Photo by Dale May

CONTEST OVER, THANKS!

We were lucky enough to chat with Stephen Lynch about his upcoming run of shows at the TLA earlier this week. And now, thanks to our friends over at LiveNation, we’ve got some tickets to giveaway.

Want to catch Stephen at the TLA next week? Leave a comment about your favorite Stephen Lynch song. We’ll pick two of you at random on Sunday, and you’ll score a pair of free tickets from LiveNation. We’re giving away tickets to BOTH SHOWS, so be sure to include which show you’d like to go to!

Remember, Lynch is performing on Tuesday and Wednesday, March 13th and 14th. Good luck! See you at the show!

Dark Skies, which opens Friday, February 22^nd is the newest film by director Scott Stewart who you might remember as the director of such films as Priest and Legion.

Dark Skies is a supernatural thriller that follows a family living in the suburbs that begin to witness an escalating series of disturbing events occurring around them. When it becomes clear that the family is being targeted by an unimaginably terrifying and deadly force, they take matters in their own hands to attempt to solve the mystery of what exactly is after them.

We have a limited number of passes to a screening taking place Thursday February 21 at 7:30 PM at Rave University 6. Yes, TOMORROW. Want to check the film out for free? Simply head to gofobo.com and register with the code GEEKADC5WA to claim your passes. In the meantime check out the trailer below.

Ready for this?

Verizon FiOS is looking for Philly’s most connected, tech-loving consumer. Someone who loves tech and utilizes technology to improve their life, and lives what they refer to as a ‘Borderless Lifestyle’. You use several devices that “require connectivity, flexibility and choice whenever and wherever possible.”

You can learn more about that trend and campaign here, and follow Verizon FiOS on Twitter and Facebook.

Here comes the fun part! We’ve  teamed Verizon FiOS to giveaway an amazing Xbox 360 package. Not just the console. You’re looking at a Kinect and 12 months of Xbox Live as well. Fun Fact: You can download a FiOS TV app to watch plenty of channels on the console.

How can you enter? Easy.

We’re looking for readers to contribute their own technology success story here on Geekadelphia. Send in your own essay about how you use technology to stay connected to [email protected] and leave it in the comments (just in case we miss it via email!). Over the course of the month, we’ll post some of our favorites (with your permission!), and pick our favorite at the end of February.

Tell us something unique, exciting, and fun about how you stay connected. Using technology to run a cool marketing campaign? To keep your startup going? To stay connected with your nonprofit? Plenty of things to talk about. I know you geeks, you’ve got stories.

The best piece will win the Xbox 360 package, and five randomly selected winners will each get a pair of tickets to a Philadelphia Union game this season. While at the game, they’ll be able to visit PPL Park’s Verizon FiOS area and receive the demo. The crew over at Verizon will handle getting the prizes out to you.

That’s it! We can’t wait to start getting your stories.

I know a few folks enjoyed my review of the Steam Punk/Kung-Fu mash-up Tai Chi Zero and thanks to the folks at Well Go USA I have a copy to give away to one lucky reader. If you missed my previous post here are my thoughts on the film:

Tai Chi Zero is the Steam Punk, Kung-Fu equivalent of Scott Pilgrim Vs. The World.

The film directed by Stephen Fung (House of Fury, Gen-X Cops) is the story of The Freak (Yuan Xiaochao) a man born with the exceptional talent of being able to assimilate any style of Kung-Fu by simply witnessing it or having it inflicted on him.

There is a price however to this gift, after using a brute-force “external” style of Kung-Fu for so long his body is completely out of balance. Unless he can change this by going from an “external” Kung-Fu, to a more “internal” Kung-Fu with all the damage already done to his body, his days are numbered.

So The Freak travels to the Chen Village where there is rumored to be a special flavor of Tai Chi to rectify this. The only problem is when he arrives; he finds the Chen Village doesn’t teach their special style of Tai Chi to outsiders.

What ensues is a hilarious battle royal with everyone in the village. From the an 8 year-old girl to the guy who makes tofu, as The Freak tries to learn the Chen Village’s Tai Chi style by getting beat up by everyone in the village. The film and its fighting bouts feature a bevy of visuals, those who play video games will definitely recognize and enjoy.

Want to win a copy of the film on Blu-ray? Simply comment with your favorite Kung-Fu film by Sunday, February 10^th and I will pick a random winner. Good luck! In the meantime check out the trailer below!

The short film Who Do You Think You’re Fooling? makes the convincing argument that Quentin Tarantino, um, borrowed concepts from the 1987 Hong Kong actioner City on Fire for Reservoir Dogs.

But what other films did the wildly successful auteur draw inspiration from? That question is answered in Karharine Rife’s If You Like Quentin Tarantino, a entertaining reference guide that has the uneviable task of examining works that have either influenced or been influenced by QT.

Spanning chronologically from Reservoir Dogs to Django Unchained, the book suggests a Netflix queue-busting amount of movies that span from the original Taking of Pelham 1,2,3 (from which Tarantino took the idea of naming criminals after colors) to the blaxploitation spoof Black Dynamite.

By contextualizing each of these films within a different part of Tarantino’s career, Rife is clearly looking to immerse readers into the world of unknown cinema that the director has found so much guidance from. Elsewhere in the tome, she provides an appendix of exploitation and cult releases from Tarantino’s Rolling Thunder distribution hub, offers up a rundown of every film ever to have been screened at his QT Fests, and even finds time to pay tribute to Grindhouse’s under-appreciated Planet Terror.

If You Like Quentin Tarantino won’t win the director any new fans, yet for those who are caught in his cinematic web it is yet another opportunity to learn about lesser-known films that could become obsessions.

Want to win a copy? Leave a comment with your favorite Tarantino film. We’ll pick one of you at random at the end of next week. 

If you didn’t manage to make it out the recent screening at the Colonial Theatre of Quentin Tarantino and Robert Rodriguez’s underrated throwback masterpiece Grindhouse on 35mm, well, you missed out on a great show. Luckily for the folks that couldn’t make it I came back with some goodies to give away to our readers.

Haunt Love, a local Philly artist who put together a screen-printed limited edition poster set to commemorate the screening was nice enough to hook up us with a set to give out to one lucky reader. I am a huge fan of Haunt Love’s work and was introduced to it thanks to his great work with Exhumed Films.

To start off the New Year along with this poster set, he also started a subscription service for his posters. For a mere $175 you could get every poster he produces this year, which knowing this guy will end up being a lot of posters. You can check that out here.

So if either you’re a fan of Haunt Love or Grindhouse and want to win this great set simply comment with your favorite Quentin Tarantino or Robert Rodriguez film by the end of next week and the best answer will be getting these great prints to add to their flat file.

Remember the 2002 Spielberg film Catch Me If You Can? You know, the one chronicling the life of Frank Abagnale, master con artist? Catch Me If You Can is the true story of Frank Abagnale, Jr., a teenager who runs away from home, forges millions of dollars in checks, and poses as a pilot, a doctor, and a lawyer. Why? To live the glamorous life he always wanted.

Well, this Oscar nominated cinematic masterpiece has been transformed into a musical! That’s right! You can watch all of Frank Abagnale’s antics through the magic of musical theater. Catch Me If You Can was created by the same Tony Award®-winning ‘dream team,’ as The Full Monty, Ragtime, Hairspray, Legally Blonde, and directed by Jack O’Brien. If you’re a fan of musical theater you really shouldn’t miss this show.

Catch Me If You Can is in Philadelphia for a limited time! It’s only in town Tuesday, January 15th through Sunday, January 20th at the Academy of Music.

Want to see it? We have a pair of tickets for Tuesday’s performance! So, comment below with what makes you the biggest theater geek. Best answer gets the tickets!

On Monday, we posted about the Tony Award winning musical, Monty Python’s SPAMALOT, returning to Philadelphia for two days. The show runs January 19th and 20th at the Merriam Theater, with three performances over the weekend.

Now, for that giveaway.

The folks at LiveNation were kind enough to give us a pair of tickets for two of the shows. You can win tickets for:

• Saturday, January 19th: 3pm
• Sunday, January 20th: 1pm

Want to enter? Just leave a comment about your favorite Monty Python sketch or film, and I’ll pick two of you at random on Sunday. Oh, and make sure you let me know what show you’d like to see in the comment. I’d hate for a winner to get a pair of tickets, and not be able to go.

For more information on the show at the Merriam Theater, and to pick up tickets, visit the Kimmel Center’s official website.

It’s really interesting what Guillermo del Toro puts his name on as a producer these days. Looking at his IMDB page there probably isn’t a more eclectic mix out there, from horror films, to family friendly animated films; it seems like he is not afraid to put his name on a project if he feels passionately enough about it.

Mama, which hits theaters January 18^th, is the newest film presented by the director and is based on a 2008 Spanish language short film by the same name. Directed by Andrés Muschietti, who also directed the short, this feature length version starring Zero Dark Thirty’s Jessica Chastain will mark the feature length directorial debut of Muschietti.

Mama, is a supernatural thriller that tells the haunting tale of two little girls who disappeared into the woods the day that their mother was murdered.  When they are rescued years later and begin a new life, they find that someone or something still wants to come tuck them in at night.

We have 30 passes for two to a screening Tuesday, January 15th at the Ritz Five at 7:30PM. Want to check out MAMA 3 days before it hits theaters? Simply comment with your favorite Guillermo del Toro film by Sunday, January 13^th and 30 readers will be picked at random to check the film out.

In the meantime check out the trailer below and the short film that inspired the film with an intro by Guillermo.

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On the ninth day of Christmas my true geek gave to me…

A Cartoon Network/Adult Swim DVD Gift Pack!

As you get older and make your way through life, you realize that things change and nothing lasts forever. But there are some memories from my childhood that I miss more than others, and one of them is Saturday morning cartoons.

Now I’m not talking about those “educational” shows that air nowadays. I’m talking about those brain rotting, worthless toy tie-in shows like Smurfs, Spider-Man & his Amazing Friends and Rubik’s Cube (yes, there was a cartoon based on the Rubik’s Cube).

So when the feeling of nostalgia hits me, I pop a DVD into the player and remember times gone by. And now, thanks to Cartoon Network and Adult Swim, so can you. They (and Santa) have given us three DVDs to give away to one lucky reader. They include:

Check It Out Season 1 & 2

Produced by John C. Reilly and Absolutely Productions, Check It Out: Season 1 and 2 includes all 12 episodes that parody a local market’s newsmagazine show starring Oscar-nomineer John C. Reilly as Dr. Steve Brule. With each episode our host Dr. Brule introduces his audience to local celebrities and interesting things around town as well a providing health and lifestyle tips.

Amazing World of Gumball

Gumball’s world is pretty run-of-the-mill. He’s chased around school by a T-Rex. He has a friend named Anton who’s a piece of toast. He’s got a crush on Penny, a peanut with antlers. His dad is a 6’4 bunny. His mom works at a Rainbow Factory. And his brother is a goldfish named Darwin.

Yup, everything looks perfectly normal here.

The Regular Show: Best DVD In the World

The DVD features 16 episodes from seasons 2 and 3. The Emmy nominated hit comedy (Outstanding Animated Program) has been part of the popular Monday night line up on Cartoon Network along with the hit show Adventure Time. Regular Show features Mordecai and Rigby two groundskeepers at a park whose attempts to escape their everyday boredom take them to fantastical extremes. Continue building your Regular Show DVD collection with the Regular Show: The Best DVD in the World. OOOOHHHHHH!

Cartoons at their best!

Want Santa to leave this under your tree? Leave a comment!

Cartoon Network
www.cartoonnetwork.com

Adult Swim
www.adultswim.com

Last week, Rob Perdue spotlighted the Philadelphia Singers in his weekly Featured Kickstarter column (video above). Well, the performance group has a show coming up on December 16th, and were kind enough to dish out a couple of tickets for us to giveaway.

If you’d like to catch the Philadelphia Singers on Sunday, December 16th, at the St Clement’s Church (20th and Cherry), just leave a comment about your favorite Christmas song. The first five comments will score a pair of tickets to the lovely holiday tradition.

For more information on the show, visit their official website. And while you’re at it, make sure you scope out the Singers’ Kickstarter. It’s an awesome project.

On the eighth day of Christmas my true geek gave to me…

A Zenescope Raven Gregory Gift Pack!

Raven Gregory is definitely a man of many talents. In addition to being Zenescope’s Executive Editor, he is also one hell of an accomplished comic book writer. He has written practically every title Zenescope has published at one time or another, with his crowning achievement being the writing of the entire Wonderland saga, including the current monthly series.

But that’s not all. He also works on numerous creator-owned projects of his own published through Zenescope. And we’re going to leave not one, but two of them under some lucky boy or girl’s tree.

The first one is The Waking Dreams End #1-4

Murder has become practically extinct in a world armed with the knowledge that those who are murdered will return from the dead to take the lives of those guilty… But within a new world comes a new kind of killer. And he must be stopped!

And the other is Irresistible #1-4

Allen Keeg was your average middle age heart broken sap who just went through the worst break up in his life. That was a year ago. Since then Allen’s been having trouble getting back into the swing of things. But all that’s about to change. When Allen saves an old woman from being mugged he will be given an amazing supernatural ability that will change his whole life. But is the gift of being irresistible to every woman he meets a gift or a dreadful curse.

You’ll get both complete miniseries to add to your collection. But only if you’re nice… Want Santa to leave this under your tree? Leave a comment!

Zenescope Entertainment
www.zenescope.com