I found this little gem of a short film while surfing the web. Ferg Brennan’s “The Fisherman” was an entry in Cartoon Brew’s second annual Student Annimation Festival.
Author: Raven Kai
Changes at USFG
We’ve had some staffing changes recently. What does that mean for USFG? Well, it means we will have fewer reviews, interviews and coverage of events for a while.
We will still have some guest bloggers on occasion and I am actively seeking friends who would like to step up their involvement. I’m also looking at making some changes in my life that will allow me to have more time to invest in making USFG more robust and useful to the readers and the projects we help promote. Hopefully this will be a temporary setback and things will be back on track by this fall.
While new content has slowed down, our monthly visits have continued to grow so thank you for continuing to visit! Thank you for your patience while we grow through some changes.
A Little Bit Zombie – Official Trailer
From http://www.alittlebitzombie.com/:
Infected by a virus during his bachelor party, a mild mannered HR manager attempts to fulfill his overwhelming desire for brains and avoid Max, the obsessed Zombie Hunter hot on his trail. All while keeping it together so as not to incur the wrath of his Bridezilla-to-be.
A Litte Bit Zombie is what creators Trevor Martin and Christopher Bond call “A Rom-Zom-Comedy”. Christopher Bond also helped create a little show you may have heard of (or seen) called Evil Dead: The Musical. Taking another step into the world of the undead, A Little Bit Zombie is the misadventures of a soon-to-be groom who gets bitten by a disease carrying Mosquito and ends up zombified right before his big day. As he and his bride to be are trying to adjust to this little change in their lifestyle, a zombie hunting team shows up to muck things up worse.
In addition to Tactical Bacon, A Little Bit Zombie also features Kristopher Turner (Without A Paddle: Nature’s Calling, L.A. Complex), Crystal Lowe (Smallville, Hot Tub Time Machine), Shawn Roberts (Resident Evil, Percy Jackson & The Olympians: The Lightening Thief), Kristen Hager (Being Human US, Manson My Name is Evil), Emilie Ullerup (Sanctuary, Arctic Air), Stephen McHattie (Haven, XIII), and is directed by Casey Walker.
Death Do Us Part Official Trailer
http://www.deathdouspartmovie.com/
Kennedy Jamieson, a wealthy socialite, has waited her whole life to have the perfect wedding. Engaged to the charming Ryan Harris, the young couple is just a week away from the big day but hasn’t had a chance to celebrate their respective bachelor/bachelorette parties. Ryan’s best man Chet books a remote cabin in the woods to throw them a ‘Jack and Jill’ stag that they’ll never forget. Out in the middle of nowhere, things take a horrifying turn as members of the group are brutally picked off one by one. What started out as a celebration quickly descends into a bloody nightmare. Friendships are ripped apart and accusations fly in this blood filled psychological horror with a whodunit twist.
Staring Julia Benson (Stargate Universe), Peter Benson (jPod), Emilie Ullerup (Sanctuary), Christine Chatelain (Riese), Kyle Cassie (True Justice), Benjamin Ayres (jPod), Dave Collette (Fringe), Aaron Douglas (Battlestar Galactica), Viv Leacock (White Collar Poets); Written by Julia Benson, Peter Benson and Ryan Copple (Riese); Directd by Nicholas Humphries (Riese).
An OPEN Internet
In response to the continuing debate of proposed law changes and aggressive attacks on freedom of speech and information on the internet, my state Senator is revealing information about her proposed changes to fight piracy and copywrite infringement without sensoring the internet. I’d like your feedback. What do you think of her proposals?
from Senator Maria Cantwell:
Thank you to the thousands of Washingtonians who raised your voices last week to support an open and free Internet. Thanks for your phone calls and emails to our office regarding the PROTECT IP Act.
Like you, I believe that America’s economy thrives on innovation and freedom of speech. The Internet allows entrepreneurs in Washington state and around the world to create ground-breaking companies and fuel economic growth. We cannot afford to rush an Internet policy that could trample on our innovation economy.
That’s why I opposed the PROTECT IP Act in the Senate from the beginning, and have offered an alternative – the OPEN Act. We need to protect creative content on the Internet from piracy by rogue foreign websites, but we must do so in a way that also protects freedom of speech, innovation and security on the Internet. Read more about the OPEN Act here, or read the full bill text here.
A Response from Senator Maria Cantwell Regarding SOPA/PIPA
As many of you know, ÜberSciFiGeek participated in the recent SOPA/PIPA protest by “Going Dark” for a day. All content was blocked and was replaced with information about why we were protesting and how you could learn more. I also took the time to contact my representative via several of the contact forms available through sites like Google and Wikipedia. Today I received a response from my Senator, Maria Cantwell. I felt I should share this with those of you who are following the issue and would like to know where things currently stand.
Thank you for contacting me about the internet streaming of copyrighted material. I appreciate hearing from you on this issue.
On May 12, 2011, Senator Leahy (D-VT) introduced S. 968, the Preventing Real Online Threats to Economic Creativity and Theft of Intellectual Property (PROTECT IP) Act. Under current federal law, U.S. law enforcement officials and holders of copyrights, trademarks, and patents, have limited legal remedies available to combat internet websites that are registered in foreign countries but operate in the United States by selling products, services, and/or content that violates U.S. intellectual property law. If enacted, the proposed legislation would create an expedited process for the Department of Justice and intellectual property rights holders to shut down through a court order these websites by targeting the owners and operators of the Internet site, if known, or the domain name registrant associated with the Internet site.
While I am supportive of the goal of protecting intellectual property, I am deeply concerned that the definitions and the means by which the legislation seeks to accomplish these goals will have unintended consequences and hurt innovation, job creation, and threaten online speech and security. On November 17, 2011, I signed a letter along with Senator Ron Wyden (D-OR) objecting to the bill as it is currently written.
On December 17, 2011, Senator Wyden introduced the “Online Protection and Enforcement of Digital Trade” (OPEN) Act (S. 2029), of which I am an original co-sponsor. The bill has been referred to the Senate Finance Committee, where it is currently awaiting further review. The OPEN Act is a more effective approach to stop foreign web sites that are found to be primarily and willfully used to infringe intellectual property rights. The OPEN Act builds on the existing legal framework used by the International Trade Commission (ITC) for addressing unfair acts in the importation of articles into the United States, or in their sale for importation, or sale within the United States after importation.
Our trade laws have yet to catch up to deal with the global digital economy. The OPEN Act recognizes that the Internet has created new opportunities for foreign products to reach the U.S. market and that there is little difference between downloading a pirated movie from a foreign website and importing a counterfeit movie DVD from a foreign company. For those foreign web sites that are determined after an investigation to be primarily and willfully infringing, the International Trade Commission will issue a “Cease and Desist” order. The “Cease and Desist” order may also be served on financial intermediaries that provide services to that foreign web site, compelling financial payment processors and online advertising providers to cease doing business with the foreign site in question. This would cut off financial incentives for this illegal activity and deter these unfair imports from reaching the U.S. market.
The OPEN Act addresses the same challenges as the PROTECT IP Act, while protecting freedom of speech, innovation, and security on the Internet. The challenge of rogue web sites is one that many nations face. The United States has always been seen as a leader on Internet issues. Laws we establish in the United States regarding the Internet are likely to be used as models around the world. And because the Internet is global in nature, it is important that we carefully consider how the laws and policies we adopt in this area may be received and translated by other countries.
The Protect IP Act was scheduled to go to the Senate floor for a procedural vote on January 23, 2011. Due to the effective grassroots advocacy and public outcry against the bill, Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) has pulled the proposed legislation from the floor calendar.
I appreciate Majority Leader Reid’s decision to postpone a vote on the PROTECT IP Act. America’s economy thrives on innovation and freedom of speech. We can’t afford to rush an Internet policy that could trample on our innovation economy. The American people clearly spoke and their voices were heard. As we move forward, I’ll continue to advocate for a policy that protects both creative content and online freedom of speech.
Thank you again for contacting me to share your thoughts on this matter. You may also be interested in signing up for periodic updates for Washington State residents. If you are interested in subscribing to this update, please visit my website at http://cantwell.senate.gov. Please do not hesitate to contact me in the future if I can be of further assistance.
Sincerely,
Maria Cantwell
United States SenatorFor future correspondence with my office, please visit my website at
http://cantwell.senate.gov/contact/
The SOPA Blackout
A lot of people still don’t understand what the big deal is. The media is painting many of the websites that participated in the Blackout as “Pawns” and “Sites that promote Piracy and Illegal Downloads”. That’s not that case at all!
Internet users and websites aren’t against cracking down on digital theft, they are against giving up their freedom of speech and allowing the government to impose the kind of restrictions that are currently in places like China and the Middle East that severely censor what information is available to their citizens. In an article on the LA TIMES website (Read it here), Chinese bloggers express their opinions not only of the blackout but of the freedoms that we have that they lack. Take a look and then ask yourself, “Do I really want to live in a country that has THAT much control over what I am allowed to see, know or even say?” The problem with SOPA and PIPA is the loss of freedom. Under it’s current wording, I could face legal action including jail time for what I’ve just written, including the link back to the LA TIMES. I could have my website taken down and my accounts frozen or deleted. I could be shut down for trying to share information with my readers.
Here’s another scenario: Lets say I created a cute lil bunny character as an online comic strip with intentions to sell t-shirts and eventually toys. I start off with nothing but my wits, paintshop, Cafe Press and/or Zazzle and my own website to feature the comics. I put a couple of years into developing the idea and suddenly, shortly after launching the campaign, some big time toy manufacturer decides that it’s “infringing on their intellectual property” because they have their own bunny toy they are about to launch and decided to use comics as part of their PR campaign. I wake up one morning and my website is gone. My webhosting service has been forced to close my account and all my affiliate and other potential income-making sites have been seized, frozen or closed as well. I’m virtually banned and blocked from trying to promote my homegrown idea because someone with a bigger bank account than me decided to make use of the vague wording in SOPA/PIPA.
While I’m not trying to sell anything illegal, just my own inspiration, my own “intellectual property”, where would someone like me, the startup, the nobody who decided to make use of the wonders of the internet to try to make something of my ideas, get the financial and legal resources to fight something like that?
What happens when one network in your area decides to start blocking content that competes with it’s own content using the same vague language and loopholes in the current version of SOPA/PIPA?
We aren’t criminals. We are all pirates and hackers. We are just people trying to live the American Dream.
Before you start talking around the coffee machine at work about the “pawns” who participated in the Blackout, maybe you should learn a little bit more about the “unintended” consequences of letting these bills pass unchallenged.
While the voting has been delayed, the fight isn’t over yet. Learn more about SOPA, PIPA and other attempts at censoring the internet by doing your own search or check these links:
https://www.google.com/landing/takeaction/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stop_Online_Piracy_Act
Also, check out this great explanation from TED:
New Teaser for Detention of the Dead
A new zombie flick from actor-turned-filmmaker Alex Craig Mann is currently in post production with an early 2012 release slated. Even if it wasn’t a zombie film, I’d be interested as it was filmed in Michigan. My home state has turned out some great films and filmmakers over the years – we trolls have talent! Due to the wide variety of scenery including sandy white beaches, mountains, fields, forests and large lakes that can double as oceans, Michigan has been a draw not only for local born talent to build a resume (Such as the Raimi brothers, Bruce Campbell, Jerry Bruckheimer, Francis Ford Coppola, Roger Corman, Albert and Allen Hughes just to name a few) but other productions seeking to avoid higher taxes and even industry strikes in Hollywood.
Detention of the Dead is a zombie comedy tribute to Michigan native and film Icon John Hughes who gave us such films as Sixteen Candles, The Breakfast Club, Pretty in Pink, Ferris Bueller’s Day Off and dozens of other films that defined a generation of youth. Detention of the Dead is basically a send-up of The Breakfast Club but instead of fighting the over-zealous Principal, they must fight for their lives as the student body becomes zombified.
Detention of the Dead stars Max Adler (Glee), Justin Chon (Twilight), Jayson Blair (The Hard Times of RJ Berger), Christa B. Allen (Revenge, 13 going on 30), Alexa Nikolas (Red State, Zoey 101), and Jacob Zachar (Greek)
When there’s no more room in Hell, the dead will go to DETENTION!!!!
It was bound to happen. If you put large group of conformity driven pubescences, aka your average teenager, together for long enough, you can’t be surprised when one day they decide to eat each other…
Comedy and Horror unite in this “The Breakfast Club” meets “Shaun of the Dead” tale about a group of oddball high school students who find themselves trapped in detention during a Zombie Apocalypse. Can they put their differences aside and work together to survive the night? Fat chance! This is High School after all.
You can follow updates on Detention of the Dead at Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and on their Blog
Merry Christmas from ÜberSciFiGeek
Remembering Darrel K. Sweet
The Sci-fi and fantasy literature family suffered another great loss this week, my favorite cover artist: Darrel K. Sweet. I can’t tell you how many times I bought a book just because he painted the cover. As a budding child artist, I would draw his covers on my bedroom wall with colored pencils, some of which my mother actually painted “Frames” around to keep when she painted the rest of the wall. He was a huge influence on me artistically and imaginatively.
He had a very unique style that identified his artwork at a glance. With over 3,000 paintings completed, his art adorned the covers of many a well-loved book including such series as The Wheel of Time, Xanth and The Chronicles of Thomas Covenant the Unbeliever. I can’t imagine that the next Xanth and final Wheel of Time and Thomas Covenant books will not be graced by his artwork wrapped around it.
They always say, “You can’t judge a book by it’s cover” but you could if it featured art by Darrel K. Sweet.
From Locus Online:
Artist Darrell K. Sweet, 77, died December 5, 2011. Sweet’s first illustrations were for Ballantine Books in 1975, and when the Del Rey imprint was formed in 1977, he produced many of their covers. Since then he has created illustrations for most of the major SF publishers, including Berkeley, Ace, and Tor. He is perhaps now best known for his illustrations of Robert Jordan’s Wheel of Time series, but he also produced memorable covers for Stephen R. Donaldson’s Chronicles of Thomas Covenant, the Xanth series by Piers Anthony, and novels by Jack L. Chalker, Terry Brooks, L.E. Modesitt, Jr., and many others.
Sweet was born in 1934 in New Brunswick NJ, and graduated from Syracuse University in 1956 with a degree in fine arts. He already had a reputation as a painter of animals, still lifes, and pastoral scenes when he started illustrating SF. He was nominated for a professional artist Hugo in 1983, and was a Chesley Award finalist many times.
Announcing the new RiffPlayer from RiffTrax!
From RiffTrax:
There’s a new RiffTrax Player in town! We’ve been working hard on a new player, and we’re happy to announce that the RiffPlayer is finally here! It’s based on open source technology, and allows both Microsoft Windows users and, for the first time, Apple OSX users to watch their favorite Riffs in sync with the DVD!
And to help get you started, for a limited time, we’re giving away a free RiffTrax when you download the player! What are you waiting for? Improve your RiffTrax viewing experience today!
Get it here: RiffPlayer
Easy to use!
- Getting started with the RiffPlayer is easy! _Simply run the player, pop in your DVD, then open the mp3 of the Riff from within the player. Your DVD (and the Riff) will start playing automatically.
Separate volume controls!
- Use the volume sliders to adjust the Movie and Riff volumes to your liking!_ And, if your Riff should ever lose sync with the movie, simply hit the “Resync” button and _voila_! You’re back in action.
Better Off Red: High-Octane Havoc & Supernatural Soviets
From GeekChicDaily:
Turning twenty has never felt so good…for anime fans. To celebrate its coming-of-age, Manga Entertainment is releasing a double whammy of anime goodness: Takeshi Koike’s Redline is having a limited theatrical run in Los Angeles, which started this past weekend, and in New York City starting on January 6th. If that isn’t enough to keep you excited through the New Year, both Redline and Studio 4ºC/Russian co-production First Squad: The Moment Of Truth are coming out on Blu-Ray and DVD on January 17.
Buckle up, everyone. Redline is a frenetic, pulpy tale about the biggest, deadliest racing tournament in the galaxy, brought to us by the evil geniuses over at Madhouse (Summer Wars, Paprika, The Girl Who Leapt Through Time). Like a weird mash-up of Death Race and The Hunger Games, the tournament is a high-stakes event in which elite drivers seek to make a name for themselves. With a slew of corrupt government officials, organized crime and a mysteriously beautiful female driver in his way, high-octane hero JP is in for the ride of his life. Between Redline‘s gorgeous visuals, accelerating action and its over-the-top characters, the film promises to keep things both fast and furious (minus the Vin Diesel).
On the other hand, if you prefer wartime epics over white-knuckle racing, Yoshiharu Ashino’s First Squad: The Moment of Truth is probably right up your alley. Set during the first days of World War II on the Eastern front, First Squad follows a group of Soviet teenagers with extraordinary abilities who are drafted to form an elite special operations unit to combat the invading Axis forces and an undead army of Teutonic Knights. The series looks like an incredible blend ofGunslinger Girl, Valkyria Chronicles and supernatural World War II action. Don’t lie; you’re going to want to take a Moment of Truth or two come January.