Cool Art: 'Star Wars' Pulp Novel Style Covers by Tim Anderson

Combining two of my loves, pulp style art and 'Star Wars', Tim Anderson has created these pulp novel style covers of the Original 'Star Wars' trilogy for cool website, Planet Pulp's current Star Wars show.

Cool Art: 'Daleks Invasion Earth: 2150 AD' by Orlando Arocena

'Daleks Invasion Earth: 2150 A.D' by Orlando Arocena.

This print will be available soon as a limited edition print from Underthefloorboards.com.

Check out Orlando's Behance page to see more of his art.

Book Review: 'Doctor Who: Who-ology - The Official Miscellany' by Cavan Scott & Mark Wright

This unique tour of space and time celebrates the adventures of the BBC's Time Lord from the past 50 years. Who are the members of the Doctor's family? What are the 20 best ways to define a Dalek? What are the galactic coordinates for Gallifrey? If you don't know the answers then you certainly will after reading the amazing facts, figures and stories bursting from 'Doctor Who: Who-ology'. Get to know the ins and outs of the TARDIS, rediscover worlds like Trenzalore, and complete the list of terrific and terrifying monsters the Doctor has fended off over the past half-century. This official and thoroughly entertaining miscellany features drawings, charts and graphs throughout too.

If you're a fan of 'Doctor Who', whether it's the classic series or the new rebooted series, I would recommend picking up this book, it covers it all and then some! Reading more like a digest of everything Whovian from the last 50 years, this hardcover book has it all.

From the very first episode, and all the way up until the 2012 Christmas special, the 384 pages are bursting with the facts and figures from the entire series. It's all presented very well in a hardback volume, with a cover illustrated by Lee Binding and accompanied by black and white interior illustrations by Ben Morris. 'Who-ology' details the timelines, actor biographies, character summaries, episode listings, fact compilations and quotations. There's a lot of detail for the casual fan to take in, yet not as much that a hard-core fan might expect, but it's still fun to flick through the pages and get lost in the mythology of the Doctor.

For the price, you can pick this up for less than a tenner, this is a book that fans of Doctor Who will enjoy. A perfect celebration of the longest running science fiction TV series.

**** out of 5

Short Film: 'Journal Of An Epidemic' by Olivier Mamet

What if there was an outbreak? The last human survivor on Earth documents the fall of our society.
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How 'Iron Man 3' Should Have Ended

The Adventures Of The Doctor Puppet by Alisa Stern

The Doctor Puppet is a lovingly handcrafted 'Doctor Who' fan tribute made in New York City by Alisa Stern. You can also follow along at the Tumblr. And there’s more about the making of the series here and here.

Episode One: 'The Red X'
The Doctor Puppet, based on Doctor Who, finds a strange note on his TARDIS that leads him on a mysterious adventure. Who will he meet along the way?



Episode Two: 'The Conjunction Of Eleven'
In this episode of Doctor Puppet, (based on Doctor Who) the Doctor discovers that the mystery of the letter is much bigger than he imagined, and might involve some unexpected characters.



Episode Three: 'The Doctor In The Garden'
In this episode of Doctor Puppet, (based on Doctor Who) the Doctor travels into his own past to make sure it's still safe.

Cool Art: 'The Phantom Of The Opera' by Laurent Durieux

Dark Hall Mansion presents its second print in their DHM-Seminal Film Series, the 1925 classic, 'The Phantom of the Opera' starring Lon Chaney and designed by artist Laurent Durieux.

The prints go on sale Thursday, June 6th, 2013 at 10:30 AM PST at the DHM Store page.

"The aim of Dark Hall Mansion's DHM-Seminal Film Series is the very bridging of cinema as art and art as cinema. To create beautiful prints for some of the most resonant American and international films, distilling film and imagery while beholden to no specific screening or advertising obligations. Our aim right from the onset was to honor the tradition of vintage film posters while simultaneously releasing our artists from its commercial constraints."

The DHM-Seminal Film Series screenprints are available in two flavours, a 24" x 36" standard edition that's numbered, and limited to 200 copies which costs $65. The other is a 24" x 36" variant edition that's also numbered, and limited to 100 copies and costs $100.

There will also be two very select wood editions, one with the standard artwork (Edition of 10), and another with the  variant artwork (Edition of 10). Both are $250 each and will be available at emovieposter.

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Regular Edition

Variant Edition

Go Team Venture! The Return Of 'The Venture Bros' Is Nearly Here.

I love this show! I was introduced to 'The Venture Bros' after randomly flicking through the channels late one night, as you do, and was immediately hooked! And that was almost 10 years ago. I would totally recommend picking up the DVD/Bluray sets.

But if you don't have the boxsets of the four series so far, here's a full-on, get-you-up-to-speed-on-everything summation of the Ventureverse. Perfect for sending to friends who whine about watching all 55 episodes before Season 5 as you've suggested. Venture Bros Season 5 Premieres June 2nd at Midnight.

Check out this interview with series creators Doc Hammer and Jackson Publick on Wired.com

The 'Back To The Future' Clock Tower Scene - Sweded!

This week, the guys from Homemade Movies take on the iconic clock tower scene from 'Back To The Future'! Doc struggles to reconnect the electrical cables on the clock tower while Marty speeds down the street in the DeLorean time-machine! Will the Homemade crew hit 88 miles per hour as the lightning strikes?

As always you can check out the side by side comparison and the behind the scenes.

Cool Art: 'The Legend Of Zelda' Posters by Marinko Milosevski

Check out this series of 'The Legend Of Zelda' posters by Marinko Milosevski. Simple, yet definitely awesome!

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Cool Art: Vintage Travel Posters By Tony Cliff

A set of posters by Tony Cliff in the style of the old vintage travel posters, promoting his webcomic Delilah Dirk - A tale of adventure and action told in illustrated fashion, available from start to finish, free for your leisurely enjoyment.

Delilah Dirk is the heroine of a series of adventure comics set during the early 19th century. Each story is completely self-contained, and they're suitable for readers of all ages!

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Cool Art: Geek-Art.net presents 'Final Frontier' An Art Show Homage To Star Trek

Geek-Art presents 'Final Frontier', an art show that pays tribute to the Star Trek universe, and will be hosted at the Dernier Bar Avant la Fin du Monde in Paris, France from June 3 until June 30. The show features some very cool art from some very cool artists that I've featured on this blog before like, Paul Shipper, Matt Ferguson, Marie Bergeron, Sam Ho, Sublevel Studios and many more!

I've already featured a couple of preview pieces from this show, check out the rest of the previews below.

Cool Art: 'Star Trek' Posters By Patrick Connan

These 'Star Trek' posters by Patrick Connan are part of the 'Star Trek' tribute art show, 'Final Frontier' presented by Geek Art, which opens June 3 at Le Dernier Bar avant la Fin du Monde in Paris.

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Cool Art: Unused 'Star Wars' Poster Concept

Check out this unused concept poster art for 'Star Wars'. No idea on the artist, but it could be Howard Chaykin who had designed a previous pre-production poster. It mentions a couple of the pulp Sci-Fi comic strips that have influenced generations of fans, including George Lucas. I think the tagline on this sums up the film perfectly!
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Cool Art: 'Star Trek: Origins' by Paul Shipper

Another fantastic illustrated poster from Paul Shipper. Loving a heck of a lot of his artwork, and have been featuring some of it on this blog recently!

'Star Trek: Origins' is part of, Final Frontier, an art show that pays tribute to the Star Trek universe, and will be hosted by Geek-Art at the Dernier Bar Avant la Fin du Monde in Paris, France from June 3 until June 30.

Check out Paul's blog for some up close detail shots of this print.

Mass Effect - Series 2: Episode 9 'Ultraviolet' & Episode 10 'The Assassin'

Continuing with the serialisation of Matt Beaudette's edit of the Mass Effect trilogy with another double episode of the second chapter of the Mass Effect saga. (If you've not played the games, there be spoilers ahead!)

Episode 9: "Ultraviolet"
Shepard and The Normandy travel deep into Geth controlled Space in search of his former teammate, Tali'Zorah vas Neema.



Episode 10: "The Assassin"
Commander Shepard lands on the Asari dominated world Illium, looking to recruit a notorious assassin to the team, and runs into an old acquaintance.

'What Remains' - A Fan-Made Series Based On 'The Last Of Us'

'What Remains', is a live-action fan-made series written and directed by Anthony Pietromonaco and produced by Manifest Film, based on Naughty Dog's upcoming 'The Last Of Us' for the PS3. The first episode is now online.

New 'Man Of Steel' TV Spot Trailer

A new TV spot trailer, and sporting some new scenes too.

'Mine Of Steel' - 'An Ideal Of Hope' Trailer Recreated In Minecraft

The 'Ideal of Hope' trailer, recreated in incredible detail IN MINECRAFT by Steelehouse.

Cool Art: Gauntlet Gallery presents 'ReDiscovery' An Art Show Inspired By Daft Punk

Gauntlet Gallery presents 'ReDiscovery', an art show inspired by the French electronic music duo Daft Punk. To celebrate the release of Daft Punk’s first album in eight years, Gauntlet Gallery will feature works by over 40 painters, sculptors, digital and screen print artists, each of whom has created an original work of art inspired by Daft Punk.

With their modern disco sound and blend of house, funk, electronic and techno music, Daft Punk puts on one of the world’s most popular DJ performances. Their musical talent is matched only by the extraordinary visuals of their live performances. Daft Punk’s highly anticipated 'Random Access Memories' is their fourth studio album and the first since the 2005 release of 'Human After All'.

Gauntlet Gallery’s 'ReDiscovery' debuted on May 18th with an opening night reception from 7pm to 10pm. The show will be on view until June 15th, 2013.

Located at 1040 Larkin Street in San Francisco, Gauntlet Gallery’s hours are 12-7pm Tuesday through Saturday, and by appointment.

Check out the preview art below.

May 25th: Happy Geek Pride Day!

Fly the geek flag loud and proud today, it's Geek Pride Day - a special day dedicated to those of us who do not (and should not) feel ashamed about showing off our geeky and nerdy passions!

Check out GeekDad's look at 'What is a geek?'

Chosen to celebrate George Lucas' 'Star Wars', which was premiered on May 25th 1977 (and also happens to be the date that 'Return Of The Jedi' premiered in 1983), Geek Pride Day also shares this special day with Towel Day, for fans of 'The Hitchhiker's Guide To The Galaxy' series by Douglas Adams, and the Glorious 25 May for fans of Terry Pratchett's 'Discworld'.

The first Geek Festival was organised in Albany, New York around 1998-2000 by Tim McEachern, but it was first celebrated in Spain as "Orgullo Friki" in 2006 and has spiraled all over the world thanks to the internet.

So today, on this special day, no matter whether you're a pop culture geek, a science nerd, a gamer geek or whatever, celebrate and declare your pride at being geek!

As a purveyor of pop culture geekery, mostly Sci-Fi and Fantasy, I have quite a lot of favourites but, in no particular order, here a few of them below.

Happy Geek Pride Day!

Star Wars Films & Comics

'The Law Of The Jungle' - The New Trailer For 'Destiny' From Bungie

As a Guardian of the City sets out on an epic, action-packed adventure to reclaim our Solar System, he recalls the moment when he was first taught the most important lesson of all -- The Law of the Jungle.

Get a sneak peek at 'Destiny', the new action game from the creators of Halo® with this trailer directed by Jon Favreau.

See the official worldwide Destiny gameplay reveal on June 10th, 2013 during Sony's PlayStation E3 Press Conference.

To learn more visit the Destiny website.

Cool Art: 'Darth Usir - Sith Happens Again' by Zarnala

'Darth Usir - Sith Happens Again' by Zarnala.

This illustration was a sketch Deviant Artist, Zarnala did for a friend who likes Stars Wars and Mass Effect, and who asked her if she could do a crossover of a Dark Jedi Asari. Looks awesome!

Check out her Deviant Art page for more cool art.

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Cool Art: 'Shadow Flame' by Mark Lone

This 'Lord Of The Rings' inspired art by Mark Lone, is part of Hero Complex Gallery's 'Arch Nemesis' show that opens this Friday.

'Shadow Flame' is a 12" x 24" 6 colour screenprint with sparkle blue ink, and will be available to purchase online at Hero Complex Gallery from Saturday.

'Doctor Who' 50th Anniversary Trailer

A very cool fan-made trailer for the 'Doctor Who' 50th anniversary. Roll on November 23rd!
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Death Star Destroys Enterprise (Special Edition)

After Star Trek IV, the crew of the Enterprise needed more whales, so they came back to San Francisco again, except this time it's an alternate universe where Reagan's Star Wars defense initiative from the 80's is coming to fruition as the Death Star nears completion (superlaser already fully operational). Star Wars is our military.
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Full Trailer For 'The World's End'

In “The World’s End,” 20 years after attempting an epic pub crawl, five childhood friends reunite when one of them becomes hellbent on trying the drinking marathon again. They are convinced to stage an encore by Gary King (Simon Pegg), a 40-year-old man trapped at the cigarette end of his teens, who drags his reluctant pals to their hometown and once again attempts to reach the fabled pub – The World’s End. As they attempt to reconcile the past and present, they realise the real struggle is for the future, not just theirs but humankind’s. Reaching The World’s End is the least of their worries.

'The World's End' is out in cinemas July 19 (UK) and August 23 (USA).

'Pacific Rim': The Drift Featurette

A brand new featurette for Gullermo Del Toro's 'Pacific Rim' has been released, explaining some of the sci-fi concepts and looks into how the giant robots (Jaegers) actually work, with human pilots interacting with a computerised control system in a process known as “drift”.

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New Trailer For 'Man Of Steel' - "Fate Of Your Planet"

'Man Of Steel' is in cinemas June 14.

'Alien' Chestburster Scene - Homemade

This week, the guys from Homemade Movies have sweded the 'Alien' chestburster scene! Ripley and the Nostromo crew sit down for a lovely meal with André from BlackNerdComedy and a homemade Xenomorph.

As always you can check out the side by side comparison and the behind the scenes.

'Keeping Up With The Comstocks'

Meanwhile, in a Parallel Universe... (SPOILERS).

Written and directed by Michael Shanks and starring Michael Shanks, Nick Issell, Mahalia Brown with Craig Jansson, Ollie and Scout.
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Cool Art: Hero Complex Gallery presents 'Arch Nemesis'

Hero Complex Gallery will be hosting their next exhibition on May 24th, 2013, 'Arch Nemesis' - an art show focusing on Bad Guys…on the Villains, Rogues, and Scoundrels of the world. And what good is a Nemesis show without a few heroes to kick around!

They will also be giving away (1) maple wood variant of Laurent Durieux’s “Peter Pan (Peter and Wendy)”…and if that wasn’t enough, they will ALSO be giving away (1) metal variant of Craig Drake’s “Predator”, inspired by the film of the same name. One will be awarded to opening night customers and one will be awarded to online customers.

All customers with purchases of $100 or more will automatically be entered to win.

Opening Reception is on Friday, May 24th, 7-10pm at Hero Complex Gallery, 2020 South Robertson Blvd., Studio D, Los Angeles, CA 90034. And any prints left over will be available for sale online from Saturday, May 25th at around 1pm PDT.

I've already featured Craig Drake's 'Predator', Laurent Durieux's 'Peter Pan' and Paul Shipper's 'Man Of Steel' print from this show, check out them again and a sneak peek of some of the other awesome prints from this show below.

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Cool Art: 'Man Of Steel' by Paul Shipper

'Man Of Steel' by Paul Shipper.

This awesome print is a 18" x 24" Fine Art Giclée and will be in a limited edition of 50 at $50 each. It will be available at Hero Complex Gallery, Los Angeles as part of their 'Arch Nemesis' art show, that runs from May 24th.

Check out Paul's blog for up close detail shots.

Cool Art: 'Spacevidcast' Poster Series by Ron Guyatt

These posters by Ron Guyatt are part of a series in development with spacevidcast.com.

Space themed posters comparing the height of Olympus Mons on Mars to many features from Earth and another comparing various space rocks, from meteors to asteroids and even comets!

The posters are free to download but if you want a professionally printed version you can purchase them from Ron's Etsy store where they are available in multiple sizes!

Click to embiggen for a closer look.

The Music of 'Star Trek Into Darkness'

SoundWorks Collection talk with the music conductor and orchestrator Tim Simonec on the 20th Century Fox Newman Scoring stage for director JJ Abram's new film 'Star Trek Into Darkness'.

'Star Wars: Rebels' New Animated Series Coming To Disney XD in 2014

Pablo Hidalgo talks with executive producer Dave Filoni about Lucasfilm's highly-anticipated new animated series!

The series will take place  in the era of time between 'Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith' and 'Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope'.
Disney officially describes 'Star Wars: Rebels' as an "action-filled series in a time where the Empire is securing its grip on the galaxy and hunting down the last of the Jedi Knights as a fledgling rebellion against the Empire is taking shape." The time-frame, about 19 years, has been featured in the Dark Times and Purge series by Dark Horse Comics , as well as in the multimedia video game/comic book/novel franchise 'Star Wars: The Force Unleashed'.

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Full Trailer For 'Batman: Arkham Origins'

The game features an expanded Gotham City and introduces an original prequel storyline set several years before the events of 'Batman: Arkham Asylum' and 'Batman: Arkham City'.

'Batman: Arkham Origins' is out October 25.

Mass Effect - Series 2: Episode 7 'The Prototype' & Episode 8 'Harbinger'

Continuing with the serialisation of Matt Beaudette's edit of the Mass Effect trilogy with another double episode of the second chapter of the Mass Effect saga. (If you've not played the games, there be spoilers ahead!)

Episode 7: "The Prototype"
The Normandy travels to the planet Korlus to recruit the Krogan Warlord Okeer to the continuously growing team.



Episode 8: "Harbinger"
Cerberus receives Intel that a human colony may be in the process of being taken by The Collectors, so The Illusive Man sends Shepard to investigate.

Two New Banners For 'Man Of Steel'

Two new banners have popped up for 'Man Of Steel', one featuring General Zod (Michael Shannon) and Superman (Henry Cavill) in the other.

'Man Of Steel' is out in cinemas June 14.
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Short Film: 'Expo' by Joe Sill

'Expo' by Joe Sill. You can check a short 'making of' video here too.

Female astro-miner Shona has been mining under dangerous conditions on the moon for the past two years in order to pay for expensive medical treatments in hopes of save her bed-ridden daughter Darla, and now that her tour is completed, a younger astronaut Paige has come to replace her. Shona is reluctant to return to the world she once knew, but in meeting Paige realizes that returning to Earth isn’t where she’ll find peace - she will have to return home.

Animated Short: 'Basilisk' by Ami Thompson

This cool short animation is by Ami Thompson and was her 4th year film at Sheridan college.

Cool Art: 'Fortress Of Solitude' by Luke Butland

'Fortress Of Solitude' by Luke Butland

This 'Man Of Steel' inspired print is a 15.8" x 10.9" 3 colour hand pulled screen print on 280gsm, natural white paper. It's limited to 50 copies, and is also hand numbered by Luke. It costs £25.

Check out Luke's blog for up close detail shots and to buy this print.

Behind the Scenes of 'The Name of the Doctor' S7 E14

Behind the scenes with Matt Smith, Jenna-Louise Coleman, Steven Moffat and Dan Starkey.

Matt Smith and David Tennant Behind the Scenes of the Doctor Who 50th Anniversary Special

As promised – as a thank you to everyone who helped to keep the Doctor's greatest secret a secret, here's a special clip from behind the scenes of the 50th Anniversary special - with Matt Smith and David Tennant!

Cool Art: 'Star Trek Into Darkness' by Doaly

'Star Trek Into Darkness' by Doaly

'Red Sonja' Returns To Comics

Red Sonja is back in a brand new series for Dynamite Comics this July and gets a fresh new attitude by writer Gail Simone (Batgirl, Birds of Prey) and artist Walter Geovani (Prophecy, Witchblade). This new series also features covers by the top female artists in the industry, including Nicola Scott, Amanda Conner, Fiona Staples, Jenny Frison, Colleen Doran, Stephanie Buscema and more.  Check out the various covers for the first issue below.

Sonja pays back a blood debt owed to the one man who has gained her respect, even if it means leading a doomed army to their certain deaths!

'Red Sonja' #1 by Nicola Scott

Cool Art: 'The Crimson Horror' & 'Nightmare In Silver' by Francesco Francavilla

Before we head into the series 7 finale, 'The Name Of The Doctor', tonight, here are the previous two episodes  'The Crimson Horror' and 'Nightmare In Silver' sketch posters by Francesco Francavilla.

'The Crimson Horror' by Francesco Francavilla

'Nightmare In Silver' by Francesco Francavilla

First Trailer For 'Europa Report'

EUROPA REPORT follows a contemporary mission to Jupiter’s moon Europa to investigate the possible existence of alien life within our solar system. When unmanned probes suggest that a hidden ocean could exist underneath Europa’s icy surface and may contain single-celled life, Europa Ventures, a privately funded space exploration company, sends six of the best astronauts from around the world to confirm the data and explore the revolutionary discoveries that may lie in the Europan ocean. After a near-catastrophic technical failure that leads to loss of communication with Earth and the tragic death of a crew member, the surviving astronauts must overcome the psychological and physical toll of deep space travel, and survive a discovery on Europa more profound than they had ever imagined.

JJ Abrams Takes Audience Suggestions for Star Wars

Cool Art: 'Predator' by Craig Drake

This is the metal variant of 'Predator' by Craig Drake, which is part of the upcoming 'Arch Nemesis' show by Hero Complex Art that opens on May 24th.

It's a 24" x 36" 8 colour screenprint on metal and costs $250. You can go here to buy this pre-sale print.

'Lords Of Mars' 6 Issue Tarzan / John Carter Crossover From Dynamite Comics

'Lords Of Mars' is a six issue crossover of two Edgar Rice Burroughs greatest creations, in a new series from Dynamite Comics.

Starting in August 2013, this crossover will see Tarzan and Jane Porter team with John Carter and Dejah Thoris. The six-issue series will be written by Arvid Nelson and interiors illustrated by Roberto Castro. The first issue will feature multiple covers by Alex Ross, Francesco Francavilla, Dan Panosian and Ardian Syaf which you can see below.

An epic crossover event starring the two greatest heroes of pulp fiction begins this summer! The legendary Ape-Man has claimed his title as Lord of Greystoke, but his very life is threatened when a hunting excursion with his fellow “gentlemen” goes disastrously wrong. Meanwhile, on Mars, John Carter is forced to respond to a veiled threat from his defeated enemies. Mars and Earth might be separated by millions of miles, but a sinister force is at work on both planets, setting the two champions on a deadly collision course. 

It all starts with Lords of Mars #1: The Hunting Party. Set phasers for “mayhem”!

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by Alex Ross

'Star Trek' - The Ultimate Film Tribute

From 1979's The Motion Picture all the way through to JJ Abrams' 'Star Trek Into Darkness', this is a tribute to the movies of 'Star Trek'.
Video was edited by Nick Bosworth.
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Cool Art: 'There Will Be Blood' by Aaron Horkey

Concluding their week long look at the films of Paul Thomas Anderson, Mondo will be releasing this print of 'There Will Be Blood' by Aaron Horkey. It's an 18.25″ x 39″ screenprint, with the regular version in a limited edition of 435, and will cost $65. The variant is limited to 200 prints and will cost $125.

These will go on sale today (Friday, May 17th) at a random time at Mondo. As always, follow them on Twitter for when they drop and be quick, this is sure to sell out very quickly!

Go to Mondo's blog for the up close detail shots.

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Regular Edition

Variant Edition

Fan-Made 'Doctor Who' Intro by Xandercom

VFX artist Xandercom has reimagined the new opening title sequence for 'Doctor Who'. Check it out below.
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Watch The 'Tomb Raider' Reboot Game As A 3 Hour Movie

After turning the 'Assassin Creed' games into full length game movies, Andy Gilleand is back with 'Tomb Raider'.

"If you haven't seen my movies before, my goal is to take a game, record footage of my gameplay, and edit that together into a movie. I do this by focusing on story, primarily driven by the cutscenes. However, if you only include the cutscenes, you don't have a coherent story. So I include some gameplay as well, but only the minimum gameplay necessary to understand the story. The goal is to keep this looking as much like a movie as possible, so I try to limit any obvious game moments as much as I can, especially putting focus on the more cinematic gameplay elements. 

As before, I try to cut out as many game indicators as I can, such as button prompts, but sometimes there are HUD pop ups that would be either too difficult to remove, or would significantly lower the quality of the movie by being removed. So, I removed what I could, but I couldn't remove everything."

He says his next game movie project will be 'Batman: Arkham Asylum', so subscribe to his YouTube channel for updates.

New Trailer For 'Pacific Rim'

First Trailer For 'Ghost In The Shell: Arise'

The first trailer for the prequel to Masamune Shirow's classic 1995 anime, 'Ghost In The Shell',  titled 'Ghost in the Shell: Arise' has appeared online. The prequel will be released in four 50-minute parts. The first installment, 'Ghost Pain', will premiere in Japan on June 22, and tells the story of cyborg squad leader Motoko Kusanagi, before she joined Public Security Section 9.
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Teaser Trailer For 'Batman: Arkham Origins'

'Batman: Arkham Origins' features an expanded Gotham City and introduces an original prequel storyline occurring several years before the events of 'Batman: Arkham Asylum' and 'Batman: Arkham City'. Taking place before the rise of Gotham City's most dangerous villains and assassins, the game showcases a young, raw, unrefined Batman as he faces a defining moment in his early career as a crime fighter that sets his path to becoming the Dark Knight. As the story unfolds, witness identities being formed and key relationships being forged.

'Batman: Arkham Origins' is out on October 25.

'Casino Royale' Opening Scene Remade In Lego

A Lego remake of the opening scene from Casino Royale. Carefully and painstakingly remade, frame for frame by BrickTease.

You can catch the side by side comparison here.

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'Buck Rogers' Returns To Comics

With the release of 'John Carter' last year and news of Doc Savage returning to the screen, could it be that the pulp heroes are making a comeback?! As it happens, I'm currently reading 'Armageddon 2419 AD' by Philip F Nowlan, the novel that first appeared in the August 1928 edition of pulp sci-fi magazine 'Amazing Stories' that introduced Tony Rogers to the world, who was later renamed 'Buck Rogers' when the classic newspaper comic strips debuted a year later.

It's been announced that this August, Hermes Press (who have been reprinting the classic comic strips) will be publishing a brand new four-issue series, 'Buck Rogers in the 25th Century', that returns Buck Rogers to his original roots, with the art and stories by legendary comic artist Howard Chaykin.

Howard Chaykin’s revival of the first, best, and original sci-fi hero returns in August with an all-new four book story-line.

Before Star Trek and Star Wars, Buck Rogers captivated audiences around the world and made science fiction a national obsession. Now, over eighty years after the creation of the newspaper strip that became a household word, Howard Chaykin has returned the character and his universe back to basics: Buck Rogers, former World War I ace is accidentally suspended in time only to awaken to a new and different earth, 500 years in the future, fragmented by war and ruled by an omnipotent force— the Chinese. Now, Buck along with Colonel Wilma Deering, begin a new fight, to free the United States!

Chaykin’s long anticipated revival of science-fiction’s most archetypal character will hit comic stores in August with Issue #1.

Check out the cover for the first issue by Howard Chaykin below.

Cool Art: 'A New Hope' by Paul Shipper

After wowing with his 'Star Trek' and 'Star Trek Into Darkness' painted posters, it's the turn of that other sci-fi movie franchise 'Star Wars' to get the Paul Shipper treatment, and I love it! 'A New Hope' is for cool art blog  Planet Pulp, who currently have a 'Star Wars' theme from their contributing artists!

Cool Art: 'The Living Daylights' by Mike Mahle

Another cool James Bond poster by Mike Mahle.

Kylie Minogue is 'She-Ra'!

Cool Art: 'Leon: The Professional' by Alice X Zhang

This 'Leon' inspired piece is an early release of one of the portraits Alice X Zhang will be displaying at her first solo art exhibition, 'Moments'. The show, a tribute to cinema, will  feature over thirty brand-new paintings from Alice. It opens at Bottleneck Gallery, in Brooklyn, New York on June 7 and will run until June 28.

Check out her Deviant Art page and website for more gorgeous art.

Cool Art: 'Eight Disciples of War and Magic' by Fred Jully

This set of 8 posters was created by Fred Jully for the upcoming release of Final Fantasy XIV: A Realm Reborn.

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'Adventure Time' Episode Title Card Prints

WeLoveFine are selling art prints of the title cards for certain 'Adventure Time' episodes. These are 18″ x 24″ and printed with Epson UltraChrome® HDR ink for $25 each. Go here to get them and check out their other Adventure Time prints and tees.

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Movie Review: 'Star Trek Into Darkness'

art by Paul Shipper

When the crew of the Enterprise is called back home, they find an unstoppable force of terror from within their own organization has detonated the fleet and everything it stands for, leaving our world in a state of crisis. With a personal score to settle, Captain Kirk leads a manhunt to a war-zone world to capture a one man weapon of mass destruction. As our heroes are propelled into an epic chess game of life and death, love will be challenged, friendships will be torn apart, and sacrifices must be made for the only family Kirk has left: his crew.

First up, I wouldn't say that I'm a huge Star Trek fan, probably more what you could call a casual fan (I did do a bit of 'extra research' into the mythos to learn a bit more before I went down to the 'Destination Star Trek: London' convention last year), and I did enjoy JJ Abrams' first Trek film. And on that basis, was looking forward to his second installment.

Well, it was a whole lot of fun! To borrow a tagline from another film, it was an "epic of epic epicness!" A very entertaining entry into the world of Kirk, Spock and company. A blend of action, of which there was quite a lot, humour and a bit of emotion (especially, I felt, at the start with Noel Clarke that kick starts the events of the film).

The banter between Kirk (Chris Pine) and Spock (Zachary Quinto) and their clash of personalities is at the heart of the film, especially towards the end. Kirk does seem to have matured a bit since the last film, and Spock still plays by the rules, but they do play off each other very well. The rest of the cast have their moments in the sun as well, plus Dr Carol Marcus (Alice Eve) is a good addition to the cast as well. But it was Benedict Cumberbatch that stole the show for me. His character did remind of his excellent portrayal of Sherlock and in 'Into Darkness' he played a villain that was very manipulating and captivating when he was on screen. And to be honest, you wouldn't expect anything less from Cumberbatch!

The soundtrack from Michael Giacchino is typically Giacchino too and is very bold and sweeps you along throughout the film. The piano led piece 'London Calling' starts very emotional and definitely helps set the scene it's in at the beginning of the film. Giacchino is fast becoming one of my favourite score composers.

After watching this, it's definitely safe to conclude that JJ Abrams knows how to shoot an action film. The effects didn't seem to just be there for the sake of it and served a purpose. Although you might not say that about his tradmark lens flares, which were certainly present throughout (glad I was watching it in 3D and wearing those darker 3D specs!). With his next film being 'Star Wars Episode VII', I have no doubt that it'll be in safe hands, minus those lens flares hopefully.

With a decent villain being the perfect foil to the characters that we know and love, and with a few nods towards the Star Trek of the original series, you've got a pretty damn good film, and you don't really need to be a fan of Star Trek to enjoy it, but it will help!

**** out 5

'The Hunger Games: Catching Fire' Trailer - Homemade

This week, the guys from Homemade Movies have sweded 'The Hunger Games: Catching Fire' trailer!

You can also check out the side by side comparison and the behind the scenes.

Cool Art: 'Brief Encounter' by Edward Tuckwell

To commemorate a special screening of 'Brief Encounter' at the Phoenix Cinema in London, as part of their British Cinema Series, Dark City Gallery have a poster designed by Edward Tuckwell.

The screening will be at 4.15pm on Saturday May 18th. You can book tickets for this special screening here.

Cool Art: 'Star Trek Into Darkness' by Paul Shipper

Following on from his recent 'Star Trek' poster for JJ Abrams' first 'Star Trek' film, here is another cool poster from Paul Shipper, this time for the new film, 'Star Trek Into Darkness'.

This was exclusively shown first on Blurppy.com, and was presented alongside even more 'Star Trek Into Darkness' inspired alternative movie poster awesomeness, from a group of extremely talented artists that I've featured on this blog many times before - Matt Ferguson, Marko Manev, Marie Bergeron, Adam Rabalais, Rodolfo Reyes, Johnny Dombrowski, Fernando Reza, Tim Anderson, Joe Vetoe, Chris Garofalo, Erin Gallagher and Matt Needle. If you're a fan of pop culture inspired art, and especially Star Trek, you've really got to check out these posters!

Click to embiggen for a closer look and check out Paul's blog for some up close detail shots too.

Another New Track From 'Man Of Steel' Soundtrack

Another track from Hans Zimmer's score for the new 'Man Of Steel' has popped up online.

"My inspiration for the music came from trying to celebrate all that is good and kind in the people of America's heartland, without cleverness or cynicism. Just from the heart," Zimmer told Rolling Stone. "I wanted the epic sound of the fields and farms stretching past the horizon, of the wind humming in the telephone wires." But the massive score comes less from Superman's epic battle with villain General Zod and more from his introverted personal issues. "The music is less about the icon that Superman is," Zimmer says, "and more about the outsider with extraordinary powers and his struggle to become a part of humanity."

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Cool Art: 'Fools Gold' by Charlie Bowater

'Fools Gold' by Charlie Bowater.

This is a stunning 11.7" x 16.5" print that is limited to only 50 copies, and costs £55. It's available to buy from Charlie's Etsy Store.

Check out more awesome art on her Deviant Art page.

Mass Effect - Series 2: Episode 5 'Archangel' & Episode 6 'Purgatory'

Continuing with the serialisation of Matt Beaudette's edit of the Mass Effect trilogy with another double episode of the second chapter of the Mass Effect saga. (If you've not played the games, there be spoilers ahead!)

Episode 5: "Archangel"
Shepard heads back to Omega to recruit the infamous vigilante known only as "Archangel".



Episode 6: "Purgatory"
The Normandy docks with the Prison Ship "Purgatory", as Cerberus has paid for a prisoner to be released into Shepard's custody to aid in his mission against the Collectors.

Sci-Fi Short: 'Project Kronos' by Hasraf 'HaZ' Dulull

'Project Kronos' is a documentary film set in the not too distant future, following a mission to achieve interstellar space travel. As the mission unfolds with extraordinary results, the scientists find themselves dealing with a much bigger agenda.

The short was written and directed by Hasraf 'HaZ' Dulull, a special effects artist who's worked on the likes of 'The Dark Knight' and 'Hellboy II', and is aiming to turn this short into a full length feature film.

You can also download the soundtrack, that was composed by Piernicola Di Muro, here.

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Movie Poster Art: 'Star Trek Into Darkness'

With JJ Abrams' 'Star Trek Into Darkness' now out in cinemas, my review soon, here's a look at the official posters, comic book prequel cover art and fan art for and inspired by the movie.

Another New 'Man Of Steel' Poster

Is it a bird? Is it a plane? Nope, it's yet another new 'Man Of Steel' poster!

The Original 'Battlestar Galactica' Returns To Comics

2013 marks the 35th anniversary of the original Battlestar Galactica TV series and to celebrate, on May 15,  Dynamite Comics is launching a brand new series, written by Dan Abnett & Andy Lanning (Legion, Nova, Guardians of the Galaxy) and interior art by Cezar Razek.

Set in classic BSG continuity, this series celebrates 35 years of epic space opera when, following a surprise Cylon attack, Adama and the crew of the Galactica are forced to deploy Dr Zee's experimental temporal weapons with unexpected results that leave Apollo and Starbuck lost in time and space in an alternate reality with no Galactica and no way of returning home!

Check out the awesome cover art to the first three issues by Alex Ross below!