Philadelphia’s very own Red Tettemer + Partners, still hot on the heels with being the first Philly ad agency to create a Super Bowl ad, has just cooked up something sweet for The Melting Pot this Valentine’s Day.

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They’ve created a simple app for the chain of restaurants called Cupid’s Fondue Forks for a contest running through February 17th. It’s accessible from the Melting Pot’s Facebook page.

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Basically, like the Melting Pot on Facebook, enter the app and launch a fork at someone you’ve got your sights set on. Flinging that fork enters you a chance at winning one of 10 $100 gift cards. Ten randomly-selected winners will be announced on February 21st.

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Good luck!

The Melting Pot Restaurants on Facebook

 The Whitest Kids U’ Know may have ended their television run back in June on IFC, but as promised they are back. The Kids are now touring the US with their own brand of live twisted sketch comedy and they will be stopping in Philly at our very own Trocadero on Saturday, February 11th.

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Tickets for 21+ show are a mere $16 and can be purchased here.

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The great folks over at the Troc were nice enough to give us a pair of tickets to give away for free to one lucky reader.  Want to check the show out for free?  Simply comment with your favorite sketch by The Whitest Kids U’ Know and one lucky reader will be picked at random sometime next week. Good luck!

When Steven Soderbergh isn’t threatening to retire from directing, he is one of the more interesting directors out there working today. This is probably because he always seems to balance his big-big budget work with smaller introspective and thought provoking films.

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Haywire is his newest big budget entry starring Gina Carano, Channing Tatum, Michael Fassbender, Antonio Banderas and Michael Douglas. The film is the story of a freelance black ops operative Mallory Kane (Gina Carano) who is betrayed, setup, and is now out for revenge.

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We have 25 GOFOBO passes for 2 to a screening Tuesday, January 17th @ 7:30PM at the Ritz East. Wanna Pass? Simply leave a comment with your favorite Steven Soderbergh film by midnight Sunday the 15^th and the first 25 will be checking the film out for free.

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Check out the trailer (SFW) below and the first 5 minutes of the film here (NSFW)

No cameras, camera phones, or other recording devices permitted in screening. Seating is on a first come, first serve basis. Theatre capacity is limited and passes won do not guarantee seating. (So please show up early!) Theater is not responsible for overbooking. Ticket holder and guest must enter theater together.

Contraband is the latest film from Icelandic director Baltasar Kormákur, probably best known for his film A Little Trip to Heaven. The film stars Mark Wahlberg and Kate Beckinsale and is a remake of the Icelandic 2009 film Reykjavík-Rotterdam, one of the biggest budgeted Icelandic films of all time. Fun fact… it actually starred Baltasar Kormákur, Contraband’s director.

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The film is the story of Chris Farraday (Mark Wahlberg) who abandoned his life of crime long ago, but after his brother-in-law, Andy botches a drug deal for his ruthless boss, Tim Briggs (Giovanni Ribisi), Chris is forced back into doing what he does best; running contraband.

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Chris must settle Andy’s debt and things get heated up when Chris has only hours to reach the cash. Chris must use his rusty skills to navigate the treacherous criminal network of drug lords, cops, and hit men before his wife Kate, and their two sons become targets as well.

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Wanna check out Contraband Tuesday, January 10th at 7:30PM at the Ritz Five? Simply leave a comment and the first 30 people will be checking out the film.  Passes will be sent out tomorrow morning. In the meantime checkout the trailer below.

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No cameras, camera phones, or other recording devices permitted in screening. Seating is on a first come, first serve basis. Theatre capacity is limited and passes won do not guarantee seating. (So please show up early!) Theater is not responsible for overbooking. Ticket holder and guest must enter theater together.

Contest Closed!

This past year saw a lot of big events play out at a variety of comic book companies.

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From Marvel’s Fear Itself to DC’s The New 52 to IDW’s Infestation crossover, comic publishers were looking for ways to bring in new readers and keep existing fans interested and happy. One that definitely delivered on its promise was Zenescope’s first Grimm Universe event, The Dream Eater Saga, the first half of which is now collected in trade paperback.

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For Zenescope’s first company wide crossover, they were looking for a way to bring together the various casts of their Grimm Fairy Tales family of titles. They found it in the unspeakable horror of the Dream Eater.

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In volume one, he has been released into the world and he is coming for anyone who has supernatural powers. Now the members of the Grimm Universe find that they have to work together to stop this ancient evil or it will mean the end of all that they hold dear.

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The trade collects the prelude, The Dream Eater Saga #1, the Piper, Wonderland, Neverland and Salem’s Daughter one-shots as well as Myths & Legends #6. And the whole shebang is written by none other than Raven Gregory, one of the best writers currently working for Zenescope.

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He manages to move the story along as a fairly brisk pace, putting the players in position and scaring the crap out of the reader more than once as we go along. But Gregory also uses each issue as a way to introduce the reader to the cast. It was something I didn’t even realize he was doing till I reread the entire storyline in one sitting. In that way, the Dream Eater Saga is the perfect introduction to Zenescope’s Grimm Universe. Give someone this book and they’ll have all they need to jump right into the rest of the titles in the line.

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The art side of the book is handled by a who’s who of Zenescope artists, none of
whom will be strangers to regular readers. Some of the highlights are the prelude with art by Anthony Spay and the Neverland chapter with art done by Marco Cosentino.

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Regardless, all the artists do a great job of visualizing the story and creeping out the reader (just wait till you see what happens in chapter one. Talk about freaky).

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The Dream Eater Saga is modern horror comics at its best. After you finish reading it leaves you with a slight uneasy feeling in the pit of your stomach and an urge to check under the bed. Leave your lights on and enjoy.

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Zenescope was nice enough to provide us with a copy of The Dream Eater Saga Volume 1 to give away to one lucky Geekadelphia reader! Just leave a comment about which Zenescope title is you favorite.

We’ll pick a random winner at the end of next week. Please make sure to leave an e-mail address with your comment and books can only be sent to addresses in the United States and Canada.

Contest Closed! Thanks for playing.

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As you all clearly know, I love me some Halo. And if my full suit of Master Chief armor doesn’t hammer home that message, I really don’t know what will. The games, the novels, the movies (Legends wasn’t bad!), the comics… I just can’t get enough. And that includes the hilarious Red. vs Blue series.

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Red vs. Blue: Season 9 continues the story of Red vs Blue: Revelation, and breaks the same rules that RvB:R did… we’re introduced to a story being told without the traditional Halo engine, and instead, are treated to pre-rendered CGI.

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And while the story this series tells gets a little confusing at times (there are two distinct story arcs through the twenty episode series, one of which goes back and uses the Halo engine), the Rooster Teeth crew continue to deliver a hilarious narrative that Halo fans everywhere will love.

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The DVD has all the usual suspects that Red vs. Blue releases tend to include. Hilarious director’s commentary, outtakes and deleted scenes, cast interviews, and the PSAs that Rooster Teeth is celebrated for. Since you can watch the series for free online, it’s a must to include this sort of stuff for fans. And they give you a lot of it, especially with the behind the scenes videos.

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The folks at New Video Group were kind enough to send over a bunch of copies to giveaway. I’ve got three copies of Season 9 up for grabs here. Just leave a comment about your favorite game in the Halo series for a chance to win. I’ll pick one of you at random next week and drop a copy in the mail.

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Be sure to scope out Rooster Teeth’s website for more information on Red vs. Blue. Old episodes, hilarious comics… they do some great work, those guys.

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Our good friends over at Cipher Prime recently re-released Fractal, their very first title, in the Valve Steam store.

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Complete with all the “tweaks and improvements [they] added to the game for [their] Mac Store release, including rebalanced play modes, updated graphics, and improved music and sounds,” Fractal has been available on Steam since the end of November.

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Dustin reviewed Fractal and loved it, and now we want to give one of you a chance to love it as well. Have Steam? I’ve got a download code for Fractal and Auditorium (another award winning game from our favorite local developer), up for grabs.

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Entering is easy. Just leave a comment. I’ll pick one of you at random sometime next week, and email you the code. You can consider it an early Christmas gift. Good luck!

There are few current literary franchises that have had the same cultural impact as Stieg Larsson’s Millennium Series. If you haven’t read the books, you have probably at least seen the Swedish films based on the novels.

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I was a fan of the books and loved the Swedish film adaptations. When rumor started circulating that of course there was going to be an American take on the books, I was seriously suspicious. That is until I heard David Fincher was going to tackle it fresh off The Social Network.

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The film stars Daniel Craig and Rooney Mara as Mikael Blomkvist and Lisbeth Salander, an unlikely pair of individuals trying to piece together a murder that happened almost 40 years prior. You might remember Rooney Mara as the girl who steals the show and dumps Mark Zuckerberg in the opening scene of The Social Network.

We only have 10 passes for 2 to check out The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo Monday, December 19^th at the Ritz East at 7pm. Wanna check the film out 2 days early? Simply comment with why you’re the biggest Millenium Series fan by midnight December 17th and I will be picking ten comments to check the film 2 days early. Good luck and check out the trailer below!

The incredibly skilled folks over at NextFab Studios have announced their second annual Project Challenge, dishing out a $1000 prize (you heard me), to the most popular project submitted to the contest. Here’s some more details from their website:

It’s a $1000 prize for what you’ve wanted to be working on all along. Don’t let that project you’ve always dreamed of working on become another New Year’s resolution you wish you had fulfilled – you can do it now, and you can make it here.

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Projects should have some physical, material component to them – something that can make use of NextFab’s tools and services – but otherwise don’t be shy! Art, science, invention, or the amazing but inexplicable – all are welcome.

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The contest runs through January 6th, and you can submit your project through NextFab’s official website. All entries will be hidden from the public until January 7th, when the voting begins.

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How’s it work? You’ll be able to share your project with friends, family, coworkers… anyone and everyone you think might give you a vote. The project with the most votes on January 20th wins. So yes, this is a bit of a popularity contest.

The winning project will be awarded in person at NextFab’s 2nd Anniversary Celebration on Saturday, January 21st.

For more information, hit up the NextFab website. Good luck!
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Thanks to some brilliant marketing, The Muppets has become the must-see film this holiday season. I remember when the film first started production, some wondered if the film would even be able to find its audience again, since the characters had been away for so long.

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Well, I think those fears have definitely subsided as the film is finally set to hit our screens this Thanksgiving, and everyone is once again geeking out about the Muppets. The film definitely has a great cast and a really interesting choice for a director in James Bobin, since he is probably best know for directing the BBC incarnation of Ali G and The Flight of the Conchords.

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Here is the official synopsis:

On vacation in Los Angeles, Walter, the world’s biggest Muppet fan, and his friends Gary (Jason Segel) and Mary (Amy Adams), discover the nefarious plan of oilman Tex Richman (Chris Cooper) to raze the Muppet Theater and drill for the oil recently discovered beneath the Muppets’ former stomping grounds.

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To stage The Greatest Muppet Telethon Ever and raise the $10 million needed to save the theater, Walter, Mary and Gary help Kermit reunite the Muppets, who have all gone their separate ways.

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Well we only have 20 admit two passes for the film, which will be playing Monday November, 21^st at the AMC in Cherry Hill, NJ. Want to check this film out out early? Simply comment with your favorite muppet and why by midnight November 20^th and we will be picking 10 names at random for a chance to check out the film out early!

In the meantime check out the trailer!

It’s looking like NBA 2K12 is the closest basketball fans will get to an actual season this year. The league may have failed you this season but 2K Sports has created a worthy successor to last year’s sleeper hit. Regardless of genre, I believe that immersion is a necessary component to an enjoyable gameplay experience. NBA 2K12 acknowledges this while actually improving upon where its critically acclaimed predecessor left off.

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The game essentially draws on nostalgia, dream match ups and competitive gameplay to create an accessible, fun product for fans of all ages. This years installment is a lot more than last years addition of Michael Jordan. 2K12 sees the playable debut of 10 new basketball legends including Larry Bird, Magic Johnson, Bill Russell and a host of others to create modern-era matchups. NBA fans will surely nerd out at the attention to detail in 2K12. Select to play as circa 1960’s Boston Celtics and witness the transformation of modern day gameplay to a black and white television broadcast throwback with genuine announcers in uncanny detail.

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Speaking of the graphics, many of the players have noticeably improved from 2K11’s somewhat extraterrestrial looking player aesthetic. Lebron James and Dirk Nowitzki are crafted meticulously as you control them rather fluidly up and down the court. New players will feel a slight learning curve with the sequence of controls. You can essentially micromanage everything that is going on in the game while on the court, both offensively and defensively. (more…)

The Immortals is the newest film from director Tarsem Singh, who is probably best known for the 2000 film starring Jennifer Lopez The Cell.

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The film is a 3D 300-esque take on the Greek myth of Theseus, a mortal man chosen by Zeus to lead the fight against the ruthless King Hyperion (played by Mickey Rourke), who is on a rampage across Greece to obtain a weapon that can destroy humanity

We are giving away 40 admit 2 passes for the film and we’re going to do it a bit differently this time.  To download a pass for two to see the film in stunning 3D on Thursday, Nov 10th @ 7:30PM at the UA Riverview, log on to www.gofobo.com/rsvp and enter code GEEKAD4AEM and enjoy. Only good while supplies last, so get ‘em fast.

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In the meantime check out the trailer below.

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