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Co-writer of the feature film THE RANGER, world premiere March 12th, 2018 at South by Southwest!
Senior Writer | Studio@Gizmodo, Fusion Media Group
Freelance entertainment writer w/ work appearing on VICE, Popular Mechanics, Rhapsody Magazine, and more.
Twitter: @GiacoFurino
[email protected]
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Need a booster shot of encouragement? Competitive athlete Margaux Alvarez is here to motivate. In the world of competitive fitness, where the goal is to constantly push yourself, it takes endurance and mental fortitude to stay on target and continue pressing onward.
The world of extreme sports can sometimes feel like it's dominated by men, but BMX freestyle rider Nina Buitrago is here to change that. We traveled to Austin, TX to hang out with Buitrago and learn how she got into riding, how she pushes for equal representation in the sport, and what the future holds.
The Westhampton Seabreeze Motel sits on the corner of Seabreeze Avenue and the roaring Montauk highway, its faded sign looming large in the front yard. The motel is located near the Westhampton beach in the small Long Island hamlet of Westhampton.
Though there have been episodes about teleporting music teachers, invisible monsters, and intimate moments of cannibalism, the general conceit of the Duplass brothers' HBO series Room 104 is fairly straightforward. Each episode in the anthology series can be about anything, and can take place during any time period, but it has to take place inside the confines of the show's titular motel room.
5G technology promises so much more than just good cellular service. But what is it actually? And how will this emerging technology change our lives? 5G, quite simply, stands for the fifth generation of cellular technology.
We've partnered with Best Buy to present What's Next In Tech, a guide to some of the most incredible advances being made in the tech world. From 5G connectivity to wearable technology, we're looking beyond what's now, and looking forward to what's next.
You've likely heard of 24 Hours of Le Mans, and may have even caught highlights and recaps of the race in years past. And while watching bits and pieces of Le Mans can begin to give you a sense of its inherent thrill, this endurance race - held annually since 1923 in Le Mans, France - really needs to be seen in its entirety to be truly appreciated.
I vividly remember sitting on the top bunk of my buddy's bunk bed the first time I heard about a role-playing game. Two years older than me, he had the wisdom and patience needed to explain that, no, these games couldn't be played through in one run.
Steve Lemme and Kevin Heffernan - two of the founding members of the comedy troupe Broken Lizard and creators of Super Troopers, Club Dread, Beerfest, and more - are currently on the road screening their latest creation, the upcoming truTV series Tacoma FD.
What stories lie behind the doors of a motel room? What aching hearts, screams of joy, broken dreams, and fresh new starts wait just past that threshold? In HBO's anthology series Room 104, each episode can be about, well... anything, as long as it follows one simple rule: The stories have to take place inside the titular motel room.
You don't need to be a professional race car driver to appreciate a fast and productive pit stop. Whether you're on your way to a meeting, shuttling a caravan of hangry tweens to a soccer match, or headed out for a cross-country road trip, getting in and out of a gas station as quickly and efficiently as possible is crucial to enjoying the rest of your day.
If you've ever watched a movie or TV show about Wall Street, you've probably seen the traders, ties hanging loosely around their necks, frantically staring at their terminals while trying to make millions or billions for themselves or their firms. Sweat-soaked with bulging eyes, these pop culture depictions paint a grim portrait.
Building your own PC is a great way to make sure, piece by piece, you're getting exactly the computer you want. From complete customization to ensuring the quality of all components, building a rig from scratch is a rewarding, in-depth experience.
At long last the wait is finally over. All of your components have arrived. You've got all the tools you need. You've been studying day and night. It's finally time to take the plunge. It's time to put together your own PC.
When it comes to modding PC hardware, there's something for everyone, no matter their skill level. Some modders aim to create near-silent rigs, and fall into the world of fanless PC building. With fanless builds, creators use inventive cooling systems and various forms of heat-sinking to vastly reduce the noise made by their builds.
From our childhoods spent playing with fire trucks in the sandbox, to the myriad firefighting "hero dramas" in film and television, it feels like we spend our whole lives fascinated by firefighters. But are the brave men and women who fight fires, rescue the defenseless, and get you back into your locked car always the stoic, self-serious heroes we imagine?
The upcoming premiere of The CW's new series, Roswell, New Mexico has me thinking about hometown spooky stories. For people who grew up near Roswell, their tall tales are all about crashed saucers, gray aliens, and government conspiracies.
There's nothing more precious to a small business owner than time. When it's all on you to keep a company running, it can be hard to manage your workload effectively, and the smallest unexpected roadblock could wind up sinking your day. So how can small business owners protect against wasted hours?
What does it take to change the world? A seat at the UN? Or in the Oval Office? Do you need an audience of millions? Nope, not anymore. Thanks to our current connected climate, all you need to effect change is a great idea, hard work, and a smartphone.
Starting to invest may sound like an impossible task, but it doesn't have to be. With a solid plan and a bit of financial mindfulness, you'll find it's easier to get your finances together than you'd expect. Just follow these simple suggestions, and you'll be ready to invest in no time.
The United States Marine Corps is highly regarded as the most elite branch of the US Military, and though they're famous for their outstanding capabilities in the air, on land, and sea, there's also another world they thrive in: the world of invention.
The world of esports is perceived as a boy's club, so women in competitive gaming already face an uphill battle. But superior gameplay is superior gameplay, and precision skills are not the exclusive province of any gender. We wanted to see what life was like for an all-women esports team, so we spoke to the team LGB eSports.
The government is running wild, the nation feels split in two, the seafloor is sinking... during these times of political and personal turmoil, it can be hard to find value in creating art. But, tough as they are, difficult times often produce new ideas and inspiration.
Feeling a little sleepy in your relationship? There are plenty of ways to splash a bit of cold water and wake up (or wake your groggy partner). Nothing shakes the cobwebs and adds a bit of excitement to a relationship quite like getting out of town for a bit, but it's not always feasible (or reasonable) to get away.
You've got the perfect PC build (or a brand-new console). You've chosen the right monitor or TV for your setup. Now it's time for... everything else. To help you out, we assembled a starter's guide to the best gaming peripherals.
In the futuristic world of Altered Carbon, streaming now on Netflix, everything that makes you you sits in a device called "the stack." All your memories, personality, and the quirks that make you unique are stored there indefinitely, and for the right price you can replace your body (or "sleeve").
Esports is a relatively new phenomenon. Being good at video games is not. But how to make the leap from one to the other? If you've ever wanted to try your hand at competitive gaming but don't know where to start - start here.
Why do we keep coming back to games that make us want to throw our controllers across the room? A hard video game is a measurable challenge. We play, we die, we play again. We practice, we memorize levels, and we find ourselves getting better.
The United States Marine Corps is highly regarded as the most elite branch of the US Military, and though they're famous for their outstanding capabilities in the air, on land, and sea, there's also another world they thrive in: the world of invention.
Over the course of history, there have been some truly bonkers assassination plots. Sometimes they're so insane, it almost looks like murder was a secondary goal, and the primary goal was just "be creative." While killing people is generally frowned upon, sometimes you just have to give it up for the ingenuity shown by assassins.
This year's CES boasts a wide array of breakthroughs in consumer and business technology, but no market is capturing attention on the show floor quite like the Smart Home innovations on display. From smart locks and surveillance cameras that keep your home safe to bathroom breakthroughs there's a new piece of must-have home tech popping up every week.
There are millions of little things to think about when designing a space in your home, and one of the most important aspects to hammer down is how to balance function and design. Where do you start when redesigning the look of a room? How important is high performance in things like appliances?
The Ranger - News, Reviews, & Clips
A group of teens sit at a table in a graffiti covered club that throbs with music. They experiment with drugs, crash onto the dance floor, and party with the free joy of their youth - until the cops come crashing in. In short order, things go from bad [...]
Last year, we named the best horror movies of 2017 in spring. So who's down for a sequel? Of course, late March is way too early to call anything the best movie of the year, but we figured it's more fun to start in the year's first quarter and then update the piece at the end of June, September, and December.
By DEIRDRE CRIMMINS When a buncha punk kids are outrunning the law, they choose the wrong mountain as their hideout in THE RANGER. The feature directorial debut from much-celebrated producer Jenn Wexler (DARLING, MOST BEAUTIFUL ISLAND) promises a Technicolor bloodbath in the woods and it absolutely delivers.
Society's rejects face off against an unstoppable force of nature in the fun, exciting, and often hilarious horror flick THE RANGER. A group of punks need to outrun the cops in a hurry, so they retreat from the city to a cabin on a mountain owned by the family of one of their own, Chelsea (Chloe Levine, THE TRANSFIGURATION).
Horror is a film genre that goes through cycles. Somebody has a great, subversive, scary idea that taps our collective subconscious. Then the concept gets imitated, and stretched thin through a series of sequels, until eventually it is treated as...
The Ranger , is - on its surface - a vibrant, vicious throwback to 80's slashers with a unique visual flair. This is like saying punk subculture is - on its surface - people in leather jackets with a lot of piercings and even more product in their radically dyed hair.
Jenn Wexler's directorial debut premieres at upcoming SXSW Festival
Not only are the SXSW programmers an astute bunch of film enthusiasts who scour the globe for the finest in independent cinema ... they also really dig horror flicks.
In Jenn Wexler's directorial debut, The Ranger, a group of young punks get in trouble with the cops and flee the city. Fueled...
VIEW TRAILER 2018 | USA | 80 min. Director: Jenn Wexler Screenwriter: Jenn Wexler & Giaco Furino Cast: Chloe Levine, Jeremy Holm, Granit Lahu, Larry Fessenden, Amanda Grace Benitez March 24, 2018 @ 7:00 pm Brattle Theatre The epitaph for punk's alleged death has been declared, yet its legacy echoes through new generations of misfits channeling angst into art.
THE RANGER - Pennsylvania Premiere (Dir. Jenn Wexler, 2018, USA, 80 min) Filmmaker Jenn Wexler in attendance! When a drug-fueled night at an NYC punk club ends in a bloody scuffle with the cops, punk rocker Chelsea (Chloe Levine of CFF 2017 selection The Transfiguration) and her friends flee the city to the long-abandoned family cabin in the woods where she grew up.
Expected to Attend: Director Jenn Wexler, Producers Larry Fessenden, Andrew van den Houten, Heather Buckley, Ashleigh Snead CLOSING NIGHT, A gunshot echoes through a vast, remote forest. A memory of a sunny day that feels like a bad omen, long forgotten, as, years later, our protagonist Chelsea (Chloë Levine) parties away in an underground bar with her friends Jerk, Abe and Amber.
We're all familiar with the unbreakable rules that apply to characters in horror movies, just like every good horror geek knows that a legitimately top-notch shocker must subvert those a priori assumptions. Still, rules are rules: Resist the urge to take shelter in an isolated cabin far from functional roads and lacking easy egress.
For the team here at Film School Rejects, this will be our 11th South by Southwest (SXSW) film festival. And while the folks who program the fest itself have been doing so for much longer, we're fairly certain that we've got a handle on this whole thing.
Catch 'em if you can at SXSW this year. We've scoured the catalog of this year's SXSW and put together this list of 11 features and shorts we can't wait to see at the festival. I might be cheating a bit here with this one, since I, uh, watched this last night, but man, Prospect lives up to the hype.
When Chelsea and her friends get in trouble with the cops, they flee the city and go on the run. Fueled by a hallucinogenic drug called Echo, they hope to lay low-and get high-in an old family hideout in the woods. But Chelsea's got reservations about going back to nature and secrets she's not sharing with her friends.
Directed by Jenn Wexler. With Chloe Levine, Jeremy Holm, Granit Lahu, Jeremy Pope.
Features, Reviews, and Entertainment News
A cross the globe, winter holiday traditions are as varied as the people who celebrate them. Some communities mark the season with elaborate, once-a-year feasts, while others fete quirky regional mascots. The common denominators? A strong (and contagious) sense of local pride-and a warm welcome to any visitors who come to join the party.
We chat with screenprint artist Matt Ryan Tobin about his stunning, broody work This week marks the exclusive streaming premiere of 24x36: A Movie About Movie Posters only on Tribeca Shortlist. To celebrate, we're talking to working poster artists creating vivid imagery and keeping alive the art of the illustrated one-sheet.
A few weeks back, a verifiable meeting of the minds took place on twitter when Edgar Wright, Rian Johnson, Marc Webb, Lin-Manuel Miranda (!), and Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson (!!) dreamed up a movie universe based around song titles from Simon & Garfunkel.
Oscar-winning screenwriter John Ridley revives 'The American Way,' his innovative comic about superheroes and race in America.
To understand where the future of comics is headed, look to where it seems most avant- garde, like the new run of Doom Patrol , a superhero comic with a gyro on the cover; or Shade, the Changing Girl , a comic about an alien who takes over the body of a "mean girl."
Paloma Hernando and Sunmi are the co-founders of Dandelion Wine Collective, a comic publisher focusing on underrepresented artists.
What is true love? Is it grand gestures and string quartets blaring? Or is love the quieter moments, like promising Glenn Danzig you'll help him get rid of his mother?
Artist Tom Whalen's been making posters and prints for well over a decade, and his inimitable style has caught the attention of Disney, Marvel, Lucasfilm, Microsoft and more. Whalen's a key figure in the modern poster scene, and is featured as an interviewee in 24x36: A Movie About Movie Posters (now streaming exclusively on Tribeca Shortlist ).
Earlier this week the comic book world lost one of the most innovative and boundary shattering artists working in the business. Bernie Wrightson, the comic illustrator who specialized in highly detailed horror illustrations, passed away on Saturday after battling brain cancer.
There are so many amazing movies coming out in 2017 that we can't wait to check out. From huge-budget blockbusters to tiny animated features, the offerings slated for this next year show the true range and diversity of the medium.
Amber Tamblyn and Daveed Diggs performing at The 24 Hour Plays. Photograph by Katie Simmons-Barth. Photo courtesy of The 24 Hour Plays. Each fall, The 24 Hour Plays puts playwrights, directors, actors and musicians through the ringer for a night of frenetic theater.
The champagne was flowing, the outfits looked spectacular, there were hilarious bits, awkward technical difficulties, and a musical about Hollywood swept the night. The 74th annual Golden Globes has just wrapped up, and we're taking a look at all the winners, our favorite moments, and we're suggesting some streaming movies from tonight's nominees and winners worth checking out.
Here at Tribeca Shortlist we're obsessed with good movies, and we know a true love of cinema goes beyond a dark room and flickering screen. To gear up for this year's holiday season we've put together our list of the best movie-centric gift ideas.
The 2017 Sundance Film Festival is just a few short days away, and I'm so excited to see which films charm audiences and rise to the top of the heap. From coming-of-age dramas by some of my favorite contemporary directors to a documentary about the fall of a media empire, there are a ton of amazing movies hitting the Park City slopes this week and next.
After you've watched all 7 other Star Wars movies, of course. It's almost Rogue One: A Star Wars Story time, and, quite frankly... I'm freaking out. But as excited as I am, I'm also deathly spoiler-averse.
Sunrise at the peak of Mount Everest. All photos in-game screenshots of EVEREST VR and courtesy of Solfar Studios The wind whips as an ice ladder spans a yawning crevice. It creaks and groans under each tentative step, wobbling over darkness below. This terrifying experience, traditionally reserved for rich and foolhardy adventurers hoping to ascend Mt.
Pepe the Frog in Boy's Club 3 by Matt Furie. Photo permission courtesy of the artist. Photo via the author. Pepe the Frog started his life as a happy, stoned bro-phibian living in an apartment with his three best buds in Matt Furie's comic-zine .
Panel selection from Aquaman #13. Illustrated by Scot Eaton. Screencap via the author. Each week, The Creators Project seeks out the best and brightest from the comics industry. Fabian Lelay is the co-writer (along with Katy Rex) and artist behind the Breakfast Club-meets- Sailor Moon action/fantasy comic Jade Street Protection Services, from Black Mask Studios.
In 2011 Jason Zinoman, critic and columnist for the New York Times, wrote the definitive book on the influx of New Hollywood Horror of the 1970s.
Today is the 4oth Anniversary of Brian De Palma's blood-soaked prom night masterpiece, . Released amid a generation of horror films that reinvented the genre like Rosemary's Baby (1968), The Exorcist (1973), and Halloween (1978), the film's spot in the canon of scary greats is beyond question.
This article contains adult content that some readers may find disturbing. Kate Lyn Sheil in Kate Plays Christine. Photograph by Sean Price Williams. Photo courtesy of Grasshopper Film and 4th Row Films. In 1974 television news reporter Christine Chubbuck committed suicide during a live television broadcast.
The research vessel Falkor, home to Schmidt Ocean Institute's Artist-at-Sea program. Photo courtesy of Schmidt Ocean Institute. If your ideal artist's studio is a cabin aboard a research vessel in the middle of the Pacific Ocean, the Falkor is your ship.
John Constantine is having a crap day. Panel selection from Sixpack and Dogwelder: Hard Travelin' Heroz #2. Illustrated by Russ Braun. Screencap via the author. One of the comics reviewed today is an omnibus of old Astroboy issues, which is all retro fun until readers stumble upon the 1960s approach to race in comics.
The offices of Wizards of the Coast in Renton, Washington. Photo courtesy of Wizards of the Coast A wraith, steaming white and full of malice, screamed in agony. Behind us a hall of blades swished and sliced at odd angles, presenting a difficult escape.
Rigby (right) and Mordecai (left) blast off into space for their final season. Image from Regular Show. Photo courtesy of Cartoon Network. Rigby the racoon and Mordecai the bluejay have been to the moon, a Chuck-E-Cheese-esque fun zone, the temple of the dreaded Sandwich of Death, an ancient underground mall, and Dumptown, USA, to name but a few.
How a push past his training led to a career-defining role. While speaking to Tribeca Shortlist about Last Tango in Paris in the video above, actor, screenwriter, and author Cary Elwes of Princess Bride fame raised an interesting point, "This is Brando, in the lead, right after winning the Oscar for Godfather, taking a huge gamble with this role...
An elaborate pirate shanty set for a 'Key & Peele' sketch. Designed and built by Gary Kordan and his crew. All photos courtesy of Gary Kordan Today the script calls for a pirate shanty, later this afternoon they'll need a neon-lined aerobics arena, and a hospital, and a classroom, and...
Casa Relvas in GolegĂ£, Portugal. Photograph by the author. Nestled in the winding cobblestone streets of GolegĂ£, Portugal, a monument to the early days of photography welcomes visitors from around the world. Casa Relvas takes its name from Carlos Relvas, a wealthy Portuguese aristocrat born in November of 1838 in GolegĂ£.
Author Giaco Furino Illustration Cun Shi Nick Nolte has played characters on the edge of nervous breakdowns for half a century. As seen in films like 48 Hrs., The Thin Red Line, The Prince of Tides and Cape Fear, Nolte's characters, wild-eyed and often screaming, burst onto the screen with a vibrancy that refuses to be ignored.
Kit Harrington in performance capture gear, including a head-mounted camera and light. Photo courtesy of Ian Gavin / Getty Images for Activision. A fierce battle erupts just outside of earth's atmosphere, with guns blazing, people zipping around in fighter jets, and soldiers floating out into deep space.
A yeti tears up the powder in an illustration by Owen Davey. Images courtesy Owen Davey Illustrator Owen Davey has the type of career many artists dream about. He's always loved drawing, went to school for illustration, and quickly built a client list after graduation.
Panel from Web of Spider-Man #31 by J.M. DeMatteis and Mike Zeck. All screencaps via One of the most famous Spider-Man storylines is the Kraven's Last Hunt narrative, which spans multiple issues and follows Kraven the Hunter seemingly killing Spider-Man and taking on the superhero's persona.
Sometimes powerful brands, like Marvel or Star Wars, aren't content being comics or movie franchises, and so want to branch out of their comfort zones into other realms of entertainment. The result of these unholy unions usually ends up awkward, famously terrible, or just... kind of goofy.
Separatists launch an attack on Geneva, home of the United Nations Space Alliance. All screenshots courtesy of Activision. When its developers, Infinity Ward, announced that Call of Duty: Infinite Warfare would take place (partially) in space, the reaction was kneejerk and exclamatory.
Panel selections from Plutona, by Jeff Lemire, Emi Lenox and Jordie Bellaire. Screencap via This week's webisode of Strip Panel Naked -a mini masterclass in the art and theory of comic books by Hass Otsmane-Elhaou-deals with introducing and establishing characters.
Most of the playable characters of Overwatch on display. Photo courtesy of Blizzard Entertainment. The most striking aspect of the multiplayer first-person combat video game isn't how it plays or how this competitive shooter has quickly gained a 10-million-player-strong fanbase: it's the look of the game.
Illustration for Ellis' yearly family holiday card. Photo by and courtesy of Carson Ellis. With a limited color palette, delicate linework, and an eye toward American folk art, illustrator Carson Ellis creates dreamy works in fantastic but recognizable worlds.
Panel selection from Scooby-Doo Apocalypse #4. Illustrated by Howard Porter with colors by Hi-Fi. Screencap via the author The big news in comics this week is the leak that Disney Channel star Zendaya may be cast as the role of Spider-Man's long-time love interest, Mary Jane Watson, in an upcoming reboot.
Panel from The Omega Men #9. Created by Tom King and Barnaby Bagenda. Screencap via This week's comic class is all about controlling the pace of a comic by carefully considering the panel layout. Hass Otsmane-Elhaou's weekly comic dissection series Strip Panel Naked focuses this week on the classic "9-Panel Grid" found in most comics.
Share on Facebook The Afrobeat is back! The son of pioneering Nigerian musician Fela Kuti will headline two shows in Brooklyn this month, rocking the Celebrate Brooklyn! Festival on July 23 and taking the Brooklyn Bowl stage on July 27.
"Women's Platform Diving. Barcelona, Spain, August 1992." © David Burnett / Courtesy of Anastasia Photo and Contact Press Images. Take away the politics, the doping scandals, and the threat of a Zika virus outbreak from this Summer's Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro and you're left with an unparalleled display of sheer athleticism.
All photographs stills from Journey to Space. All Photos courtesy of Shout! Factory. What's 4K UHD? How much better is it than Blu-Ray? What kind of TV and device player do you need? Is it really that much better?
Squirrel Girl and Ms. Marvel share some snacks. Panel selection from All-New, All-Different Avengers Annual #1. Illustrated by Faith Erin Hicks with colors by Megan Wilson. Screencap via the author. The end of every summer is always a fascinating time for comics.
The Spice Girls branded Spice Cam instant film camera by Polaroid, circa 1997. Photo courtesy of Thngs. Today every tweet is archived, every Facebook selfie stashed and cached, every arts/tech/culture blog mirrored, and the idea of the permanence of data is taken for granted. But things like physical objects aren't permanent.
An original sketch of concept art made during the development of The Angry Birds Movie, by Pete Oswald. Photo courtesy of Pete Oswald/Rovio.
Still from "Burn" by Stella. Directed by Pauly C. Illustrated by Conzo Throb. Screencap by the author Ever get the feeling that someone's not listening, no matter how loud the sirens and alarms are screeching? Such is the fate of the protagonist of "Burn," the new graphic novel-styled music video for NY-based musician Stella.
Paintings featuring the character Lisa L'Aventura, by Marc Ferrero. Photo courtesy of Marc Ferrero Nestled snugly between the Maures Mountains and sun-bleached beaches of Saint-Tropez in France lies a happy little vineyard filled to the brim with brash, bold paintings inspired by comics and crime shows.
Spatterings of red in a muted color field. Panel from Pretty Deadly #1, by Kelly Sue DeConnick, illustrated by Emma Rios, colors by Jordie Bellaire. Screencap via Second only to the inker for the "most misunderstood job in the comics business," the colorist has the ability to either completely enhance or deflate the mood of a comic with their work.
The Creatures of Yes touch water for the first time. You won't believe what happens next. Video courtesy of Jacob Graham By the time the 20-second opening theme to any Creatures of Yes video winds down, viewers are transported to a time long gone.
Every Anxious Wave author Mo Daviau. Photograph by Jon Bolden. Photo courtesy of St. Martin's Press If you could go back in time and see any concert from the past, what would you go see? That's the question at the heart of Every Anxious Wave, a brand new novel about a guy named Karl who finds a wormhole in his closet leading to the past.
This week - Action Lab, Predator, Knights of the Dinner Table, and Bob's Burgers. Marvel's got their cinematic universe set to take over our universe. DC's got some of the most globally-recognizable hero brands in the world. So what about everyone else? Each week, I take a look at a few comics released by smaller ...
Erebus Ice Tongue Ice Cave. Photograph by and courtesy of Helen Glazer. Imagine curing writer's block by stepping out into frozen tundra, or finding inspiration for your next sculpture asleep in icy terrain. That's where the National Science Foundation's Antarctic Artists and Writers Program (or, AAW) comes in, giving artists and writers of all mediums access to Antarctica.
Production models of Star Trek Timelines' depiction of the famous "Caretaker Array" first seen in Star Trek: Voyager. Photo courtesy of Disruptor Beam. Kirk or Picard? Spock or Riker? Data or Seven of Nine? For some, these questions are meaningless. For Trekkies, they're crucial.
In August of 2014, famed Japanese animation house Studio Ghibli announced they were going on hiatus as director Hayao Miyazaki retired. Since then, many have wondered what the shape of Japanese animation would look like following this absence. With the release of writer/director Mamoru Hosoda's The Boy and the Beast (which finally lands here in ...
All images stills from DOOM (2016). Photos courtesy of id Software and Bethesda Softworks. The airvac doors in the military base on Mars hiss open. Inside, screams and howls pierce the silence. Practically feeling the heat of Hell on their backs, players know: they're playing DOOM.
If there was a strip club in 'TRON,' this is what it would look like.
Big casting news has just been confirmed by Stephen King himself, among other sources, for the big screen adaptation of The Dark Tower. Idris Elba (star of The Wire, Luther, Heimdall in the Thor movies) is attached to play the role of Roland Deschain the Gunslinger, hero and protagonist of The Dark Tower.
Over the course of history, there have been some truly bonkers assassination plots. Sometimes they're so insane, it almost looks like murder was a secondary goal, and the primary goal was just "be creative." While killing people is generally frowned upon, sometimes you just have to give it up for the ingenuity shown by assassins.
The Nailbot. Photo courtesy and copyright of Preemadonna Inc. The world of nail art is a vast and vibrant scene, from the bold structural designs of Alicia Torello, to the pop-inspired styles of London's WAH Nails, to the cheerful abstractions of Japan's Nail Salon Ava Rice, there's big business and high art in cuticle creativity.
Welcome to the weekly geekout. I'm here to bring attention to a few items each week worth geeking out about. Between the weekly onslaught of upcoming movies, awesome DVD releases, cool action figures and collectibles, and comics, it's hard to keep everything straight. So check in every monday for a primer on what's awesome this ...
Panel from Civil War II #0. Illustrated by Olivier Coipel and Justin Ponsor. Photo courtesy of Marvel Comics. Screencap via the author. The big release this week is, without a doubt, Civil War II. The original Civil War line of Marvel comics asked a big, important question that hadn't been asked much since Alan Moore's Watchmen.
The first run of toy transplants gather for a group pic. All photos by and courtesy of Second Life Toys. Whether it's an elephant with a squirrel's tail for a trunk or a dragon with a dog's leg, the creations from Second Life Toys use patchwork cuteness to convey a major message.
Panel from Dreaming Eagles. Illustrated by Simon Coleby. Photo courtesy of AfterShock Comics. The role of editor-in-chief can be one of those nebulous, hard-to-pin-down titles that means something vastly different in each industry. In print magazines, an editor-in-chief arranges editorial boards and works with layout and overall vision.
Panel from Spider-Woman #5. Pencilled by Javier Rodriguez, inked by Alvaro Lopez, colored by Rachelle Rosenberg. Photo courtesy of Marvel Comics. Marvel Comics is gearing up for their next big tentpole event, Civil War 2 (just in time to take some of the focus and thunder away from next Friday's release of Batman Vs.
The Hole Shot from HouseSpecial on Vimeo. Suzanne Twining animates a scene with characters looking down through a hole in a spot for the Ohio Lottery. Video by and courtesy of HouseSpecial. From talking candies to cereal mascots, the commercial side of animation is a bustling medium, and HouseSpecial is leading the charge.
You wake up after 200 years of sleep to find the world around you (specifically, Boston and the surrounding areas) destroyed by nuclear war. Chaos and lawlessness rule, mutants, raiders, and monsters hunt you down. This is the world of Fallout, a video game franchise by Bethesda Softworks that distinguishes itself from the hordes of sci-fi/post apocalyptic games thanks to its retrofuturism.
Henry wanders the woods. Still from The Suffering. Image courtesy of The Suffering Film LLC. Who do you trust when you're losing your mind? News hit last week that the indie horror film The Suffering has just been picked up for US and Canadian distribution by Breaking Glass.
Rain slashes against an unassuming garage in Long Island. I can see bright light shining out from inside. As the garage door slowly opens, - a brand new vector-based arcade game - is revealed. Andy Reitano, Michael Dooley, and Todd Bailey stand around the arcade cabinet, their baby, as the game's hypnotic music pumps out loud in the garage.
Panel selection from Dragonring #2. Illustrated by Barry Blair and Guang Yap. Screenshot by the author. Image courtesy of Outland Entertainment This week's comic roundup features all sorts of nostalgia. First, Marvel's used its world-shaking crossover events to create room for comics like X-Men '92, which takes place in 1992 and features the X-Men the way a lot of fans grew up with them.
What does it take to change the world? A seat at the UN? Or in the Oval Office? Do you need an audience of millions? Nope, not anymore. Thanks to our current connected climate, all you need to effect change is a great idea, hard work, and a smartphone.
Over the course of history, there have been some truly bonkers assassination plots. Sometimes they're so insane, it almost looks like murder was a secondary goal, and the primary goal was just "be creative." While killing people is generally frowned upon, sometimes you just have to give it up for the ingenuity shown by assassins.
Ex Machina, the new film written and directed by Alex Garland (writer, 28 Days Later, Sunshine) does just that: it jumps us ahead just slightly in terms of tech, then lets the whole damn tape unspool.
Ronald Reagan the Liberator by Jason Heuser. Digital Painting. Photo courtesy of the artist. The dust settles, the only sound heard is the creaking of the burnt trees. Suddenly, Bigfoot roars as it leaps from the rubble... only to be met with a hail of bullets from Teddy Roosevelt's machinegun.
Dennis Haysbert as President David Palmer in '24' This week, it was announced that actress Sela Ward had signed on to play the president of the US in Independence Day 2. The actress, who previously starred in Gone Girl and CSI:NY, will fill the presidential shoes of Bill Pullman from the original film, making her character the highest-profile film depiction of a female president ever.
Before you know it the seasons will be changing, your favorite fall TV shows will return, and Halloween will be right around the corner. If you've got friends or family heading back to school this month, show them a little love with one of these awesomely geeky back to school gifts!
Image from the film Deadpool. Photo credit: Joe Lederer. Photo courtesy of 20th Century Fox Who's that foul-mouthed superhero in the red spandex shooting bad guys and talking directly into the camera? That's Ryan Reynolds as the titular star of , which spent the weekend smashing opening weekend box-office records for R-rated movies.
The poster for 'Chappie' I first saw Die Antwoord at a "Making Time" party in Philly in the summer of 2010. The monthly warehouse rager had attracted an even weirder crowd than usual that evening. Like everyone else in attendance, I was drunk on Sparks-cans of which were being given away for free-and waiting for the South African rap group to go on.
Jeremy Holm splits his time between acting on shows like House of Cards and waiting tables. "I often have dreams where I come into work and everything seems to be fine ... except that there's no one else there," explains the 30-year veteran of the service industry, who's worked at the fast-paced Del Frisco's steakhouse in Manhattan for more than 13 years.
From using the force to lift huge boulders, to force-choking some scruffy nerf-herder who gets in your way, this game hits on everything that's awesome about the Star Wars world. Advertisement - Continue Reading Below From using the force to lift huge boulders, to force-choking some scruffy nerf-herder who gets in your way, this game hits on everything that's awesome about the Star Wars world.
This week marks the release of the fifth edition of Dungeons & Dragons, a role-playing game that traditionally existed to create a safe space for neckbeards to pretend they're fighting orcs. But as hipsters continue their move toward adult childhood, more and more creative types are flocking to the game.
Tomorrow and Sunday mark the beginning of Toy Fair New York, one of the world's largest insider toy and game expos, and we'll be live on site via Periscope and Facebook bringing you all the news that's fit to vlog. As we gear up for the event, here's a look at some of the stuff ...
A small crowd mills around a yellowed Nintendo Entertainment System at Twenty Sided Store in Brooklyn, waiting for their chance to play Star Versus for the first time. The year is 2015, and I'm about to play a brand new game created for a system built in 1983.
Here at CONtv we know that there are so many areas of fandom and so few hours in the day. In order to help you decide if a specific genre, sub-genre, artist, or hobby is worth the investment of your time, we present CONtv 101.
This week - Dirk Gently, Witchfinder General, Futurama, and Founding Fathers Funnies. Marvel's got their cinematic universe set to take over our universe. DC's got some of the most globally-recognizable hero brands in the world. So what about everyone else? Each week, I take a look at a few comics released by smaller publishers.
Within the first four minutes of Mad Max: Fury Road director George Miller makes it clear this is not going to be our typical wasteland tale. Our hero (or anti-hero, that's up for debate) is captured, strung up, and his iconic car is taken from him.
In Back to the Future 2, time traveler Marty McFly finds himself in the year 2015 watching a little girl speed past him. He shouts, "Hey, hey! Stop! Little girl, stop! Look, I need to borrow your... Hoverboard." With those iconic lines, the world got its first glimpse of the levitating plank that has captured our imagination ever since.
**Adult Language and Content** **NSFW** Note: Some of the images below depict violence and sex in ways that might disturb some readers. In the 70s, when tabletop games like Dungeons & Dragons were first winning the hearts and minds of the nerds everywhere, sex was usually relegated to just a paragraph in most RPG rulebooks, if it was mentioned at all.
I sometimes wonder how my reviews are effected by the environment I watch them in. An empty Brooklyn movie theater, at 9:00am, has a different energy from a packed house on a Friday night. The movie, it's script, visuals, craft, acting, that all has to come first, of course, but there's something to be said ...
When I was a kid Spider-Man was the only superhero that mattered to me. He looked cool, he had awesome powers, he was witty, and he wasn't that much older than me.
Last week, movie-theater mega-chain United Artists held marathon screenings of all ten Marvel Cinematic Universe movies, capped off with the premiere ofAvengers: Age of Ultron . Being a huge nerd and firmly aligned in the Marvel camp, I felt compelled to subject myself to 29 hours of bombastic blockbustery mania.
​Photos courtesy of ​Nick.com Coolio. Danny Tamberelli. Jesse Camp. Lori Beth Denberg. Amanda Bynes. Richard Simmons... All of these people have something in common-they've all been slimed. The falling green goop was a defining characteristic of Nickelodeon from the 80s onward.
By the time I was eleven I was a certified Star Wars fanatic. I'd seen the movies, of course, but I also had all the '90s action figures, I'd read a bunch of the books, and my dad even got me this book that was full of vehicles from the franchise.
A children's book about gay penguins. A comic about an Iranian girl in the midst of political upheaval. Toni Morrison's The Bluest Eye. The Perks of Being a Wallflower. These are some of the ten most-challenged, most hand-wrung-over books of 2014. And what's the overarching theme this year?
Releasing today is a huge adventure for Dungeons & Dragons. The roleplaying game, which just re-launched as "5th edition" and includes new, easy-to-follow rules, has been making a huge splash in the gaming world. As the tabletop game's core audience grows, the question is: do their periphery accessories, like this adventure Out of the Abyss, ...
Artwork from The Lion and the Roc #1. Illustrated by Kathleen Kralowec. Screenshot by the author. Photo courtesy of Comicker February's always a great month for comics. Readers are warming up to the new year and trying out new books, titles are either launching or really hitting their stride mid-run, and it's generally the "calm before the storm" that is convention season.
Welcome to the weekly geekout. I'm here to bring attention to a few items each week worth geeking out about. Between the weekly onslaught of upcoming movies, awesome DVD releases, cool action figures and collectibles, and comics, it's hard to keep everything straight. So check in every monday for a primer on what's awesome this ...
Tommy Wiseau in a scene from The Room. Courtesy of Wiseau Films Writer, director, and actor Tommy Wiseau first came to worldwide attention for his film in 2003.
ROBERT MAPPLETHORPE, "Patti Smith and Judy Linn, c. 1974" © Robert Mapplethorpe Foundation. Used by permission. Courtesy: Sean Kelly, New York Robert Mapplethorpe was an artist whose works often caused such a stir they triggered debates and lawsuits over the nature of art.
A detail from the box art for 'Quest For Glory' When I was coming up in the video gaming world, it was all about jumping on the goomba, slashing the shrubbery, and powering up your charge-shot. Running, jumping, dashing, platforming: In the early 1990s, as a console kid, I knew only to move and to move fast.
Take cheesy old movies, throw in robot puppets and a mild-mannered host, set them up in movie seats in front of said cheesy movie, and let them riff and crack jokes as the film plays out. Now take all that and air it in the middle of the night on cable.
The LEGO games have been doing what they do for a little over a decade. Maybe you've played one of the Star Wars LEGO games, or a Batman game, and teeter-tottered your way through licensed worlds. I've played a few, and went into the newest LEGO game thinking I knew what to expect.
All images courtesy of Marvel Comics Recently Marvel Comics unveiled their entire lineup for the fall. These new comics, coming after the current Marvel universe effectively self-destructs, feature some bold new choices. Once relegated to what-if scenarios and alternate-universe storylines, people of color and women are now taking center stage in the upcoming Marvel reboot.
Until Dawn screenshot from the game, Promotional Image via Playstation The horror video game , which released at the end of the August for Playstation 4, is garnering lots of positive reviews and excitement in the community. VICE Gaming calls it the " Sleeper Slasher Hit of the Summer," and YouTube names it the most-streamed video game of the month on their service.
When news of The X-Files return was first announced I, like many wayward fans, decided to go back and watch the original series. Full of charm, charisma, and fun, supernatural detective stories, there was a lightness and bounce to even the darkest episodes of the original series.
Panel from Plutona #4. Artwork by Emi Lenox with colors by Jordie Bellaire. Photo courtesy of Image Comics. The big news in comics this week centers on a new app called Stela. Featuring only original work, Stela's making waves by generating original comic content. Their tagline "Comics for your phone!"
These days they make action figures out of just about anything! But *old man alert* when I was growing up we had a big old trunk full of toys, and there were two genres of action figures: Star Wars and Superheroes (sorry G.I. Joe, my parents were fairly anti-gun so you didn't see a lot ...
The pop culture revolution is here! And sure, that may come as absolutely no surprise to anyone, but it was fun to see the amount of pop culture stuff taking up floor space at Toy Fair NYC. Some of my favorite pop stuff? The great line of plush toys from Bleacher Creatures (and a certain ...
You know those moments in comics when a character addresses the reader? Or those times in a movie when the main character steps out of the action and begins to narrate to the audience? Those are what we call "breaking the fourth wall" moments. The term grew out of theater, where three walls of a ...
Spiderwoman (x3) (detail). 2016. Epoxy clay, hydrocal, fiberglass, Spiderman popsicles, hardware. 22" x 13.25" x 2" Photo courtesy Ms Barbers. Spider-Man hasn't melted into a puddle like this since that time you took acid and saw Spider-Man 2.
Artwork from The Lion and the Roc #1. Illustrated by Kathleen Kralowec. Screenshot by the author. Photo courtesy of Comicker February's always a great month for comics. Readers are warming up to the new year and trying out new books, titles are either launching or really hitting their stride mid-run, and it's generally the "calm before the storm" that is convention season.
Tom Cassell signs merch for fans. Photo courtesy Tom Cassell. The zombies are closing in, the alien mothership just landed, the battlefield crackles with gunfire... and Tom Cassell, better known as the famous Twitch streamer TheSyndicateProject (or "Syndicate," for short), settles down for another day at the office.
A lone figure stares down a mega-structure in "Reality Check". All photos and artwork by and courtesy of Oska/Gabriel Levesque A faceless giant stares down at a small figure, a hooded shade hovers in the forest, and a thousand pathways peel off into space.
Community of Two by Britt Hutchinson. Photo courtesy the artist With imagery full of laid-back skeletons and nooses, it's clear: these aren't your grandma's embroidery hoops. Britt Hutchinson is the Chicago-based artist behind tinycup needleworks, and her embroidery designs are taking Instagram by storm.
Walk down an alley in Kabul, Afghanistan and you might spot a painting of a sharp-featured woman in a blue burqa on the side of a building. That's the work of Shamsia Hassani, Kabul's master graffiti artist and a fine arts lecturer at Kabul University.
Deadpool's the kind of hero who says what's on his mind... even if it's utterly inappropriate! With the Deadpool movie hitting theaters this Friday, I was inspired to take a look at some of the best trash-talking, wise ass heroes in movies, TV, and comics.
Walk down an alley in Kabul, Afghanistan and you might spot a painting of a sharp-featured woman in a blue burqa on the side of a building. That's the work of Shamsia Hassani, Kabul's master graffiti artist and a fine arts lecturer at Kabul University.
Panels from The Imitation Game: Alan Turing Decoded. Written by Jim Ottaviani and illustrated by Leland Purvis © Abrams ComicArts, 2016 Alan Turing invented modern computing. His theoretical work on a "Universal Machine" created the backbone for much of what we now take for granted in electronic computation.
Panel piece from Ashen. Illustrated by Chase Van Weerdhuizen. Photo courtesy of Chasing Comics This week the comic world is all aflutter because of a new trailer for Captain America: Civil War . The trailer sheds a bit more info on the plot but most importantly shows fans the first glimpse of Spider-Man.
All photographs from the "Sisters in the Valley" series. Photographed by Shaughn and John, 2016. Photos courtesy of Shaughn and John Photography duo Shaughn Crawford and John DuBois of Shaughn and John know a good photo op when they see one.
The Transporter Refueled, fourth in the Transporter series and no sign of Jason Statham anywhere, just hit theaters today. Touted as a reboot of a franchise I didn't think many people cared about, this movie isn't just boring... it's also woefully sexist and out-of-date. "But Giaco," you may be squealing, "I don't go to action ...
Excerpt from Chew: Demon Chicken Poyo. Written by John Layman, illustrated by Rob Guillory, 2016. Photos courtesy of Image Comics. Screencaps via the author. Imagine if every bite of food you ate gave you psychic visions to how that food ended up on your plate. No problem when you're eating an apple...
Panels from Wendigo. Illustrated by Brahm Revel. Photo courtesy Glass Eye Pix Comix. One of the best comics this week, Swamp Thing #3, harkens back to a time when comics were so heavily scrutinized that a special group was created to "self-censor" the industry.
Carl Von Cosel mourns his lost love. Puppet mock-up by Robin Frohardt. Images courtesy the director The Florida air is thick with heat; it's 1938, and flies buzz around an old man with wire-rimmed glasses and shock-white hair. Before him, on a sort of mad scientist's table, lies his beloved Elena...who's been dead for seven years.
All types of toys were on display at this year's Toy Fair NYC, from cheapo little plastic junk to hand-crafted, artisan wooden toys. But there's one category of toy that a geek like me can't help but drool over: Fancy Stuff! My favorites from this crop of toys?
A young muslim man prays on his prayer mat, eats a peanut butter and jelly sandwich, joins up with a friend, and suicide-bombs a gallery in Texas. That oft-repeated intro is how this fifth episode of The X-Files starts, but where it goes from there is one of the strangest turns in the show's ten ...
This week - Bill and Ted Go to Hell, Tomb Raider, The Twilight Zone, and Adventure Time: Ice King. Marvel's got their cinematic universe set to take over our universe. DC's got some of the most globally-recognizable hero brands in the world. So what about everyone else?
Panel from Paper Girls #5. Illustrated by Cliff Chiang. Colors by Matt Wilson. Photo courtesy of Image Comics. When a reader first gets into comics there are a few routes they can go. They can follow the big stories, diving into Superman, Spider-Man, or any other number of heroic dudes and ladies punching baddies and posing in front of the American Flag.
"You're a dark wizard, Mulder." With those lines spoken by Scully to Mulder, I knew this episode was on the right track. His wry answer, "What else is new?" added to the playfulness of this week's show. This is a playfulness much needed in the series, not outright funny, not overly corny...
We've spent the week relishing in the unhinged glory that is Deadpool. From the best video games featuring the merc with the mouth, to our favorite 4th wall-breaking moments, we've been waiting for today-the theatrical release of Deadpool. Fox took a huge chance by releasing this as an R-rated movie, and the question on everyone's ...
This week - Cage Hero, Hellbreak, The Eltingville Club, and Jonesy. Marvel's got their cinematic universe set to take over our universe. DC's got some of the most globally-recognizable hero brands in the world. So what about everyone else? Each week, I take a look at a few comics released by smaller publishers.
I spent the weekend reporting live from Toy Fair NYC and I couldn't believe the levels of amazing on display this weekend. Toy Fair, the annual business-to-business expo exclusively for the toys and games crowd, took up the entire floor of convention center that hosts New York Comic Con, and was filled to the brim ...
A 5D data storage disc, aka a 'Superman memory crystal'. Photo courtesy of The University of Southampton Here's the dilemma: you want to store something big, like, entire King James Bible big, for, say, a billion years. What do you do? Researchers at the University of Southampton's Optoelectronics Research Center have an answer.
Tattoo by celebrity tattoo artist Seanfromtexas. Screencap via Tornadoes, President Trump, world peace, the return of Freaks and Geeks... it's hard to predict what fates will befall us in 2016. But The Creators Project has a few ideas about which trends will take the world by storm this year.
Oh geez... okay, time to review Gods of Egypt, here we go... A film like Gods of Egypt comes around once every three or four years. A movie so tone-deaf, so shockingly weird, so reliant on CGI, so strangely acted, that it actually ends up being... amazing?
Jack Fisk on the set of The Revenant. Photo courtesy of ICM Partners A wild bear, rolling hills of snow, and the sheer will to survive-those are the hallmarks of The Revenant. Directed by Alejandro G.
Selection of a panel from Star Wars Special: C-3PO #1. Illustrated by Tony Harris. Screencap via the author. Photo courtesy of Marvel Comics. Though this week features the first review in this series of a Star Wars comic, Marvel's taken a bold, brash stance on their new run.
Feature Front of Book article in Rhapsody Magazine, United Airlines' first class in-flight mag. Page 29
Share on Facebook Brooklyn draws the line! A new online comic launching today imagines a super-charged Brooklyn, reversing the Mistake of '98 to create a world in which the borough secedes not just from New York City, but from the entire United States.
Image selection from Tales of Suspense #58. Illustrated by Don Heck. Originally printed in 1964, reprinted in this week's Captain America: Road to War #1. Photo courtesy of Marvel Comics. Screencap via the author. This week Captain America: Road to War #1 features a reprinting of the classic Marvel comic Tales of Suspense #58.
A view of cybertwee's virtual headquarters. Photo via the cybertwee HQ Kickstarter The art collective cybertwee exists to destabilize the "nihilistic and cynical ethos [of] punk, and replace it with earnestness and a pronounced DIY aesthetic. The ASCII art-heavy opening text of the group's Kickstarter campaign asks, "What if virtual reality spaces were made with tenderness?"
Photos courtesy Joe Simpson Joe Simpson, the 58-year-old producer, reality TV star, and father of pop stars Jessica and Ashlee Simpson, opened Dreams Work , a show of his photography at LA's Bruce Lurie Gallery last week. The photographs, which feature models as well as his famous progeny, are heavily treated with Photoshop techniques.
I'm of a specific slice of a generation who, when asked to name our favorite James Bond film, answers: Goldeneye... on the Nintendo 64. Growing up alongside the internet, I've seen the world transform into a truly digital age. I don't know a time before Mario, but I do know a time before AOL.
Few franchises, cartoon, comic strip, or otherwise, retain the sense of timelessness that Charles M. Schulz's Peanuts maintain. While doing research for my review, I was shocked to learn that A Charlie Brown Christmas aired in 1965. It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown aired in 1966.
You've seen that snapshot of Nicholas Cage floating around the internet, right? The one where he's dressed up in a shiny, latex-y Superman costume and his eyes are all half-open and dead looking. It's the type of internet relic that keeps the fandom scratching their heads and rolling their eyes, but there's a big, weird ...
Panel from The Spire #6. Illustrated by Jeff Stokely, colors by André May. Photo courtesy of Boom! Studios The diversity in styles among mainstream and indie comics begins to blur as everyone's technical skills sharpen and focus.
Lost in translation, in a galaxy far, far away. Photos courtesy of Karl Baxter Cheap plastic, shoddy joints, and strange faces aside, Star Wars toys of all shapes and varieties keep consumers coming back to the toy store. Ever since the Kenner toy company first fumbled their initial release of figurines in 1977, Star Wars action figures have captivated kids and collectors.
Dungeons & Dragons has had a good year. The release of the fifth edition of the classic tabletop roleplaying game has been hugely popular: The Player's Handbook hit the number-one spot on the Amazon best-seller list, attendance of players at events in gaming stores is up, and there's even a new D&D movie in the works at Warner Brothers.
Human Torch, The Thing, Mr. Fantastic, and Invisible Woman. These four superheroes, created originally by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby, are a huge part of the reason we have popular superhero comics today. So everytime they announce a new Fantastic Four movie, I get excited and hopeful, because these are archetypal characters, and telling a ...
You wake up after 200 years of sleep to find the world around you (specifically, Boston and the surrounding areas) destroyed by nuclear war. Chaos and lawlessness rule, mutants, raiders, and monsters hunt you down. This is the world of Fallout, a video game franchise by Bethesda Softworks that distinguishes itself from the hordes of sci-fi/post apocalyptic games thanks to its retrofuturism.
As a general rule of thumb, I try to steer clear of the "sequels and remakes are evil" mode of thought. People complain about going back to the well, ruining a great franchise, and dragging old actors back into the fray. Normally, I tend to go into a remake or sequel hoping for the best.
Kurt Vile. All photos by Marina Chavez/courtesy of Matador Records For the past decade Kurt Vile has been at the forefront of the indie-rock scene. After beginning his career in 2005 with Adam Granduciel as blissed-out folk-rockers War on Drugs, Vile has gone on to release five solo records.
It's been a long, loud summer. There have been a few great movie over the past few months, but it's also been a summer full of CGI explosions, bad acting, and over-wrought plots. When Z for Zachariah came up on my review schedule, I didn't know much about it.
It's been a summer of highs and lows, for sure. I've reviewed great movies like Mad Max: Fury Road and boring, just so-so movies like Tomorrowland (have you forgotten about that one already? I almost did). Hitman: Agent 47, a reboot of a film franchise that's a video game adaptation, is getting slaughtered by critics.
Though the Futuristic, Medieval, Aztec, and Industrial sets all look familiar, this illustration features a new spectator area. Image via The Crystal Maze Indiegogo Campaign Don your jumpsuits and head for the industrial zone, because The Crystal Maze is back and it's shaping up to be more of a puzzler than ever.
There's a moment in Mad Max: Fury Road where Max, mouth covered by a metal mask, narrows his eyes and leaps onto a speeding car. That thrill, that speed, and that sense of danger are alive and well in Mad Max for Xbox One, PS4, and PC.
Panel from Captain Marvel #1. Illustrated by Kris Anka. Photo courtesy of Marvel Entertainment Shame on everyone who quits right around the time they get their driver's license for missing out on a world of intricate storylines, complicated character composition, and emotional depth.
Images courtesy of the artist. With lines upon lines of tight geometry, splintering out in fractal chaos, artist Jason Middlebrook creates hypnotic works of art on planks of wood. As much a medium as a muse, Middlebrook's work is inspired by and built upon the wood's natural shapes and tendencies.
Rose Luardo with Andrew Jeffrey Wright. Photo by Ben Mistak There's a common perception among artists and makers that you have to move to New York or Los Angeles to really make it in 'the business'; the romanticized image of the starving artist dominates the way many see what it means to be a successful creator.