After last months impressive of Star Treks, Rubber, Mad Men, and Lovecraft, this month’s meager selections are more of sputter than a full blown geekgasm. Given all the controversy surrounding the impending Sept. 1 rate hikes, you’d think Netflix would come out swinging this month.

* denotes streaming for the first time via Netflix.
* denotes streaming in HD

Premiering August 1:
Casper
Cyborg Soldier
Die Hard 2: Die Harder
The Dirty Dozen
Fallen (1998)
*Gothika
Jurassic Park III
*Kiss Me Goodbye (1982)
Lethal Weapon
*Leathal Weapon 2
Misery (1990)
The Mummy (1932)
The Private Life of Sherlock Holmes
*Scream 3
Spaceballs
*The Shaft (aka Down)
Sukiyaki Western Django
Videodrome
*Volcano Disaster
What Dreams May Come

Premiering August 2:
*Maniac! (1980)

Premiering August 5:
*13 Assassins (2010)

Premiering August 19:
*Dumbstruck (2010) A documentary on modern ventriloquists

Premiering August 20:
*Louie (2010) Season 1

Premiering August 25:
*The King of Fighters (2010)

Premiering August 26:
*Alpha and Omega (2010)
*Spirit of the Forest

Premiering August 28:
*The Expendables (2010)

Info courtesy of FeedFliks.

Impending Geekgasm on Netflix Instant Watch – August edition was originally published on The Geek Curmudgeon

After last months impressive of Star Treks, Rubber, Mad Men, and Lovecraft, this month’s meager selections are more of sputter than a full blown geekgasm. Given all the controversy surrounding the impending Sept. 1 rate hikes, you’d think Netflix would come out swinging this month.

* denotes streaming for the first time via Netflix.
* denotes streaming in HD

Premiering August 1:
Casper
Cyborg Soldier
Die Hard 2: Die Harder
The Dirty Dozen
Fallen (1998)
*Gothika
Jurassic Park III
*Kiss Me Goodbye (1982)
Lethal Weapon
*Leathal Weapon 2
Misery (1990)
The Mummy (1932)
The Private Life of Sherlock Holmes
*Scream 3
Spaceballs
*The Shaft (aka Down)
Sukiyaki Western Django
Videodrome
*Volcano Disaster
What Dreams May Come

Premiering August 2:
*Maniac! (1980)

Premiering August 5:
*13 Assassins (2010)

Premiering August 19:
*Dumbstruck (2010) A documentary on modern ventriloquists

Premiering August 20:
*Louie (2010) Season 1

Premiering August 25:
*The King of Fighters (2010)

Premiering August 26:
*Alpha and Omega (2010)
*Spirit of the Forest

Premiering August 28:
*The Expendables (2010)

Info courtesy of FeedFliks.

Let’s take a quick look to see what’s arrived at the Geek Compound.

Rebel at the End of Time
by Steve Aylett with additional material by Michael Moorcock
Cover by Mo Ali

Promo copy:

21st-century revolutionary Leo finds himself at the End of Time, surrounded by decadent sorcerers whose childlike incomprehension is his worst nightmare. How to be effective when consequence is removed? What can have meaning when everything is transformed into fashion? Can love exist here? Leo storms through this lurid land in search of meaning, a cause, and a meal he can recognise.

Wow.. the third new Aylett book this summer! And set in one of my favorite Moorcock universes. Excellent.

The Goblin Corps
by Ari Marmell
Cover by Lucas Graciano

Promo copy:

Morthul, the dreaded Charnel King, has failed.
Centuries of plotting from the heart of the Iron Keep, deep within the dark lands of Kirol Syrreth—all for naught. Foiled at the last by the bumbling efforts of a laughable band of so-called heroes, brainless and over-muscled cretins without sense enough to recognize a hopeless cause when they take it on. Machinations developed over generations, schemes intended to deliver the world into the Dark Lord’s hands, now devastated beyond salvation. But the so-called forces of Light have paid for their meddling with the life of Princess Amalia, only child of the royal family of Shauntille.

Now, as winter solidifies its icy grip on the passes of the Brimstone Mountains, disturbing news has reached the court of Morthul. King Dororam, enraged by the murder of his only child—and accompanied by that same group of delusional upstart “heroes"—is assembling all the Allied Kingdoms, fielding an army unlike any seen before. The armies of Kirol Syrreth muster to meet the attack that is sure to come as soon as the snows have melted from the mountain paths, but their numbers are sorely depleted. Still, after uncounted centuries of survival, the Dark Lord isn’t about to go down without a fight, particularly in battle against a mortal! No, the Charnel King still has a few tricks up his putrid and tattered sleeves, and the only thing that can defeat him now…may just be the inhuman soldiers on whom he’s pinned his last hopes.

Welcome to the Goblin Corps. May the best man lose.

Low Town
by Daniel Polansky

Promo copy:

Drug dealers, hustlers, brothels, dirty politics, corrupt cops … and sorcery. Welcome to Low Town.

In the forgotten back alleys and flophouses that lie in the shadows of Rigus, the finest city of the Thirteen Lands, you will find Low Town. It is an ugly place, and its cham­pion is an ugly man. Disgraced intelligence agent. Forgotten war hero. Independent drug dealer. After a fall from grace five years ago, a man known as the Warden leads a life of crime, addicted to cheap violence and expensive drugs. Every day is a constant hustle to find new customers and protect his turf from low-life competition like Tancred the Harelip and Ling Chi, the enigmatic crime lord of the heathens.

The Warden’s life of drugged iniquity is shaken by his dis­covery of a murdered child down a dead-end street … set­ting him on a collision course with the life he left behind. As a former agent with Black House—the secret police—he knows better than anyone that murder in Low Town is an everyday thing, the kind of crime that doesn’t get investi­gated. To protect his home, he will take part in a dangerous game of deception between underworld bosses and the psy­chotic head of Black House, but the truth is far darker than he imagines. In Low Town, no one can be trusted.

Daniel Polansky has crafted a thrilling novel steeped in noir sensibilities and relentless action, and set in an original world of stunning imagination, leading to a gut-wrenching, unforeseeable conclusion. Low Town is an attention-grabbing debut that will leave readers riveted … and hun­gry for more.

The Restoration Game
by Ken MacLeod
Cover by Stephan Martiniere

Promo copy:

There is no such place as Krassnia. Lucy Stone should know – she was born there. In that tiny, troubled region of the former Soviet Union, revolution is brewing. Its organisers need a safe place to meet, and where better than the virtual spaces of an online game? Lucy, who works for a start-up games company in Edinburgh, has a project that almost seems made for the job: its original inspiration came from The Krassniad – an epic tale, based on Krassnian folklore, concocted by Lucy’s mother who studied there in the 1980s. As Lucy digs up details about her birthplace to slot into the game, she finds her interest in the open secrets of her family’s past – and the darker secrets of Krassnia’s – has not gone unnoticed. When a Russian – Georgian border war breaks out, Lucy has to move fast – and return to Krassnia herself, to the heart of the mountain that holds Krassnia’s darkest and oldest secret. But nothing Lucy has discovered can possibly prepare her for the crucial role she is destined to play in The Restoration Game.

Books received 7/29/11 was originally published on The Geek Curmudgeon

Let’s take a quick look to see what’s arrived at the Geek Compound.

Rebel at the End of Time
by Steve Aylett with additional material by Michael Moorcock
Cover by Mo Ali

Promo copy:

21st-century revolutionary Leo finds himself at the End of Time, surrounded by decadent sorcerers whose childlike incomprehension is his worst nightmare. How to be effective when consequence is removed? What can have meaning when everything is transformed into fashion? Can love exist here? Leo storms through this lurid land in search of meaning, a cause, and a meal he can recognise.

Wow.. the third new Aylett book this summer! And set in one of my favorite Moorcock universes. Excellent.

The Goblin Corps
by Ari Marmell
Cover by Lucas Graciano

Promo copy:

Morthul, the dreaded Charnel King, has failed.
Centuries of plotting from the heart of the Iron Keep, deep within the dark lands of Kirol Syrreth—all for naught. Foiled at the last by the bumbling efforts of a laughable band of so-called heroes, brainless and over-muscled cretins without sense enough to recognize a hopeless cause when they take it on. Machinations developed over generations, schemes intended to deliver the world into the Dark Lord’s hands, now devastated beyond salvation. But the so-called forces of Light have paid for their meddling with the life of Princess Amalia, only child of the royal family of Shauntille.

Now, as winter solidifies its icy grip on the passes of the Brimstone Mountains, disturbing news has reached the court of Morthul. King Dororam, enraged by the murder of his only child—and accompanied by that same group of delusional upstart "heroes"—is assembling all the Allied Kingdoms, fielding an army unlike any seen before. The armies of Kirol Syrreth muster to meet the attack that is sure to come as soon as the snows have melted from the mountain paths, but their numbers are sorely depleted. Still, after uncounted centuries of survival, the Dark Lord isn’t about to go down without a fight, particularly in battle against a mortal! No, the Charnel King still has a few tricks up his putrid and tattered sleeves, and the only thing that can defeat him now…may just be the inhuman soldiers on whom he’s pinned his last hopes.

Welcome to the Goblin Corps. May the best man lose.

Low Town
by Daniel Polansky

Promo copy:

Drug dealers, hustlers, brothels, dirty politics, corrupt cops . . . and sorcery. Welcome to Low Town.

In the forgotten back alleys and flophouses that lie in the shadows of Rigus, the finest city of the Thirteen Lands, you will find Low Town. It is an ugly place, and its cham­pion is an ugly man. Disgraced intelligence agent. Forgotten war hero. Independent drug dealer. After a fall from grace five years ago, a man known as the Warden leads a life of crime, addicted to cheap violence and expensive drugs. Every day is a constant hustle to find new customers and protect his turf from low-life competition like Tancred the Harelip and Ling Chi, the enigmatic crime lord of the heathens.

The Warden’s life of drugged iniquity is shaken by his dis­covery of a murdered child down a dead-end street . . . set­ting him on a collision course with the life he left behind. As a former agent with Black House—the secret police—he knows better than anyone that murder in Low Town is an everyday thing, the kind of crime that doesn’t get investi­gated. To protect his home, he will take part in a dangerous game of deception between underworld bosses and the psy­chotic head of Black House, but the truth is far darker than he imagines. In Low Town, no one can be trusted.

Daniel Polansky has crafted a thrilling novel steeped in noir sensibilities and relentless action, and set in an original world of stunning imagination, leading to a gut-wrenching, unforeseeable conclusion. Low Town is an attention-grabbing debut that will leave readers riveted . . . and hun­gry for more.

The Restoration Game
by Ken MacLeod
Cover by Stephan Martiniere

Promo copy:

There is no such place as Krassnia. Lucy Stone should know – she was born there. In that tiny, troubled region of the former Soviet Union, revolution is brewing. Its organisers need a safe place to meet, and where better than the virtual spaces of an online game? Lucy, who works for a start-up games company in Edinburgh, has a project that almost seems made for the job: its original inspiration came from The Krassniad – an epic tale, based on Krassnian folklore, concocted by Lucy’s mother who studied there in the 1980s. As Lucy digs up details about her birthplace to slot into the game, she finds her interest in the open secrets of her family’s past – and the darker secrets of Krassnia’s – has not gone unnoticed. When a Russian – Georgian border war breaks out, Lucy has to move fast – and return to Krassnia herself, to the heart of the mountain that holds Krassnia’s darkest and oldest secret. But nothing Lucy has discovered can possibly prepare her for the crucial role she is destined to play in The Restoration Game.

Let’s take a quick look to see what’s arrived at the Geek Compound.

Dearly, Departed
by Lia Habel

Promo copy:

Love can never die.

Love conquers all, so they say. But can Cupid’s arrow pierce the hearts of the living and the dead—or rather, the undead? Can a proper young Victorian lady find true love in the arms of a dashing zombie?

The year is 2195. The place is New Victoria—a high-tech nation modeled on the manners, mores, and fashions of an antique era. A teenager in high society, Nora Dearly is far more interested in military history and her country’s political unrest than in tea parties and debutante balls. But after her beloved parents die, Nora is left at the mercy of her domineering aunt, a social-climbing spendthrift who has squandered the family fortune and now plans to marry her niece off for money. For Nora, no fate could be more horrible—until she’s nearly kidnapped by an army of walking corpses.

But fate is just getting started with Nora. Catapulted from her world of drawing-room civility, she’s suddenly gunning down ravenous zombies alongside mysterious black-clad commandos and confronting “The Laz,” a fatal virus that raises the dead—and hell along with them. Hardly ideal circumstances. Then Nora meets Bram Griswold, a young soldier who is brave, handsome, noble … and dead. But as is the case with the rest of his special undead unit, luck and modern science have enabled Bram to hold on to his mind, his manners, and his body parts. And when his bond of trust with Nora turns to tenderness, there’s no turning back. Eventually, they know, the disease will win, separating the star-crossed lovers forever. But until then, beating or not, their hearts will have what they desire.

In Dearly, Departed, romance meets walking-dead thriller, spawning a madly imaginative novel of rip-roaring adventure, spine-tingling suspense, and macabre comedy that forever redefines the concept of undying love.

Resistance: A Hole in the Sky
by William C. Dietz

Promo copy:

The official prequel to the blockbuster videogame Resistance 3

America. July 1953.

In this official prequel to Resistance 3, prospects are not looking up for planet Earth or Lieutenant Joseph Capelli. With the Chimera invasion in full swing, America has crumbled under the fierce alien juggernaut, its defenses overrun, millions dead, the rest left to fend for themselves. Many try to avoid the alien virus that turns humans into Chimeran killing machines.

Capelli may be a pariah to the army for killing hero Nathan Hale, but he is still a patriot fighting to save the country and its citizens. However, some soldiers are ready to shoot him on sight—not to mention that Hale’s beautiful sister has every reason in the world to want him stone dead. But Capelli’s used to being in dangerous situations and taking crazy risks. And the next move he intends to make is pure suicide.

Star Wars: Fate of the Jedi: Ascension
by Christie Golden
Cover by Ian Keltie

Promo copy:

How long can the Jedi remain in power?
How far will the Sith go to rule supreme?
What chance do both stand against Abeloth?

As Luke and Ben Skywalker pursue the formidable dark-side being Abeloth, the Lost Tribe of the Sith is about to be sundered by an even greater power—which will thrust one Dark Lord into mortal conflict with his own flesh-and-blood.

On Coruscant, a political vacuum has left tensions at the boiling point, with factions racing to claim control of the Galactic Alliance. Suddenly surrounded by hidden agendas, treacherous conspiracies, and covert Sith agents, the Jedi Order must struggle to keep the GA government from collapsing into anarchy.

The Jedi are committed to maintaining peace and ensuring just rule, but even they are not prepared to take on the combined threats of Sith power, a deposed dictator bent on galaxywide vengeance, and an entity of pure cunning and profound evil hungry to become a god.

Books received 7/29/11 Del Rey edition was originally published on The Geek Curmudgeon

Let’s take a quick look to see what’s arrived at the Geek Compound.

Dearly, Departed
by Lia Habel

Promo copy:

Love can never die.

Love conquers all, so they say. But can Cupid’s arrow pierce the hearts of the living and the dead—or rather, the undead? Can a proper young Victorian lady find true love in the arms of a dashing zombie?

The year is 2195. The place is New Victoria—a high-tech nation modeled on the manners, mores, and fashions of an antique era. A teenager in high society, Nora Dearly is far more interested in military history and her country’s political unrest than in tea parties and debutante balls. But after her beloved parents die, Nora is left at the mercy of her domineering aunt, a social-climbing spendthrift who has squandered the family fortune and now plans to marry her niece off for money. For Nora, no fate could be more horrible—until she’s nearly kidnapped by an army of walking corpses.

But fate is just getting started with Nora. Catapulted from her world of drawing-room civility, she’s suddenly gunning down ravenous zombies alongside mysterious black-clad commandos and confronting “The Laz,” a fatal virus that raises the dead—and hell along with them. Hardly ideal circumstances. Then Nora meets Bram Griswold, a young soldier who is brave, handsome, noble . . . and dead. But as is the case with the rest of his special undead unit, luck and modern science have enabled Bram to hold on to his mind, his manners, and his body parts. And when his bond of trust with Nora turns to tenderness, there’s no turning back. Eventually, they know, the disease will win, separating the star-crossed lovers forever. But until then, beating or not, their hearts will have what they desire.

In Dearly, Departed, romance meets walking-dead thriller, spawning a madly imaginative novel of rip-roaring adventure, spine-tingling suspense, and macabre comedy that forever redefines the concept of undying love.

Resistance: A Hole in the Sky
by William C. Dietz

Promo copy:

The official prequel to the blockbuster videogame Resistance 3

America. July 1953.

In this official prequel to Resistance 3, prospects are not looking up for planet Earth or Lieutenant Joseph Capelli. With the Chimera invasion in full swing, America has crumbled under the fierce alien juggernaut, its defenses overrun, millions dead, the rest left to fend for themselves. Many try to avoid the alien virus that turns humans into Chimeran killing machines.

Capelli may be a pariah to the army for killing hero Nathan Hale, but he is still a patriot fighting to save the country and its citizens. However, some soldiers are ready to shoot him on sight—not to mention that Hale’s beautiful sister has every reason in the world to want him stone dead. But Capelli’s used to being in dangerous situations and taking crazy risks. And the next move he intends to make is pure suicide.

Star Wars: Fate of the Jedi: Ascension
by Christie Golden
Cover by Ian Keltie

Promo copy:

How long can the Jedi remain in power?
How far will the Sith go to rule supreme?
What chance do both stand against Abeloth?

As Luke and Ben Skywalker pursue the formidable dark-side being Abeloth, the Lost Tribe of the Sith is about to be sundered by an even greater power—which will thrust one Dark Lord into mortal conflict with his own flesh-and-blood.

On Coruscant, a political vacuum has left tensions at the boiling point, with factions racing to claim control of the Galactic Alliance. Suddenly surrounded by hidden agendas, treacherous conspiracies, and covert Sith agents, the Jedi Order must struggle to keep the GA government from collapsing into anarchy.

The Jedi are committed to maintaining peace and ensuring just rule, but even they are not prepared to take on the combined threats of Sith power, a deposed dictator bent on galaxywide vengeance, and an entity of pure cunning and profound evil hungry to become a god.

Alongside the release of Alan Moore’s and Paul O’Neill’s The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen Volume III: Century 1969 comes the latest installment of Jess Nevins’ equally as extraordinary annotations. Within Nevins and his team reveal all sorts of fascinating tidbits surrounding the often mysterious world of the League including the appearance of Lord Voldemort!

Page 54. Panel 4. “Well, my first name’s Tom, my middle name’s a marvel, and my last name’s a conundrum.”

In J.K. Rowling’s “Harry Potter” novels the real name of arch-villain Lord Voldemort is Tom Marvolo Riddle. The “Harry Potter” novels are set in the 1990s and 2000s, but Voldemort/Tom Riddle is much older than Harry Potter et al., and as best can be guessed Tom Riddle, in the late 1960s, was a free agent.

According to the novels themselves, Riddle never taught at Hogwarts–he applied for the role of teacher of Defence Against the Dark Arts twice but was denied both times. However, it is very much in character for Riddle to claim he is a Hogwarts teacher, as he does in Panel 2.

Other fun facts include:

Page 15. Panel 7. The picture is of three of the Seven Stars in happier times: Captain Universe, an invisible Mina wearing the hat of Vull, and Marsman.

“Captain Universe” is a reference to Captain Universe, who appeared in the British comic Captain Universe (1954). “Working in the research laboratories of the United Nations Interplanetary Division, Jim Logan discovers an amazing secret. He treats himself electronically and thereafter, whenever he shouts the word ‘Galap’, electronic impulses from outer space vibrate through him, endowing him with superhuman powers. He becomes Captain Universe, the Super Marvel!”

Pádraig Ó Méalóid adds, “Captain Universe was created by Mick Anglo, the alleged creator of Marvelman, and it’s obvious that, like Marvelman, Captain Universe is a direct copy of Captain Marvel. Only one issue of Captain Universe was ever published, by Arnold Book Company, which was a subsidiary of L Miller & Son, the publishers of Marvelman, but run by the ‘& Son’ himself, Arnold Miller.”

Page 20. Panel 1. The black-haired gentleman in the bowtie on the far left of this panel is of course the second Doctor Who, played by Patrick Troughton from 1966-1969.

Page 21. Panel 1. “I’m Jeremiah Cornelius.”
Jeremiah (“Jerry”) Cornelius is the creation of Michael Moorcock. He’s a secret agent and anarchistic adventurer. He appeared, much younger, in Black Dossier on Page 20, Panels 2-8.

Image by Mal Dean

Page 24. Panel 4. “Soror Iliel”
In Aleister Crowley’s The Moonchild (1917) one of the characters is given the name “Iliel” as part of a magic war on a group of black magicians.

Nevin’s annotations, loaded with obscure information, are almost as fun as reading the book itself.

Lord Voldemort in the League of Extraordinary Gentleman? was originally published on The Geek Curmudgeon

Alongside the release of Alan Moore’s and Paul O’Neill’s The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen Volume III: Century 1969 comes the latest installment of Jess Nevins’ equally as extraordinary annotations. Within Nevins and his team reveal all sorts of fascinating tidbits surrounding the often mysterious world of the League including the appearance of Lord Voldemort!

Page 54. Panel 4. “Well, my first name’s Tom, my middle name’s a marvel, and my last name’s a conundrum.”

In J.K. Rowling’s “Harry Potter” novels the real name of arch-villain Lord Voldemort is Tom Marvolo Riddle. The “Harry Potter” novels are set in the 1990s and 2000s, but Voldemort/Tom Riddle is much older than Harry Potter et al., and as best can be guessed Tom Riddle, in the late 1960s, was a free agent.

According to the novels themselves, Riddle never taught at Hogwarts–he applied for the role of teacher of Defence Against the Dark Arts twice but was denied both times. However, it is very much in character for Riddle to claim he is a Hogwarts teacher, as he does in Panel 2.

Other fun facts include:

Page 15. Panel 7. The picture is of three of the Seven Stars in happier times: Captain Universe, an invisible Mina wearing the hat of Vull, and Marsman.

“Captain Universe” is a reference to Captain Universe, who appeared in the British comic Captain Universe (1954). “Working in the research laboratories of the United Nations Interplanetary Division, Jim Logan discovers an amazing secret. He treats himself electronically and thereafter, whenever he shouts the word ‘Galap’, electronic impulses from outer space vibrate through him, endowing him with superhuman powers. He becomes Captain Universe, the Super Marvel!”

Pádraig Ó Méalóid adds, “Captain Universe was created by Mick Anglo, the alleged creator of Marvelman, and it’s obvious that, like Marvelman, Captain Universe is a direct copy of Captain Marvel. Only one issue of Captain Universe was ever published, by Arnold Book Company, which was a subsidiary of L Miller & Son, the publishers of Marvelman, but run by the ‘& Son’ himself, Arnold Miller.”

Page 20. Panel 1. The black-haired gentleman in the bowtie on the far left of this panel is of course the second Doctor Who, played by Patrick Troughton from 1966-1969.

Page 21. Panel 1. “I’m Jeremiah Cornelius.”
Jeremiah (“Jerry”) Cornelius is the creation of Michael Moorcock. He’s a secret agent and anarchistic adventurer. He appeared, much younger, in Black Dossier on Page 20, Panels 2-8.

Image by Mal Dean

Page 24. Panel 4. “Soror Iliel”
In Aleister Crowley’s The Moonchild (1917) one of the characters is given the name “Iliel” as part of a magic war on a group of black magicians.

Nevin’s annotations, loaded with obscure information, are almost as fun as reading the book itself.

As regular Geek Curmudgeon readers know, the low budget UK sf film Attack the Block blew me away. Well, I was lucky enough to interview writer/director Joe Cornish and star John Boyega for Blastr.

As for the bathroom breaks, check out the rest of my Blastr interview.

Why you won’t need bathroom breaks during Attack the Block was originally published on The Geek Curmudgeon

As regular Geek Curmudgeon readers know, the low budget UK sf film Attack the Block blew me away. Well, I was lucky enough to interview writer/director Joe Cornish and star John Boyega for Blastr.

As for the bathroom breaks, check out the rest of my Blastr interview.