menacing then those wussy Chitauri and their Jet Motos.

Scott Alminiana: Cock Push Ups

Now that The Avengers has decimated the box office I can now look forward to a few other things. The first thing that I’m looking forward to is the new album from Tenacious D: The Rize of The Fenix. It’s the first album from Tenacious D since The Pick of Destiny movie and album crashed and burned six years ago. To promote the album The D has released two videos so far that prove that Tenacious D is back in fine form and ready to rock our socks off. They will also be touring in concert to coincide with the album release and you can bet I’ve got my tickets already!

The other thing I’m looking forward to is Prometheus, the long awaited return to sci-fi from Ridley Scott. What isn’t there to look forward to from this flick?! From Ridley’s return to the genre that he helped to redefine, to a script from Damon Lindelof that looks to explore some very big unanswered questions from Alien. If the trailers that have been released are any indication of what’s in store for us, then it looks like Prometheus could be one hell of a movie. I’ll be waiting in line opening night for sure.

Heidi Hilliker: It’ll end better than The Dark Tower

Locke & Key Clockworks #6 (of 6)! This last story arc of my beloved series has been epic… And epic might even be an understatement! There’s been so much back story revealed about the drowning caves, the Omega Key, the Black Door, how keys are made, Rendell Locke and the mysteriously evil Dodge. Joe Hill and Gabriel Rodriguez never cease to surprise me with inventive and fascinating information. I can’t wait to see how this chapter concludes and how they set up for the final story arc of the series.

I’m having such a double edge sword of emotions about this titles conclusion. I hate to see this book come to a close but I love the nervous excitement of finding out how it ends! The release date for issue #6 is June 27th. I hope that is pretty spot on. IDW has been known to come in late on Locke & Key’s release dates. I’ll be biting my nails until I get to visually devour this issue so it better be released on time or else I’m going to end up with hobbit fingers.

Molly Mahan: Queen of the Browncoats

The next flick I’m looking forward to is Snow White & The Huntsman. Though I’m not a big fan of K-Stew, I do love me some deconstructionist fairy tales! Also, I am hoping to see Chris Hemsworth be interesting in a movie again. After two weeks of his performances boring me to tears, I am hoping he’ll return to his Star Trek roots and give an emotional performance that I know he’s more than capable of. Or at least hack some Wicked Queen’s men to pieces with an axe. Either way, I’ll be satisfied.

Matt  Kelly: King of Logic

Look, I know everyone has been excited for Avengers and Spiderman and Batman. And with good reason- they look like great movies. They’re everything a geek has dreamed of one day seeing on the silver screen. But I’m not one of those people. Sure I’m going to see all three of those films in theater, but the movie this summer that I can not wait to experience is the sequel to the best 3D film in the last decade. I’m talking about Piranha 3DD. This movie is promising plenty of gore, boobage, laugh out loud comedy and over the top in your face 3D action… Sign me the fuck up.

The Chitauri are coming!

Fandom Planet Broadcasts Live From The Long Beach Comic-Con!

by GeekscapeStaff

Today is the Long Beach Comic Con! Can’t go? Feelin’ bummed?

Well… NO MORE! Tim Powers of Fandom Planet and Mr. Sam Proof are live streaming interviews and features from the Long Beach Comic Con floor today! It’s the second best thing to being there yourself! Check it out!

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APRIL FOOLS! Horror Legend George Romero Dead at 72

by GeekscapeStaff

This was a sick, filthy April Fools joke… George is still with us and still un-dead!

Film has lost a legend.

George Romero, writer, producer, director, and inventor of the modern zombie, was found dead of apparent natural causes yesterday at his Pennsylvania home.

The hugely influential auteur, known for six “Dead” films including 1968’s groundbreaking Night of the Living Dead, was 72 years old.

Greg Nicotero, executive producer and makeup effects supervisor of The Walking Dead and close friend of Romero:

“I’ve known (George) for almost 30 years. He’s been a family friend, a dear friend… A lot of people forget that all these guys not only were influenced by him but were inspired by him when they were younger… Tomorrow I’m going to Pittsburgh to celebrate George.”

As far as Geekscape is concerned, the zombie genre has lost its father.

 

 

 

 

Oh, no, wait- He’s getting up again. Someone go get the shotgun!

The Ultimate WonderCon 2012 Cosplay Round-Up!

by GeekscapeStaff

We had an awesome time at WonderCon 2012! But now it’s all over and reality has set back in.

Luckily, we still have our fond memories of the past weekend… and all of these amazing photos of the cosplayers we met at the Geekscape booth! From uncanny X-Men to beautiful Wonder Women, this year’s WonderCon cosplayers really went all out, creating every costume that a geek could ever want to see!

Our youngest (and most awesome) cosplayer!

Check out our amazing gallery below and see if you recognize a few!

The Geekscape Staff Roundtable: Our Favorite Movie Soundtracks

by GeekscapeStaff

Movie soundtracks. They’re the soundtrack to our lives… so for this week’s roundtable, we checked in with our writing staff to find out what their lives ideally sounded like.

Eric Diaz

What it sounds like when doves cry…

In my opinion, Prince’s soundtrack to his 1984 movie Purple Rain isn’t just the greatest movie soundtrack of all time, it is one of the greatest albums of all time, period. I admit, the movie itself is fairly terrible overall, but remains totally watchable today as a kind of pop culture/ fashion time capsule. Not to mention, about 50% of the movie is on stage performances from Prince and others, and that helps A LOT. But the album is another story all together: from the spoken word opening of Let’s Go Crazy (“Dearly Beloved…”) to the final fading melancholy strings of the title track, all nine songs on this album are pure pop perfection. Spawning four top ten hits and two number ones (“Let’s Go Crazy” and “When Doves Cry”) Purple Rain showcases Prince and the Revolution at the very peak of their musical powers.

Back in 1984/85, everything associated with this soundtrack turned into radio gold. It didn’t even matter if the songs from the album were even released as singles, many got massive radio play just the same. Even Erotic City, the B-Side to Let’s Go Crazy, got significant play. The two songs performed by Morris Day & the Time included in the movie became hits, as did Apollonia’s Sex Shooter, and none of these were even considered good enough by His Royal Badness to actually include on the actual final album release. While many consider Prince’s 1987 double album Sign O’ the Times to be his crowning achievement, the truth is there are still a couple of filler tracks on there. Purple Rain however, is lean mean perfection from start to finish. Over the past twenty eight years, I’ve owned it on vinyl, cassette, CD, mp3 and will probably have it directly downloaded straight into my brain one day.

Random Trivia: Track #5, Darling Nikki, was considered so obscene that it caused Tipper Gore to form the Parents Music Resource Center which is why you have all those annoying black and white Parental Advisory labels on your albums today.

Ben Dunn

When his mind’s made up…

One of the best soundtracks that comes to mind for me is from the little indie that could, Once. The movie is billed as a modern-day musical, but it’s not the traditional type with the characters breaking spontaneously into song. Instead you characters that are actually musicians trying to create music together. And boy does it ever do its job. The feelings that are expressed in the lilt of Glen Hansard’s voice and the way it mingles with Marketa Irgolva’s is heart breaking. Listen to the main theme or “Falling Slowly” and if it does not move you I would definitely go to the doctor and check to see if you have a heart.

Matt Kelly

Stands outside and yells at the rain…

Over the years Garden State has become the go-to joke for ‘Hipster movie’ and ‘Indie by Numbers’, but for me it’s always been an important movie. It reflected my post-high school, pre-college worried and concerns and became a huge comfort to me. The soundtrack is no different. Each song is so lovingly picked for each sequence. They all fit in the context of the scenes and flow beautifully on the album. My favorite track is the somber I Just Don’t Think I’ll Ever Get Over You by Colin Hay. I’d never heard of him before this album but the song made me go out and purchase more of his music and he’s now one of my favorite artists of all time. Whenever I’ve had a rough day I can still put on the Garden State Soundtrack and relax.

Molly Mahan

Understands who makes the rockin’ world go round…

When it comes to best film soundtracks THERE CAN BE ONLY ONE. With original music (and a few covers) by Queen, Highlander is the clear winner. It has no rival. No other collection of sound can be its equal: 26 years have passed since it was given to us and it is still the future of sound. From the epic “Princes of the Universe” (later used as the opening theme to the TV show) to the somber power ballad “Who Wants to Live Forever?” (Which I plan to have play at my funeral), the Highlander soundtrack is rife with music for any occasion and it’s bound to make your day better.

It also shows what kind of lasting power a soundtrack can have on a film. I mean, seriously, without music written and performed by Mercury, Taylor and May, where would Highlander be? The soundtrack is so blindingly amazing that not only does it make me forget the horrible experience that is the film proper, but I will rewatch it constantly and proclaim it as one of the greatest movies of all time. It’s just amazing. Not to mention that hearing Freddie Mercury halfhearted cry of “Bring on the girls!” makes me smile every time I hear it. It truly is A KIND OF MAGIC. So, GIMME A PRIZE, my fellow Geekscapists, as I do my best Kanye impersonation and proudly state that I’m gonna let you finish, but Highlander’s soundtrack is the greatest soundtrack of all time!

Shane O’Hare

Loves this Monday to Friday soundtrack…

Snakes on a Plane gets my vote for BEST movie soundtrack. It is one of the most odd amalgamations of music I have ever heard. The opening track is a scary, snakey sounding piece written by Trevor Rabin of YES fame. And then things get odd.

The main hit single by Cobra Starship, Snakes on a Plane (Bring It) was my ringtone all throughout my Junior year. It has a freakishly fabulous guitar riff and the best line in musical history ever: “We got a free upgrade for snakes on a plane/Fuck ’em, I don’t care.” Next, we have not one but THREE remixes by Tommie Sunshine of popular 2006 radio hits from Panic at the Disco, Fall Out Boy and The Hush Sound.

Then the Teddybear Remix of The Academy Is takes the mediocre existence of that band and elevates it to next level status. Then out of literally Nowherevilles, a township of Leftfield County, Cee-Lo Green drops an original track about the fear of snakes aptly called Ophidiophobia which includes a chorus only Cee-Lo could sing: “Send me an angel, an angel/No sign of the times, instead I’ll take it to mean I’m a stranger, to danger/But I’m scared ’cause I swore I saw a snake on a plane”.

SOAP soundtrack is HANDS DOWN the best movie OST on the planet. Feature epic original tracks, crazy ass remixes and epic genre flip flopping. Where else are you going to hear “Final Snakes” by Shranky Drank? HMMM? WHERE?

Noel Nocciolo

Still trying to make ‘fetch’ happen…

Clueless is the blueprint, in motion-picture soundtrack-form, for my music schizophrenia. Not only is “Clueless” one of my favorite movies from the 1990s, the soundtrack was my jam…and sort of still is.

The soundtrack, like the movie, begins with The Muffs’ straight-forward, solid version of Kim Wilde’s 1981 hit, “Kids In America,” a fine thesis in which to introduce Cher Horowitz.

Much like what I constantly have on current rotation in my headphones, this soundtrack is all over the place. And yet somehow it works. There are gorgeous acoustic versions of Radiohead’s “Fake Plastic Trees” and Counting Crows’ cover of The Psychedelic Furs’ “The Ghost in You,” and randomness from the Beastie Boys and Coolio. The Mighty Mighty Bosstones make an appearance in the movie as themselves, playing two songs at a frat party; one is on the soundtrack. My favorite track, which I think holds the most water in current times with regards to the evolution of what we (probably) now call “indie-rock” is “Alright” by Brit-pop group, Supergrass. I find myself listening to that cut about once a week.

The first day of classes at Fordham University, I met Rachel, whom I still count as one of my closest friends. Soon into our friendship, she told me about this incredible off-Broadway musical that was playing downtown at the Jane Street Theatre, called Hedwig And The Angry Inch, and that we must pick a night to go see it, as soon as humanly possible, because it was going to change my life.

We went, and she was right. It was unlike anything I’d ever seen on a stage. It was sort of a rock show; there was a multi-media component with the stage, but it was a play with a beginning, middle and an end. I was seventeen and a freshman in college in the biggest theatre-city in the United States, from a small town…and it blew my mind. It resonated for me in a way nothing had ever and nothing has ever since.

“Hedwig” was made into a feature film that I enjoyed immensely, but nothing duplicates the eccentric electricity of seeing it on stage. Beautifully, it forces empathy for sad, passionate and brilliant Hedwig, who is (partially) transgendered and searching for a place in a society that doesn’t quite know what to do with her. Both the movie soundtrack and the original cast recording are really incredible.

Joe Starr

One shall stand, one shall fall…

On behalf of geeks everywhere, I’d like to apologize to our readers that no one has given the correct answer to this discussion yet: TRANSFORMERS: THE MOVIE. No Michael Bay to be found here: it is the year 2005 and the treacherous Decepticons have conquered the Autobot’s home planet of Cybertron. But, from secret staging grounds on two of Cybertron’s moons the valiant Autobots plan to take back their homeland. And they plan to do so with the POWER OF STAN BUSH.

The album kicks off the most inspirational song ever written, The Touch, followed by the Ironhide killing Instruments of Destruction (this soundtrack kicking everyone’s ass was almost too easy, mighty Megatron!). All true movie soundtracks should be judged by the movie version of their theme song, and Lion’s version of Transformers is more than meets your eyes. And your face. And your god damn soul. Do you need more lifting up? The second most inspirational song ever written, Stan Bush’s Dare is be your hero. It will hold you up when you’re feeling down. It will make you smile in times of darkness. It will pull a triplechanger’s cannon out of the way so that you can avoid a swift death outside of Autobot City when you’re outside of Autobot City facing a swift death at the hands of a triplechanger. All of this plus Weird Al and Vince DiCola’s score makes the rock of this soundtrack stronger than unleashing the power of the Matrix. Also, I like Transformers.