ÜberSciFiGeek – Page 77 – Celebrate Your Geekdom

Attend a Recital Filled with the Undead in New Manga Series “Grand Guignol Orchestra” Coming in October from Shojo Beat

VIZ Media, LLC (VIZ Media), one of the entertainment industry’s most innovative and comprehensive publishing, animation and licensing companies, has announced the launch of a new series from iconic manga (graphic novel) creator Kaori Yuki. Her latest series, Grand Guignol Orchestra, will be published under the Shojo Beat imprint, is rated “T+” for Older Teens, and will carry an MSRP of $9.99 U.S. / $12.99 CAN. The series debuts on October 5th.

Lucille loves heading up the traveling Grand Orchestra, roving from town to town, entertaining the masses and making money. But now the musicians have met their toughest audience yet: people infected with the Guignol Virus, turning them into zombie dolls intent on killing all humans!

“Grand Guignol Orchestra is destined to become another dark masterpiece from the queen of gothic manga,” says Pancha Diaz, Senior Editor, Shojo Beat. “The new series combines all of the elements that have made Kaori Yuki’s work a favorite among manga fans. With richly detailed artwork and a twisted tale of horror and tortured romance, Grand Guignol Orchestra takes readers to a recital where no one may make it out alive!”

Manga creator Kaori Yuki was born in Tokyo and began drawing at a very early age. Following her debut work, Ellie in Summer Clothes, in the Japanese magazine Bessatsu Hana to Yume, she went on to write a compelling series of short stories: Cruel Fairy Tales, Screw, and Gravel Kingdom. As proven by her best-selling manga series Angel Sanctuary, Godchild, and Fairy Cube (all published in North America by VIZ Media), her celebrated body of work has etched an indelible mark on the gothic manga genre.

For more information on Grand Guignol Orchestra, or other shojo titles from VIZ Media, please visit ShojoBeat.com.

Split Reason: Securing World Peace One Load of Laundry at a Time

from Split Reason:

The Extra Life Marathon is upon us! Not only do you get to play games for 24 hours, you get to help kids in the process. It’s an undeniable double-pronged energy sword of awesome. If you’re not familiar with the Extra Life charity check it out here.

Some recent design submissions made the metamorphosis from pixels to cotton this month along with new products from our good friends and partners. We also released the new Glen Brogan Store! You can snag some extra savings on all of the above (and below) by entering the promo code laundry during the check-out process. (Offer expires October 4th, 2010.)

Anyone smell pumpkin pie? Contest season is ramping up! We’ve got a slew of fun and prizes lined up so stay tuned to our Facebook fan page, Twitter, and blog for more info. Now back to unlocking new armor in Halo: Reach. (One day black visor… you will be mine! Muahahaha.)

New Products

Two New Series on KoldCast!

KoldCast.tv has a large selection of sci-fi and fantasy programming, from the fantastically funny SpellFury to the gritty and dark Infamous. Now they’ve added two new series their collection.

Heroes of the North is a live-action comic book series. It begins with Canadian Shield, a special ops agent who has been genetically altered to be a super soldier. During his final mission in Germany during World War II, something goes wrong and he disappears. Each episode posted so far is an origins story, introducing us to both the Heroes of the North and the villains they confront.

In Crime Scene X, late night paranormal radio show host Jonathon Moon teams up with L.A. detective Tony Rustic in pursuit of an extraterrestrial serial killer. Rustic, a skeptic, has found himself forced to believe in the supernatural after watching his partner torn apart. Now he’s gotten himself in some trouble with Internal Affairs after killing several “things that used to be people.”

ElfQuest Fan Film – “Take 2”

from ElfQuest:

Some of you may recall that a while back, there was a valiant attempt at an ElfQuest Fan Film that, for various unforeseen reasons, didn’t come to completion.

Now, the project has been resurrected — or rather, recreated anew. A wonderfully enthusiastic group of film folk based in Los Angeles recently approached us with the idea of making a “teaser trailer” for an imagined ElfQuest movie — and it took us all of half a second to say “yes!” This is very real, and it’s very close to happening on a fast track. All the details are here.

Disclaimer: This project is not affiliated with Warner Bros., which is currently considering a full-length ElfQuest film. It’s a fan film, done with love and solely in the hope that it will help spread elf-awareness further than ever.

So visit these folks’ site, and become a part. We’ll see you at the movies!

Shade and sweet involvement,
Richard Pini

J!NX: $7 off ALL Tees: Return of the Super-Colossal Sale!*

from J!NX:

The Super-Colossal Sale Has Returned!
Have you been waiting and saving to pick up that coveted J!NX Tee? Wait no longer! For the next 72 hours, all t-shirts will be $7 off! Run! Don’t walk (unless you’re carrying scissors or are near a swimming pool)! *Offer applies to all full-price t-shirts and cannot be combined with any other sale or discount. Expires 9/30/2010 @ 11:59pm PDT.

New Design Arcade Winner: Roleplaying Rorschach
Look at this design. What do you see? A lady with a flower? A cat in a top hat? What about a level 28 Tiefling Paladin battling a venom-spitting basilisk? Doctors and psychiatrists have argued over this mysterious ink-blot, but none of them can roll a charisma check high enough to convince the others. Thanks to graffd02 for seeing meaning in the madness!

‘The Guild’ Season 4, Episode 11: “Hostile Takeovers”

from The Guild:

Episode 11: “Hostile Takoevers” is up on MSN, Bing, Zune and Xbox Live. And please check out the great Parallel Universe Hub for all the Guild videos.

Vork refuses to put his honor aside; Zaboo does something right for a change.

And speaking of Vork, did you see that the new Vork comic from The Guild is available for pre-order now?

Chloe Moretz Attached to the “Emily the Strange” Movie!

from Emily the Strange:

Expect to see a whole lot more of that already ubiquitous raven haired teen with the trademark bangs. News broke Thursday that Chloe Moretz, the 13-year-old actress best known for playing the foul-mouthed, gun-wielding Hit-Girl in Kick-Ass, will bring another comic-book odd girl to the screen — Universal Pictures has acquired the rights to the Dark Horse series Emily the Strange, about a black-haired, 13-year-old girl with an entourage of dark kitties and a penchant for the peculiar.

Full Story…

The Guild: J!NX Super-Colossal Sale

from The Guild:

Our fabulous friends at J!NX, who make The Guild T-Shirts, are having a three day sale starting tomorrow, September 28. Every shirt in their catalog will be $7 off, including all seven designs from The Guild. Don’t miss this chance to fill out your collection or nab a gift for a friend.

Two new shirts debuted this year for The Guild for Season Four: the Cheesybeards shirt and the 8-Bit Baby shirt. Big thanks to J!NX for being our T-Shirt partner — your purchase of Guild loot supports the show!

“Star Wars” Creator George Lucas Sees Some Action in an All-New Episode of “Star Wars: The Clone Wars”!

from StarWars.com:

When Pantoran Chairman Papanoida’s family is kidnapped and held for ransom, Ahsoka Tano must team up with Senator Riyo Chuchi to aid the new chairman in recovering his family. It’s a journey deep into the dark underbelly of the Coruscant crime scene, with an unlikely — and immediately recognizable — protagonist painted into a corner and forced into action in “Sphere of Influence,” an all-new episode of Star Wars: The Clone Wars — airing at 9:00 p.m. ET/PT Friday, October 1 on Cartoon Network.

Seen only briefly as a background character in Star Wars: Episode III Revenge of the Sith, Papanoida will nonetheless appear very familiar to Star Wars fans, film buffs and pop culture aficionados. He is, of course, modeled after Star Wars creator George Lucas — who also wore blue face paint for the character’s live-action cameo debut.

“My appearance in Episode III was just for fun. Mostly, I did it for my kids,” says Lucas. “I was wrapping the series, and I’d never been on-screen in a Star Wars film, even though I’d been making them for decades. With The Clone Wars, I get the best of both worlds, because I get a starring role but don’t have to do any acting or wear any blue make-up.”

Lucas’ children — Amanda, Katie and Jett — also appeared with the director in the live-action outing, and they, too, make their Clone Wars debut in “Sphere of Influence.” None of the Lucas family provides voice-acting for the series, however; Jett’s doppelganger is voiced by Robot Chicken’s Seth Green, while Amanda and Katie’s avatars are voiced by Meredith Salenger (who also voices Barriss Offee) and Nika Futerman (Asajj Ventress), respectively. Lucas himself is voiced by Clone Wars regular Corey Burton (Count Dooku, Cad Bane) — who based the character’s distinctive sound on Orson Welles’ Harry Lime from The Third Man.

While Papanoida is featured fairly passively in his live-action incarnation, the character has an opportunity for a considerably more active role in The Clone Wars. Taking him deep into the Coruscant underground, the Pantoran Chairman’s mission gives him the chance to demonstrate his chops in a few decidedly action-oriented sequences.

“We actually made Papanoida into kind of an action hero,” says Dave Filoni, supervising director of The Clone Wars. “The bad guys have his family, and he goes after them, blasters blazing. Shoot first, ask questions later. His character is very focused on finding and protecting his kids; it’s a desperate situation, and he steps up. It’s a fun episode with a lot of action — and it’s unique, in that our normal heroes give up the spotlight while Papanoida takes matters into his own hands. This was a surreal episode to produce, since the guy on screen was sitting right next to me while we were making it.”

It’s Time for Neil to Man Up on an Epic New “Legend of Neil”

from Atom.com:

Legend of Neil 305: Every Hero Needs a Montage

The end is almost nigh. With the help of Old Man, Neil is finally ready to focus on his quest. But first, he’s going to have to level up, and that’s going to take sweat, hard work, and short shorts. That’s right folks, it’s going to take a training montage.

Watch It Now

We’re in the home stretch of an epic final season of Legend of Neil. After all he’s been through, Neil is finally ready to be serious in Every Hero Needs a Montage, featuring a whole episode with Old Man, Neil, and some fairly immodest athletic gear. And if you’re on the go, we also launched the Legend of Neil mobile channel, for those days when you just need to watch Legend of Neil, but from your car.

Shout! Factory: Video Games as High Art

from Shout! Factory:

Have you ever found yourself humming a song, only to realize it was the theme from that video game you played until 4 a.m. that morning? Video Games Live is here to legitimize your love of 8-bit tuneage with fully orchestrated renditions of some of the greatest game themes ever written. We’re bringing this masterpiece, Video Games Live: Level 2, to Blu-ray, DVD and CD on October 19. It’s a full-on, global, multimedia concert spectacular and now available — like your game playing — in the comfort of your own home. The release includes never-before-released music and video from Mario, Zelda, Halo, Warcraft and many more, and is boosted with bonus content. Seeing is believing, though. Check out the trailer at VideoGamesLive.com and look at the tour dates while you’re there. It’s a not-to-be-missed event!

This ‘N’ That

If you’re on the East Coast, we hope you’re attending the New York Comic Con. It takes place October 8-10 at the Jacob K. Javits Center in Midtown Manhattan. We’ll be there in spirit.

Time’s a-tickin’ on our Halloween contest. Enter today to win a prize pack featuring 11 of our scariest DVDs or Blu-rays.

Keep up with the latest Shout! news throughout your day by following us on Twitter and Facebook. Plus, visit our YouTube page for trailers, clips and music videos.

(Off-Screen) Alien Attack! New Flick “Monsters” Available Today

from GeekChicDaily:

The under-the-radar sci-fi flick Monsters should not be called Monsters. Mostly because it’s not even about monsters. It’s about aliens. So maybe it should be called Aliens. But then, there’s already a film called Aliens. Plus, you hardly ever even see the aliens.

So maybe it should be called Rarely Seen Aliens. Has Ridley Scott called dibs on that name yet?

Regardless of what you want to call it, Monsters is a unique sci-fi flick worth checking out. The basic premise: NASA came across some alien life in our solar system and attempted to bring it back to Earth. Their probe crashed in Mexico, and, next thing you know, the seven-layer burrito is no longer the deadliest thing to be found south of the border. Shot on the fly and on the cheap, Monsters doesn’t dwell on its giant, octopus-like rampaging aliens — partially because the production couldn’t afford to. Instead it takes a more personal route, following the relationship that develops when a photojournalist is tasked with transporting his boss’s daughter safely through the carnage. It’s sort of like someone shot an indie film on the edges of a James Cameron film. Peep the trailer at the official site.

Monsters was a hit at the South By Southwest Film Festival and will open in theaters in late October. But anyone hungry for an early peak of Monsters can watch the film at home starting today by ordering it On Demand or through Xbox Live or Playstation Marketplace. You won’t see many monsters, true. But you might see something equally rare: a good movie in October.