Author Archives: The Geek Curmudgeon

Fantastic Fest Day Three Preview

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Fantastic Fest, the largest genre film festival in the U.S., specializing in horror, fantasy, sci-fi, action and just plain fantastic movies from all around the world, starts here in Austin in just two days! Over the next several days, I’m previewing the movies I plan on seeing and blogging about over the course of the week long festival.

 

http://youtu.be/NFGzl6uTGL4

Everybody In Our Family

First and foremost, it should be clear that EVERYBODY IN OUR FAMILY is a film best experienced blind. Innovative, daring and about as original as film can get, the latest offering from the Romanian new wave is something that is better experienced and than read about. If you’re interest is piqued, stop reading and start watching.

The story is simple. Marius, a single dad in his thirties, travels to his ex-wife’s house to pick up his daughter, Sofia, for their annual beach holiday. Upon arrival, he is told by her grandmother and her step father that Sofia is sick and must stay at home with her mother. As Marius’ insistence grows, so do tensions in the household, pushing the situation to unimaginable heights.

Shot in almost real time, EVERYBODY IN OUR FAMILY shows how much can really change for someone over the course of one afternoon. Director Radu Jude’s hyperrealistic style helps to sets the stage for an intense discussion on family values. Drawing the most out of a plethora of incredible performances, he peppers the intensity with a dark and witty humor that resonates through the humanity of the film. As the action builds to a climax, Jude tries his best not to suffocate the audience, presenting the facts for a pure reaction. The result is often as humorous as it is horrific.

Breaking out of any mold that you could possibly put it in, EVERYBODY IN OUR FAMILY is not your typical Fantastic Fest fare. It is, however, simply too good and too unique to be ignored. (Michael Lerman)

 

http://youtu.be/hK6vzpAWqfc

Cold Steel

Bullets show no mercy! War has ravaged China and chaos has reigned in many parts. An elite group of snipers have been assembled to take out enemies and traitors. Mu (Peter Ho), a rather young and naïve hunter, has been drafted to be part of the 204th unit after heroically shooting down enemies during an ambush. Squad leader Zhang (Tony Leung) welcomes him into the brotherhood by assigning him his first official mission. His task is to join the team in taking out four enemy generals and a handful of Chinese traitors. Mu’s recklessness and soft heart begin to cloud his judgment, and even diminish his abilities – as the best snipers need to be emotionally detached. Meanwhile, General Masaya sends some of his best sharp-shooters to retaliate. Whose bullets will speak louder?

Lock and load! Frequent John Woo collaborator David Wu returns with a vengeance and directs one of the most dynamic war films in years. Wu hits bulls-eye after bulls-eye with fast and furious gunfire action with a heavy dose of the kinetic energy from the best 80s Hong Kong action that will undoubtedly kick your adrenaline gland into overdrive.  Based on the famous and popular online Chinese novel, Wu improves upon original material with more humor and excitement. Wu is one of the most influential action editors for 40 years starting with Chang Cheh and Lau Kar Leung at Shaw Brothers to Tsui Hark, Ronny Yu and of course John Woo (A BETTER TOMORROW, HARD BOILED is back to assault action cinema. Newcomer actor Peter Ho (upcoming MONKEY KING) brings a breath of fresh air as a leading actor to look forward to in the future, he keeps his performance intense yet funny and charismatic. (King-Wei Chu, Fantasia International Film Festival)

 

Taped

Johan and Saar are a couple in trouble. Their marriage on the rocks, the couple have left their daughter at home and hit the road, returning to the site of the Argentinean honeymoon in a desperate last attempt to recapture the spirit of their relationship and save their marriage. This is it for them. Should this trip fail their marriage is at an end. What Johan and Saar never suspected, however, is that this trip could be the end of them, period.

In a classic case of ‘wrong place, wrong time’ the couple not only witness a shooting, they capture it on camera. Even worse, the shooter is a police officer and his target left dead in the street. Worse still, they were spotted on the scene. And suddenly their idyllic vacation spot has become a terrifying trap, the couple chased through a hostile environment unable to communicate with the locals and unable to trust any of the authorities they would normally be able to turn to for help. If they do not find their way to safety before being tracked down by the shooter then Johan and Saar will surely become his next victims.
A lean, taut thriller anchored by stellar performances from Barry Atsma and Susan Visser, TAPED takes a simple premise and works it out to its logical extreme. It is a film that takes the primal, irrational fear of being someplace unknown and suggests that the fear may not be irrational after all. Director Diederik Van Rooijen finds just the right balance between style and grit, tension and character as he delivers a thriller that Hollywood has already snapped up for remake. Here’s your chance to see the original version first. (Todd Brown)

 

Plan C

Detective Ronald Plasmeyer is good at coming up with plans. The problem is that he’s bad at coming up with good plans. This is a particularly significant problem given the large Asian men who turned up for a ‘chat’ with Ronald’s estranged wife and young son over the money he owes them.

It’s not that Ronald doesn’t want to repay the debt, it’s just that ten thousand Euro is a lot on a policeman’s salary. Plan A involved winning at poker. But poker is how he racked up the debt in the first place so – no surprise – Plan A just makes the problem worse. Plan B? Well, since Ronald can’t win at poker why not steal a tournament’s worth of poker winnings, instead? But Ronald is even worse at hiring henchmen than he is at making plans and that goes spectacularly badly. And now Ronald is on the run and desperately in need of a good Plan C.

A deliciously dry and slyly absurd comedy, Max Porcelijn’s PLAN C captures a train wreck in slow motion, a Coen-esque tale of criminal ineptitude. Ruben van der Meer anchors the film with his nuanced, understated, and very funny central performance as Plasmeyer.

A weak willed and deeply passive man Plasmeyer as played by van der Meer is the world’s least likely criminal mastermind. This is, of course, entirely the point and Porcelijn takes great delight in letting the dominos fall as this incompetent cop proves to be an equally incompetent robber. As the chaos swirls ever higher Plasmeyer remains in the eye of the hurricane, not so much a beacon of strength but an icon of confusion and indecision. (Todd Brown)

 

 

Day Four preview

Day Two preview

Fantastic Fest Day Two Preview

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Fantastic Fest, the largest genre film festival in the U.S., specializing in horror, fantasy, sci-fi, action and just plain fantastic movies from all around the world, starts here in Austin in just two days! Over the next several days, I’m previewing the movies I plan on seeing and blogging about over the course of the week long festival.

 

The Warped Forest 

Plays with “Crown”: A gang of street kids turns an unassuming house into a haven for middle aged junkies hooked on a most bizarre narcotic.  Doug, a habitual user, returns to experience a surreal high from which he may not return.

In 2005 a trio of directors combined to unleash one of the most deliriously silly, surreal, and psychedelic experiences ever witnessed on theater screens on to an unwitting audience. Loaded with absurdity and stylistic excess THE FUNKY FOREST was like a guided tour through the subconscious minds of its creators, a visual guide to the adolescent fantasies of a trio of immensely talented directors who refused to acknowledge any limitations whatsoever.

And now one of them is back to do it again.

Entirely self funded with money squirrelled away during a decade of directing high-end television commercials, Shunichiro Miki’s THE WARPED FOREST will delight and confuse – and delightfully confuse – fans of the esoteric and strange. Follow the adventures of a young girl tracking down the elusive Pinky-Panky with her trusty penis-rifle at her side! Marvel at the normal sized girl working in a Very Small Shop! Wonder at the psychic powers of the inverted pyramid hovering deep in the nearby forest, the strange pod-like growths that pop up throughout and the furry, nipple sucking creature on hire at the local brothel!

Just a touch less manic than its predecessor, THE WARPED FOREST is every bit as much a delicious sensory experience. There are narrative threads holding it all together, to be sure, but this is film as experience far more than film as story and what an experience it is. Fans of THE FUNKY FOREST will recognize Miki’s distinctive touch immediately while those walking into this bizarre world for the first time will want to seek out that earlier effort immediately. (Todd Brown)

 

The Collection

Elena has always been a survivor. As a child, she and her father lived through a horrific car accident. That propensity toward survival may be what made her such an attractive specimen for the infamous serial killer known as The Collector. The Collector’s last find, a petty thief named Arkin, escapes during a massacre that lands Elena in his clutches. Arkin is then hired by a mysterious mercenary to return to the site of his captivity and save Elena. Will any of them make it out alive, or will they all become permanent fixtures in THE COLLECTION? (Brian Salisbury)

 

Holy Motors

Mr. Oscar is a busy man. Obviously quite wealthy and important, he bids his young daughter good day while walking from his expansive home to his limousine to start the day’s appointments, as his bodyguards follow in a BMW. Seemingly exhausted already, he speaks with his driver, Celine, who informs him that he has 9 appointments scheduled for the day. But it quickly becomes apparent that these are not normal appointments and Mr. Oscar is not your normal businessman.

A film that’s far better to experience than to read about, Holy Motors is a wild ride down the proverbial rabbit hole. Directed by Leos Carax, a Frenchman perhaps best known for his 1999 film Pola X, and starring Denis Lavant in an unbelievably difficult and demanding role, Holy Motors is a film that is constantly changing and evolving into something different. Carax and Lavant previously collaborated on Merde, the triumphant centerpiece of the anthology film Tokyo!, a Fantastic Fest alum from 2008. Fans of that film will find an extra layer of appreciation for Holy Motors.

An absurdist adventure featuring everything from a random musical number to an impromptu fashion show in the Paris sewers, Holy Motors is crazy but not without purpose. It is hilarious and completely insane yet strangely brilliant at the same time. An incredibly astute and acute meditation on acting and identity and the needs we have as audience members as well as the increasingly blurry line between fantasy and reality, Holy Motors is exactly the type of film you hope to discover at Fantastic Fest. (Luke Mullen)

 

Miami Connection

THE ULTIMATE ACHIEVEMENT IN TAE KWON DO ANTI-SANITY! The year is 1987. Motorcycle ninjas tighten their grip on Florida’s narcotics trade, viciously annihilating anyone who dares move in on their turf. Multi-national martial arts rock band Dragon Sound have had enough, and embark on a roundhouse wreck-wave of crime-crushing justice. When not chasing beach bunnies or performing their hit song “Against the Ninja,” Mark (kung-fu master/inspirational speaker Y.K. Kim) and the boys are kicking and chopping at the drug world’s smelliest underbelly. It’ll take every ounce of their blood and courage, but Dragon Sound can’t stop until they’ve completely destroyed the dealers, the drunk bikers, the kill-crazy ninjas, the middle-aged thugs, the “stupid cocaine”…and the entire MIAMI CONNECTION!!!

Real life martial arts grandmaster Y.K. Kim only made one film in his life, but it’s without a doubt the most rampaging crowd-pleaser of the ’80s, bursting with vibrance, violence, honor and hilarity. Completely lost for decades, a 35mm film print has been unearthed by the Alamo, and its first viewing opened a dimensional portal to pure, unstoppable FUN. After demolishing the crowd with it at select festivals, we’ve allied with writer/producer/star Y.K. Kim and the rest of the cast to detonate Fantastic Fest with the supreme synth-rock anti-ninja experience. Miss this epochal screening event and you’ll hate yourself for a thousand lifetimes…guaranteed!!! (Zack Carlson)

 

Vegetarian Cannibal

Dr. Danko Babić (Rene Bitorajac) is a studly gynecologist with a lust for life. Snorting drugs, having sex, and playing the drums are as routine for him as delivering babies or performing abortions. A crooked cop (Leon Lučev) introduces Babić to a crime boss (Emir Hadžihafizbegović) who offers him a sweet deal: perform illegal abortions to a stable of high-end prostitutes in exchange for fast cash. He accepts the offer and is soon faced with series of decisions that test the limits of his already questionable ethics.

Branko Schmidt’s VEGETARIAN CANNIBAL is an indictment of corruption in Croatian society. Babić, whose profession is supposedly one of health and healing, is used as a prism through which analyze the ills of the entire nation. Babić is a cocky manipulator with a complete disregard for laws and ethics. Babić blasts his way through a series of dilemmas and makes the bad choice every time. It is hard to fault him however, because his transgressions are continually rewarded with money, power, and sex. Despite the film’s focus on social ills, VEGETARIAN CANNIBAL isn’t simply dour agit-prop. It’s very affecting, albeit in an extremely negative way. What’s more, the film boasts some scenes that will test the tolerance of even the most hardened viewers. In other words, VEGETARIAN CANNIBAL is right at home at Fantastic Fest. (Rodney Perkins)

 

Day Three preview

Day One preview

Fantastic Fest Day One Preview

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Fantastic Fest, the largest genre film festival in the U.S., specializing in horror, fantasy, sci-fi, action and just plain fantastic movies from all around the world, starts here in Austin in just two days! Over the next several days, I’m previewing the movies I plan on seeing and blogging about over the course of the week long festival.

 

http://youtu.be/JDkVW8IXkWQ

Doomsday Book

Kim Ji-Woon is one of Korea’s most fascinating directors, and a new movie from him is always an event. Whether it’s the stylized horror of A TALE OF TWO SISTERS, the intense action of A BITTERSWEET LIFE, the wild spaghetti western madhouse of THE GOOD, THE BAD AND THE WEIRD or even the dark psychodrama I SAW THE DEVIL, he has consistently delivered some of the most challenging, gorgeously shot, innovative genre movies to come out of Korea.

Originally planned to be a three-part omnibus directed by Kim Ji-Woon, Yim Pil-Sung (director of HANSEL & GRETEL and ANTARCTIC JOURNAL) and Han Jae-Rim (THE SHOW MUST GO ON), production started on DOOMSDAY BOOK in 2006, and then fell apart when Han’s film (a retelling of an O. Henry short story) proved to be unworkable. With only two-thirds of the movie completed, it was shelved. Then, after a new influx of cash in 2010, Kim and Yim worked together to complete the movie’s third segment. Now their collaboration about the end of the world is finally ready for the big screen.

Outlining three ways in which the world ends, DOOMSDAY BOOK starts with Yim Pil-Sung’s “A Brave New World,” a rollicking, hilarious tale about rampant pollution that leads to an outbreak of zombie-ism that robs man of even his ability to choose to die. The second short, Kim Ji-Woon’s “The Heavenly Creature” is about a future where robots have become our main source of manual labor. One android, which resides at a Buddhist temple, achieves enlightenment, and the company that produces robot workers realizes that it’s got a crisis on its hands. The movie wraps up with the two directors collaborating on “Happy Birthday,” about a young girl whose wish results in a giant meteor heading straight for the planet Earth. Injecting welcome doses of comedy into three hard science fiction scenarios, this two-fisted dose of apocalypse is the smartest sci-fi flick to hit movie screens all summer. (NYAFF)

 

http://youtu.be/XIZb50HiBCo

Antiviral

The Lucas Clinic exists to serve – or prey upon, depending upon your perspective – the most celebrity obsessed elements of our society. Striking exclusive deals with major celebrities to harvest their illnesses, the Clinic offers a most intimate communion between the famous and their admirers. For a price you can be infected with the very same viruses that grew within their very cells. What was part of them can be part of you.

Syd March is an up and comer within Lucas, a salesman adept at capitalizing on patients’ yearning for connection. He’ll tell you exactly what you want to hear as he injects herpes into your lip or influenza into your veins. But Lucas isn’t enough for Syd. Whether for boredom or greed Syd is playing both sides of this particular game, peddling Lucas’ wares by day but also infecting himself with their most rare and elusive offering so that he can incubate them within his own body, break the patented copy protection and sell them on the black market. So when he sees the opportunity to harvest a new virus from the famed Hannah Geist – Lucas’ top seller – Syd sees a chance to profit and injects himself with Hannah’s blood. And then Hannah dies.

Brandon Cronenberg makes his feature debut with ANTIVIRAL, a film that would do his father David proud. A jet black satire of celebrity obsession run through with enough needles and body fluids to make even the most hardened squirm, ANTIVIRAL is an icily precise affair. Star Caleb Landry Jones (THE LAST EXORCISM, X-MEN: FIRST CLASS) delivers a mesmerizing performance as the inscrutable March, his physical breakdown as the virus takes hold an alarming yet compelling sight to behold. (Todd Brown)

 

http://youtu.be/jDGcTn1YDcs

Dredd 3D

The future America is an irradiated waste land. On its East Coast, running from Boston to Washington DC, lies Mega City One – a vast, violent metropolis where criminals rule the chaotic streets. The only force of order lies with the urban cops called “Judges” who possess the combined powers of judge, jury and instant executioner. Known and feared throughout the city, Dredd is the ultimate Judge, challenged with ridding the city of its latest scourge – a dangerous drug epidemic that has users of “Slo-Mo” experiencing reality at a fraction of its normal speed. During a routine day on the job, Dredd is assigned to train and evaluate Cassandra Anderson, a rookie with powerful psychic abilities thanks to a genetic mutation. A heinous crime calls them to a neighborhood where fellow Judges rarely dare to venture – a 200 story vertical slum controlled by prostitute turned drug lord Ma-Ma and her ruthless clan. When they capture one of the clan’s inner circle, Ma-Ma overtakes the compound’s control center and wages a dirty, vicious war against the Judges that proves she will stop at nothing to protect her empire. With the body count climbing and no way out, Dredd and Anderson must confront the odds and engage in the relentless battle for their survival.

 

 

Final Member

Since 1974, Sigurdur “Siggi” Hjartarson has run the Icelandic Phallological Museum, which houses the world’s largest collection of mammalian penises. Siggi’s private collection runs the gamut from microscopic to gargantuan, including penises from whales, dogs, pigs, bears, bulls and hamsters. Siggi believes that his museum—and his legacy—will be incomplete without an important addition to his museum: a human penis of “legal length.” After years of searching, he tracks down two donors: an aging Icelandic philanderer and a weirdo from California who refers to his penis as “Elmo.” Siggi’s quest for penile perfection morphs into a race against time as the donors compete to become the first human to have their members severed and preserved for posterity.

With THE FINAL MEMBER, co-directors Jonah Bekhor and Zack Math have created one of the most unique and memorable documentaries in recent years. The film initially seems like a quaint exploration of a single man’s weird obsession, but evolves into a deep character study of three dudes who are pathologically obsessed with male genitalia—human or otherwise. Siggi uses his museum to break sexual taboos and educate the public. The Icelandic ladies’ man wants to preserve his rapidly aging penis before it shrinks down to the size of a raisin. Unlike his aging counterpart, the cowboy wants to chop his off before he dies. THE FINAL MEMBER delivers everything one could want from a documentary—it’s emotionally engaging, funny, and highly disturbing. (Rodney Perkins)

 

Day Two preview

Books received 8/2/12 Mass Market pb edition

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The Passage
by Justin Cronin
Cover by Tom Hallman

Promo copy:

MED ONE OF THE TEN BEST NOVELS OF THE YEAR BY TIME AND LIBRARY JOURNAL—AND ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR BY The Washington Post • Esquire • U.S. News & World Report • NPR/On Point • St. Louis Post-Dispatch • BookPage

An epic and gripping tale of catastrophe and survival, The Passage is the story of Amy—abandoned by her mother at the age of six, pursued and then imprisoned by the shadowy figures behind a government experiment of apocalyptic proportions. But Special Agent Brad Wolgast, the lawman sent to track her down, is disarmed by the curiously quiet girl and risks everything to save her. As the experiment goes nightmarishly wrong, Wolgast secures her escape—but he can’t stop society’s collapse. And as Amy walks alone, across miles and decades, into a future dark with violence and despair, she is filled with the mysterious and terrifying knowledge that only she has the power to save the ruined world.

Chasing Magic
by Stacia Kane
Cover by Ipatov and Andrew C. Mace

Promo copy:

A DEADLY HIGH

Magic-wielding Churchwitch and secret addict Chess Putnam knows better than anyone just how high a price people are willing to pay for a chemical rush. But when someone with money to burn and a penchant for black magic starts tampering with Downside’s drug supply, Chess realizes that the unlucky customers are paying with their souls—and taking the innocent with them, as the magic-infused speed compels them to kill in the most gruesome ways possible.

As if the streets weren’t scary enough, the looming war between the two men in her life explodes, taking even more casualties and putting Chess squarely in the middle. Downside could become a literal ghost town if Chess doesn’t find a way to stop both the war and the dark wave of death-magic, and the only way to do that is to use both her addiction and her power to enter the spell and chase the magic all the way back to its malevolent source. Too bad that doing so will probably kill Chess—if the war doesn’t first destroy the man who’s become her reason for living.

Pathfinder Tales: Blood of the City
by Robin D. Laws
Cover by Adam Danger Cook

Promo copy:

Luma is a cobblestone druid, a canny fighter and spellcaster who can read the chaos of Magnimar’s city streets like a scholar reads books. Together, she and her siblings in the powerful Derexhi family form one of the most infamous and effective mercenary companies in the city, solving problems for the city’s wealthy elite. Yet despite being the oldest child, Luma gets little respect – perhaps due to her half-elven heritage. When a job gone wrong lands Luma in the fearsome prison called the Hells, it’s only the start of Luma’s problems. For a new web of bloody power politics is growing in Magnimar, and it may be that those Luma trusts most have become her deadliest enemies! From visionary game designer and author Robin D. Laws comes a new urban fantasy adventure of murder, betrayal, and political intrigue set in the award-winning world of the Pathfinder Roleplaying Game.

Whispers Under Ground
by Ben Aaronovitch
Cover by Stephen Walter

Promo copy:

A WHOLE NEW REASON TO MIND THE GAP

It begins with a dead body at the far end of Baker Street tube station, all that remains of American exchange student James Gallagher—and the victim’s wealthy, politically powerful family is understandably eager to get to the bottom of the gruesome murder. The trouble is, the bottom—if it exists at all—is deeper and more unnatural than anyone suspects . . . except, that is, for London constable and sorcerer’s apprentice Peter Grant. With Inspector Nightingale, the last registered wizard in England, tied up in the hunt for the rogue magician known as “the Faceless Man,” it’s up to Peter to plumb the haunted depths of the oldest, largest, and—as of now—deadliest subway system in the world.

At least he won’t be alone. No, the FBI has sent over a crack agent to help. She’s young, ambitious, beautiful . . . and a born-again Christian apt to view any magic as the work of the devil. Oh yeah—that’s going to go well.

Graphic novels received 7/29/12

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League of Extraordinary Gentleman Century Volume III: 2009
Written by Alan Moore
Art by Kevin O’Neill

Promo copy:

In Chapter Three, the narrative draws to its cataclysmic close in London 2008. The magical child whose ominous coming has been foretold for the past hundred years has now been born and has grown up to claim his dreadful heritage. His promised aeon of unending terror can commence, the world can now be ended starting with North London, and there is no League, extraordinary or otherwise, that now stands in his way. The bitter, intractable war of attrition in Q’umar crawls bloodily to its fifth year, away in Kashmir a Sikh terrorist with a now-nuclear-armed submarine wages a holy war against Islam that might push the whole world into atomic holocaust, and in a London mental institution there’s a patient who insists that she has all the answers.

Atares Episode 2
by Leo

Promo copy:

The Antares mission is underway. Kim, her daughter and her companions are on board the interstellar ship that carries the would-be colonists. Conditions are far from ideal, though. The fanaticism and bigotry of a large number of the passengers, all members of the project leader’s sect, are putting everyone on edge. As well, there are rumours of substandard equipment for the expedition. By the time they reach Antares, Kim and her friends are already disillusioned… and the worst is yet to come.

Fever Moon
by Karen Marie Moning
Adapted by David Lawrence
Art by Al Rio and Cliff Richards

Promo copy:

An all-new Mac & Barrons story by #1 New York Times bestselling author Karen Marie Moning, marvelously adapted into a full-color graphic novel by writer David Lawrence and illustrator Al Rio

In Fever Moon, we meet the most ancient and deadly Unseelie ever created, the Fear Dorcha. For eons, he’s traveled worlds with the Unseelie king, leaving behind him a path of mutilation and destruction. Now he’s hunting Dublin, and no one Mac loves is safe.

Dublin is a war zone. The walls between humans and Fae are down. A third of the world’s population is dead and chaos reigns. Imprisoned over half a million years ago, the Unseelie are free and each one Mac meets is worse than the last. Human weapons don’t stand a chance against them.

With a blood moon hanging low over the city, something dark and sinister begins to hunt the streets of Temple Bar, choosing its victims by targeting those closest to Mac. Armed only with the Spear of Destiny and Jericho Barrons, she must face her most terrifying enemy yet.

The Lovely Horrible Stuff
by Eddie Campbell

Promo copy:

Money makes the world go round, as they say… but HOW, exactly? Award-winning graphic novelist Eddie Campbell (From Hell, Alec) presents a fascinating journey into the wilderness of personal finance. With his trademark blend of research, anecdote, autobiography, and fantasy, Campbell explores how money underwrites human relationships, flowing all around us like the air we breathe – or the water we drown in. The result is a whimsical graphic essay, deeply grounded in Eddie’s personal experiences with "the lovely horrible stuff," ranging from the imaginary wealth of Ponzi schemes and television pilots to the all-too-tangible stone currency of the Micronesian island of Yap. In a world where drawing corporate superheroes requires literally transforming oneself into a corporation (which is kept in a shoebox under the bed), we are in strange territory, indeed. Fortunately, Campbell’s wry eye and vivid full-color artwork imbue the proceedings with real humanity, making The Lovely Horrible Stuff an investment that’s worth every penny.

Books received 7/29/12 Pyr edition Part I

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Cuttlefish
by Dave Freer
Cover by Paul Young

Promo copy:

The smallest thing can change the path of history.

The year is 1976, and the British Empire still spans the globe. Coal drives the world, and the smog of it hangs thick over the canals of London.

Clara Calland is on the run. Hunted, along with her scientist mother, by Menshevik spies and Imperial soldiers, they flee Ireland for London. They must escape airships, treachery, and capture. Under flooded London’s canals, they join the rebels who live in the dank tunnels there.

Tim Barnabas is one of the underpeople, born to the secret town of drowned London, place of anti-imperialist republicans and Irish rebels, part of the Liberty—the people who would see a return to older values and free elections. Seeing no farther than his next meal, Tim has hired on as a submariner on the Cuttlefish, a coal-fired submarine that runs smuggled cargoes beneath the steamship patrols, to the fortress America and beyond.

When the Imperial soldiery comes ravening, Clara and her mother are forced to flee aboard the Cuttlefish. Hunted like beasts, the submarine and her crew must undertake a desperate voyage across the world, from the Faeroes to the Caribbean and finally across the Pacific to find safety. But only Clara and Tim Barnabas can steer them past treachery and disaster, to freedom in Westralia. Carried with them—a lost scientific secret that threatens the very heart of Imperial power.

Quantum Coin
by E. C. Myers
Cover by Sam Weber

Be My Enemy (Book Two of the Everness Series)
by Ian McDonald
Cover by John Picacio

Part II

Books received 7/29/12 Pyr edition Part II

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Night Sessions
by Ken Macleod
Cover by Stephan Martiniere

Promo copy:

A bishop is dead. As Detective Inspector Adam Ferguson picks through the rubble of the tiny church, he discovers that it was deliberately bombed. That it’s a terrorist act is soon beyond doubt. It’s been a long time since anyone saw anything like this. Terrorism is history….After the Middle East wars and the rising sea levels—after Armageddon and the Flood—came the Great Rejection. The first Enlightenment separated church from state. The Second Enlightenment has separated religion from politics. In this enlightened age there’s no persecution, but the millions who still believe and worship are a marginal and mistrusted minority. Now someone is killing them. At first, suspicion falls on atheists more militant than the secular authorities. But when the target list expands to include the godless, it becomes evident that something very old has risen from the ashes. Old and very, very dangerous…

The Kingmakers (Vampire Empire, Book 3)
by Clay Griffith & Susan Griffith
Cover by Chris McGrath

Promo copy:

Concludes the popular, genre-crossing, epic trilogy of a war between vampires and humans
A war to the death.

Empress Adele has launched a grand crusade against the vampire clans of the north. Prince Gareth, the vampire lord of Scotland, serves the Equatorian cause, fighting in the bloody trenches of France in his guise as the dashing Greyfriar. But the human armies are pinned down, battered by harsh weather and merciless attacks from vampire packs.

To even the odds, Adele unleashes the power of her geomancy, a fear- some weapon capable of slaughtering vampires in vast numbers. However, the power she expends threatens her own life even as she questions the morality of such a weapon.

As the war turns ever bloodier and Adele is threatened by betrayal, Gareth faces a terrible choice. Their only hope is a desperate strike against the lord of the vampire clans—Gareth’s brother, Cesare. It is a gamble that could win the war or signal the final days of the Greyfriar.

The Vampire Empire trilogy rushes to a heart-wrenching conclusion of honor and love, hatred and vengeance, sacrifice and loss.

London Eye (Toxic City Book One)
by Tim Lebbon
Cover by Steve Stone

Part I

DVDs received 7/27/12

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

Star Trek: The Next Generation – Season One [Blu-ray]

Promo copy:

For the first time ever, you can experience all 25 season one episodes in glorious 1080p high definition, with true high definition visual effects and English language digitally remastered 7.1 sound – or with the original audio. You’ll witness new picture detail and depth and enjoy spectacular visual effects that have been painstakingly re-created from the original film elements… not upconverted from videotape! Join Captain Jean-Luc Picard (Patrick Stewart) and the entire crew of the Enterprise on a voyage to the next generation… of Star Trek: The Next Generation.

Features:

    95 Minutes Of New Documentaries Features All New Cast and Crew Interviews
    Energized: Taking the Next Generation to the Next Level
    Stardate Revisited: The Origin of Star Trek: The Next Generation
    Original Episodic Promos
    Archival Launch Footage
    Featurettes

Seeking Justice

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This action-packed thriller stars Nicolas Cage as Will Gerard, a happily married family man whose quiet life is turned upside-down when his wife, Laura (January Jones), is brutally attacked one night while leaving work.

At the hospital, waiting for news about his wife’s condition, Will is approached by Simon, (Guy Pearce) who proposes an intriguing offer: Simon will arrange to have a complete stranger exact vengeance on Laura’s attacker, in exchange for a favor from Will in the near future. Distraught and grief-stricken, Will consents to the deal, unwittingly pulling himself into a dangerous underground vigilante operation. While continuing to protect his wife from the truth, he quickly discovers that his quest for justice could lead to frightening and deadly consequences.

Directed by Roger Donaldson (The Bank Job, The Recruit), with story by Robert Tannen and Todd Hickey and screenplay by Robert Tannen, Seeking Justice also stars Harold Perrineau (ABC’s “Lost,” upcoming Inferno: A Linda Lovelace Story) and Jennifer Carpenter (Showtime’s “Dexter,” Quarantine).

The Super Hero Squad Show: The Infinity Gauntlet Vol. 4

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The final stand of the Super Hero Squad is upon us! Join your favorite Squaddies (Iron Man, Scarlet Witch, Wolverine, Ms. Marvel, Falcon and the Hulk) as they take on the Dark Surfer once and for all in the battle that determines the fate of the universe! Action! Laughter! Tears! Laughter resulting in tears! These final chapters in the hilarious superpowered saga of The Super Hero Squad Show has it all! Squaddies, hero up!

Featuring the special guest voice talents of Ty Burrell (Modern Family), Jane Lynch (Glee), Michael Dorn (Star Trek: The Next Generation), James Marsters (Buffy The Vampire Slayer), Kevin Sorbo (Hercules: The Legendary Journeys) and Marvel Comics legend Stan Lee!

Movies, Gorillas, Fringe, and Sex: ArmadilloCon 34

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It’s time once again for ArmadilloCon.

As per usual, I’ll be speaking on several panels and even having a reading.

Hope to see everyone there!

Best SF/F Movie Series of the all time
Fri 8:00 PM-9:00 PM San Antonio
A. de Orive, R. Klaw*, B. Mahoney, R. Rogers, J. Rountree, H. Waldrop
Hobbits vs. Avengers? Star Wars vs. Star Trek? Aliens vs. Predators vs. Terminators? Our intrepid panelists attempt to ef the ineffable and address the truly deep questions: What constitutes not just a great SF/F movie, but an outstanding series?

Apes and Zeppelins
Fri 9:00 PM-10:00 PM Trinity
C. Brown, B. Crider, S. Cupp, M. Finn*, R. Klaw, J. Lansdale, J. Nevins, D. Webb
Last year Joe Lansdale tossed down the gauntlet at the Apes in SF panel, challenging all comers to produce a story worthy of a classic cover from Zeppelin Tales: "The Gorilla of the Gasbags". Our valiant panelists discuss their responses.

Fringe: Why We Like It — or do we still?
Sat 11:00 AM-Noon San Antonio
B. Hale, R. Klaw*, G. Oliver, D. Potter, R. Rogers
How did this show become so watchable and interesting? Has it maintained its promise, or jumped the shark?

Reading
Sat 2:00 PM-2:30 PM Pecos
Rick Klaw

(I’ll be reading either my apes in film essay from The Apes of Wrath or if I finish it in time my "Gorilla of the Gasbags" challenge story.)

Signing
Sat 4:00 PM-5:00 PM Dealers’ Room
B. Crider, S. Cupp, M. Finn, R. Klaw, D. Webb

Sequels, Reboots, & Prometheus
Sun Noon-1:00 PM San Marcos
A. Allston, A. de Orive, R. Klaw*, A. Martinez, J. Perez
Summer SF Spectaculars: the good, the bad, the re-done and the over-done

Future Sex: The Shape of Things to Come
Sun 2:00 PM-3:00 PM Trinity
C. Brown, M. Maresca, R. Klaw, J. Nevins, P. Roberts*, F. Stanton
As humans reshape their society, their bodies, their culture, how will the most intimate of activities change?