pop culture

Modern popular culture topics in the geek sphere.

The Best-Known Ladies of Steampunk Cosplay
Who's ready to get your cosplay on? There is literally no branch of cosplay more creative than steampunk - the possibilities for leather, gadgets, and guns over a puffy, lacy, frilly trunkful of ladylike goodness are almost unlimited. Here we'll take a look at some of the best-known ladies of steampunk and the artists who cosplay them. And when retrofuturism meets the Victorian Era in October, you're all set for a very steampunk Halloween. Get ready to take some skirts, goggles, wigs, gloves, boots, and a whole bunch of corsets to their maximum potential and rock the spookiest night of the year (or cosplay year round).
By Sarah Quinn9 years ago in Geeks
The Best Little-Known Dieselpunk Movies
Just because they aren’t a household name doesn’t mean that these lesser-known dieselpunk flicks aren’t well worth the watch. If you love watching Nazi spies, katanas, Nazi zombies, tanks, Nazi robots, Mafia lords, dogfights, Nazis on the moon, jetpack rockets, and Nazi zeppelins thrown together in messy, grimy, wildly entertaining yet somehow philosophically engaging stories that your friends haven’t seen before, then this is definitely the list of dieselpunk movies for you.
By Sarah Quinn9 years ago in Geeks
History of The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Movies
After the middling reception of the first Michael Bay produced Ninja Turtles film released in 2014, there seemed to be a legitimate enthusiasm and excitement surrounding the next installment that hadn't existed for a Ninja Turtles movie since release of the very first Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles movie back in 1990. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Out of the Shadows in 2016, offered fans things they’d always wanted to see on film, but weren’t technically capable of making the transition previously.
By James Lizowski9 years ago in Geeks
The Best Dieselpunk Books
If you’re looking for a recipe for your next great read, look no farther. Violently stir together gears, gadgets, nuclear powered airships, atomic bombs, robots, DNA experiments, washed-up astronauts, and biotech, then season to taste with a generous sprinkling of Nazis. Read until after midnight and don’t stop until you’ve slaked your hunger for the very best dieselpunk books in the genre. Enjoy!
By Sarah Quinn9 years ago in Geeks
Bizarre Fan Festivals You'll Actually Want to Attend
Are you a fan of all things extraterrestrial? Do you still wear bellbottoms and secretly horde scrunches? What about all night Walking Dead marathons and cult TV binges? If any (or all) of these things apply to you, than have no fear, there is a fan festival out there waiting for you.
By Alysha DePerna9 years ago in Geeks
Best High School Movies
Hollywood insists that high school be remembered as the greatest time of your life. Yes there are tough times during those awkward years, but the American teenager has been the subject of movie fascination for a long time, and never fails to come of age in a scripted world. Best high school movies remind you of the agony and triumph of the American teenage spirit.
By George Gott9 years ago in Geeks
Best Zombie Manga
You know what’s better than manga? Manga with zombies in it. Search your feelings, you know it to be true. After America, Japan is probably the world's #2 producer of zombies. Our fascination with zombies, of creating a new world via some warped death fantasy, has been the focus of just about every format from video games to Hollywood movies. But we can conclude that anime does the zombie genre best because, hey, anime is awesome! With that in mind, we reckon that these are some of the best zombie manga out there.
By George Gott9 years ago in Geeks
History of Movie Publicity Stunts
The biggest publicity stunt in movie history was probably Mike Todd's million-dollar send-off for Around the World in Eighty Days. That would be $8,700,000 adjusted for inflation today. The 1956 film was adapted from the novel of the same name by Jules Verne. As a technicolor action adventure comedy, it follows the journey of Phileas Fogg, a Victorian Englishman who bets he can circumnavigate the world in 80 days with the new steamships and railways. To celebrate the production and release of the book turned movie, Mike Todd hired the old Madison Square champagne supper for 18,000, offering prominently among other hors d'oeuvres, his wife Elizabeth Taylor on a pink elephant.
By Frank White9 years ago in Geeks
Actual Sci Fi and Fantasy Classes That Get You College Credit
While your mom might question how watching Battlestar Galactica could possibly be considered educational, a whole bunch of college professors have somehow managed to convince their department chairs that your mom is wrong. (Just about the Battlestar Galactica thing. Otherwise, moms are always right.) Sure, it’s deeply meaningful and has a lasting effect on culture and taps into truths about who we are as human beings, but it’s also FUN. Marvel at the stupefying genius of the academics who made it possible for you to get credit for reading Hitchhiker’s Guide and doing your final project on cyborgs--if you’re lucky enough to go to the universities that offer them. (Of course, this list don’t include the many Science Fiction Literature or Fantasy Literature classes you can take at colleges all over the country. You’ve probably got a decent shot at finding one of those.)
By Sarah Quinn9 years ago in Geeks
The Best Video Game Movies
Look. I'll be the first to admit that we are still yet to encounter our first 'great' video game movie. Every time a film come out I eagerly buy my ticket and sit in anticipation, wondering if this'll be the one, if this'll be the film that finally proves the cynics wrong.
By Alex Reid9 years ago in Geeks
Deadliest Movie Sharks
You either love sharks or they scare the crap out of you. But if you’re like me, sharks both scare and intrigue you. Like me, many people are fascinated not only by a shark’s beauty, but also by the badassery predator instincts they have. In celebration of this year’s shark movie The Shallows, where our worst nightmares come alive of getting stranded on a rock in the middle of an shark waters are told by actress Blake Lively, we are honoring the best ‘sharkplotation’ movies of all time. The following movies will either make you never want to go in the water again or make you laugh your ass off due to the sheer plot absurdity. From the classic shark movies to the most outlandish like shark ghosts to the campiest sharks attacking from the sky, there is no place safe from any shark attack. Seriously in the end, don’t we all eventually get eaten by sharks?
By George Gott9 years ago in Geeks
History of Social Media
Social media has often been described as the “greatest innovation” of the past few decades, only growing in prominence around the world. On Facebook alone, our “super social” planets most popular platform, over 1.7 billion users actively logged in. That’s more than 1/7th of the entire population – a number not replicated that often in the world of technology.
By Word9 years ago in Geeks