Posters: Alien: Covenant

Alien: Covenant Poster by Neil King

Part of 20th Century Fox Australia Alien: Covenant poster competition.

Gallery: Vanity Fair on Star Wars

"Luke & Leia" by Paul Shipper

(Inspired by the Vanity Fair Photo Shoot)

There's been a growing buzz surrounding the 40th anniversary of Star Wars since the beginning of the year, but today is the day!  On May 25th 1977, Star Wars made its debut in theaters.  Forty years later, the franchise is going stronger than ever, and fans are more fanatical than ever.

The Star Wars films are pretty much the cornerstone of geek culture, and if you're reading this blog, it's a sure thing that the franchise played a role in your life as well.

Tuesday, Vanity Fair revealed the covers for their Star Wars 40th anniversary issue.  Yesterday, they followed the covers up with  a behind-the-scenes video of the photo shoot with the legendary Annie Leibovitz, along with interviews with the cast and crew.  The magazine's features are the first in-depth coverage of The Last Jedi, signalling that the summer's marketing train has officially left the station.

Needless to say, the photos of Carrie Fisher stir up the feels in a major way.  Seeing her intimately posed with Mark and her daughter raises the spectre of what might have been, especially in light of the recent revelation that Fisher would have led ninth Star Wars movie. 

Head on over to Vanity Fair to check out more gorgeous photos and behind-the-scenes stories. It’s a very interesting read, but be warned!  Some of the articles are mild spoilers.  There's at least one instances in which an actor describes a scene he shot with Fisher that clearly indicates a confrontation between the two actors' characters.

Gallery: Jack-O-Lantern Spectacular

Jack-O-Lantern Spectacular by  Passion for Pumpkins

The 2015 Jack-O-Lantern Spectacular is currently underway in Iroquois Park in Louisville, KY. Once again the master pumpkin carving artists from Passion for Pumpkins have outdone themselves by carving 5,000 awesome jack-o’-lanterns that currently line a ¼-mile walking trail, lit up in spooktacular fashion from dusk to 11pm through November 1st, 2015.

Posters: Jupiter Ascending Fan Art

Jupiter Ascending Fan Posters

From the Wachoskis, the creators of the Matrix trilogy, comes the space opera Jupiter Ascending.  The film, which will hit theaters February 6th.  Jupiter Ascending is the first original film from Andy and Lana Wachowski in a twelve years, and to celebrate, Wired assembled this gallery of alternate posters created by Art Machine and Little Giant Studios.

Fan Art: Darth Vader

Darth Vader by Johannesburg, South Africa-based Furio Tedeschi

A few days back the Brainstorm Facebook group posted the results of it's 17th challenge, which was a character of redesign of Darth Vader.  Since then, dozens, maybe hundreds of artists have posted illustrations in response.  Here, we've rounded up some of the best examples, though it was difficult to pick, given the caliber of the results.  Some of them are high-tech, some of them are horrific, and some of them are down right silly, but all of them are fantastic.

Gallery: Steampunk Headquarters

Source: Little Wombat

Oamaru in North Otago, in the South Island of New Zealand is famous as the birthplace of steampunk. There is plenty of Victorian inspiration in town and plenty of signs that steampunk is popular.  Oamaru even hosts the Steampunk NZ Festival, which will be held on May 28, 2015 for three day.  The town's website dedicated to steampunk is called Steampunk HQ; there you’ll learn all about the highlights and features of town.

Gallery: Hobbiton

"Hobbiton" (The Hobbit Movie Set) by Ascarea

Via: Reddit

I seriously doubt that anyone who frequents this blog hasn't seen every movie in The Lord of the Rings trilogy a hundred times by now, but few of us will ever have the opportunity to actually visit the set in New Zealand.

Luckily for us, Redditor Ascarea documents the set, which was completely rebuilt for The Hobbit trilogy into a permanent tourist attraction, during a trip just this past December.  He reports via Reddit that, while he was expecting the location to be a tourist trap, he was pleasantly surprised to discover that it was worth seeing.  There's even an replica of the Green Dragon Inn where tourists can dine.  The price of admission is currently US$75 per adult, which isn't even half of what you'll probably wind up pay for all of the special editions, re-releases, and director's cuts of the movies by the time Peter Jackson has retired.

I wonder how it would cost to rent the place for a week to shoot a short film?

Gallery: Attack on Minecraft

"Project Shiganshina District" (Attack on Titan in Minecraft)

Via: Vujon

Gallery: Steampunk Iron Man

Steampunk Iron Man
Created by Takashi Tan

Here's a gallery of Iron Man drawn in steampunk motifs.  It's a fantastic concept that's seriously caught on across the web.  We've picked some of the best examples to be found and posted them here for your viewing pleasure.

Gallery: Great Jack O’Lantern Blaze

"The 2014 Great Jack O’Lantern Blaze" by aaa

Prints available for purchase from BigCartel. Etsy. Society6. StoreEnvy. US$

The 2014 Great Jack O’Lantern Blaze at Van Cortlandt Manor in Croton-on-Hudson, New York is a Halloween event featuring more than 5,000 illuminated pumpkins arranged into sculptures. Among the highlights of the 2014 Blaze: an illuminated covered bridge, a pumpkin T-Rex, and a headless horseman. Tickets for the event — which takes place on select evenings throughout its run — are available online. Mommy Poppins has more on this year’s Blaze.

"See more than 5,000 individually hand-carved, illuminated jack o’ lanterns in this elaborate walk-through experience. Meander through an historic, 18th-century riverside landscape and discover a breathtaking display – all made of jack o’ lanterns!"

Gallery: Jack O’ Lantern Spectacular

"Jack O’ Lantern Spectacular"

Pumpkin Carvings at Iroquois Park in Louisville, Kentucky

Read more about how the pumpkins were created for this event at WDRB.

"The Jack-O-Lantern Spectacular returns to Iroquois Park October 9 – November 2, with 5,000 carved pumpkins lining a ¼-mile trail, illuminated at night as an “art show” daily from dusk to 11 PM during the week and midnight on the weekends."

Gallery: Cyberpunk Cities

Cyberpunk Cities

"Cyberpunk" by San Francisco, California-based Vladimir Petkovic

I don't think anything evokes such a sense of wonder in me as the dark, damp streets of a futuristic city.  Blade Runner has been one of my favorite films since I was kid, and after catching the movie on cable a few nights ago, I decided to comb through the major gallery sites for the best cyberpunk cityscapes the web has to offer.

Gallery: Dice Shaming

"Dice Shaming" by Schneiltzle
[ Next: Dice Shaming (Part 2) ]

After having the dog shaming meme pop up all around the web for the last few months, I seriously hope that dice shaming becomes a thing, cuz it feels good to know I'm not alone.  It's already trending on Tumblr.

Posters: Divergent Fan Posters

"One Choice" by Ardawling

The March 21st release of Divergent is right around the corner and the film's marketing is already everywhere you look.  To celebrate the release of what promise's to be one of the year's best science fiction blockbusters, here's a gallery of fan made posters for the film.

Posters: Pacific Rim

Pacific Rim Poster Series by The Poster Posse

Created by Paul Shipper

[Previously: Part 1]

The Poster Posse is at it again! For this year's third project, they've decided to do mock-up posters for Guillermo del Toro’s “Pacific Rim.”  Twenty-four artists participated, and they've come up with some amazing stuff.  I've compiled some of their best stuff below.

Posters: Pacific Rim

Pacific Rim Poster Series by The Poster Posse

Created by Richard Davis

The Poster Posse is at it again! For this year's third project, they've decided to do mock-up posters for Guillermo del Toro’s “Pacific Rim.”  Twenty-four artists participated, and they've come up with some amazing stuff.  I've compiled some of their best stuff below.

Posters: Into Darkness

Created by Rodolfo Reyes

Star Trek: Into Darkness Posters by The Print Posse

With the trailers on the web and the release date drawing nearer, fan art fro the next Star Trek flick is popping up all across the web.  Here are a few of the better examples floating around out there, courtesy of Blurppy.

Gallery: Pop Culture Easter Eggs

Pop Culture Easter Eggs by Rene Lopez

Gallery: 3D Street Art

3D Street Art by Street artists Joe Hill and Max Lowry

3d Street Art, often known as 3d chalk art is two dimensional artwork drawn on the street itself that appears three dimensional from a certain perspective. It can be breathtakingly realistic when viewed from the angle correct. Recently, they've become quite popular thanks to the audience participation they inspire. 

Gallery: Angry Birds Fan Art

Real Life Angry Birds by ConstantinPotorac