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Win 'THE WOLVERINE' on Blu-ray! Plus, a Look at The Filmography of James Mangold

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The Wolverine, directed by James Mangold, is this year’s most action-packed film. Inspired by the celebrated Marvel comic book arc and featuring Hugh Jackman, The Wolverine is the story of an immortal man, with animalistic capabilities and strength, who returns to face his ultimate nemesis in a life-or-death battle that takes him to modern-day Japan. James Mangold has unleashed an incredibly creative film that shows The Wolverine in a struggle like you’ve never seen him before. 
To prepare you for the DVD and Blu-ray release on December 3rd of Mangold’s jaw dropping film, our friends at 20th Century Fox have compiled a list of the director’s most notable works.

We're giving away two copies! Check out how to enter and read up on Mangold's "works of gold" after the jump.

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Give Your Loved One the Gift of A Skull This Holiday With the Mutter Museum's "SAVE OUR SKULLS" Adoption Program

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Forget scrambling for Black Friday deals this Thanksgiving and instead give the people on your list something spectacular like a skull that once belonged to a criminal or a tuberculosis victim.

No, I'm not talking about killing people and presenting their noggin in an elegantly wrapped gift box (What's in the Box?), the incredibly awesome Mutter Museum in Philadelphia is adopting out their entire collection of Hyrtl Skulls so that they can afford restoring them.

The collection was created by Joseph Hyrtl in the 1800s in order to debunk the practice of phrenology (the belief that you can understand the character of a human simply by the morphology of the skull) and can now be enjoyed by the masses at the Museum along with all the other strange and wonderful exhibits that they have (seriously, if you have never gone, it's worth the trip).

From the website:

 You can help conserve and preserve a skull by becoming a sponsor for an annual subscription fee of $200. Your contribution will help offset initial costs associated with the cleaning, repair, and remounting of your chosen skull. Additionally, your subscription will be acknowledged as part of the skull mount in the permanent Hyrtl Skull Exhibit in the Mütter Museum. The subscription period for this initiative will end December 31, 2013

You can pick out the skull that you think your gift recipient would want HERE (which contains information about each skull, including how they died, if known).

After the break is an info video discussing the Hyrtl collection and the S.O.S campaign in more detail, so take a look and then adopt a skull.

It'll probably end up being the single greatest (or freakiest) gift you'll ever give.

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'I MET A ROBOT AT A BALLET ONCE': An Animation About An Existential Crisis

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I'm completely dead inside.

Maybe it's due to the overwhelming disappointment of having the television show Doctor Doctor cancelled on me when I was a tween, or perhaps the emptiness inside stems from never beating the game River Raid, but whatever caused this vacuous hole in my being to occur, it has always made me feel less than human. 

And that is the premise of this luscious animation by Isabela Dos Santos which delves deep into our inability to connect with what makes us truly human.

Yes, it's strangely philosophical, but hell, is there any other time of the year that is more contemplative or depressing than Thanksgiving? I mean, you're going to be around your family for 72+ hours and if that doesn't having you questioning your humanity, I don't know what will.

Video after the break.

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Saving Mr. Banks' Anachronisms

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The upcoming Disney sanctioned based-on-a-true-story movie SAVING MR. BANKS is a respectable little movie telling the somewhat interesting saga of bringing Mary Poppins to screen.

I've been known to be a Disneyphile of sorts, and honestly there are moments in the film that made me extremely giddy to see brought to life (especially the Sherman Brothers musical sequences).

That said, I squirmed in my seat at the number of on-screen anachronisms that even a Disney fan with a passing knowledge could pick up on.

At the risk of sounding like a mouse-eared perfectionist, here are just a few I caught...


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THE THANKSGIVING OVERTURE: A Song That Breaks Down Your Gluttonous Activities On the Day of Thanks

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Well, I'm outta here for a long weekend of putting food into my mouth, getting into emotionally damaging fights with family members and secretly drinking in the bathroom. And to celebrate this yearly occasion, here's The Thanksgiving Overture which should help prepare you for tomorrow's events.

See you next week and Happy Thanksgiving.

Video after the break.

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10 Retro Game Life Lessons

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Many contemporary gamers view retro games as dated relics of the past and unless a shiny new HD version is released, certain retro titles don't exist as far as they're concerned. They choose to ignore the valuable life lessons and advice that can be found in retro titles, favouring the crisp images, sharp sounds and glistening graphics of consoles and games today over their 8-bit, monotone predecessors.

I can't blame them for their ignorance of course, if the games of my childhood were as good as the games today then I'd probably have the same outlook but I've learnt a great deal from playing video games my whole life, I'd like to pass this wisdom on.

If I can persuade just one gamer to give a retro title the chance it deserves then my job here is done.

Here's my Retro Game Life Lessons:


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Win a DOCTOR WHO DVD Double Feature!

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For all of you Whovians out there keeping the Doctor's 50th Anniversary going, there are two new DVDs that warrant your attention.

Doctor Who: The Tenth Planet

New to DVD! Digitally remastered Doctor Who classic The Tenth Planet! The TARDIS brings the Doctor and his friends Ben and Polly to the South Pole in 1986. Their arrival coincides with the appearance of Earth's forgotten twin planet Mondas and visitors from that world: emotionless beings called Cybermen. It's up to the Doctor and his friends to stop these creatures before they convert Earth's population into similar cyber creations...but the encounter will have a devastating effect on the Doctor.

Doctor Who: The Doctors Revisited  (9-11)

In this triumphant 50th Anniversary year for Doctor Who, we complete our celebration of the extraordinary actors who have starred as the Doctor with this look at three exceptionally gifted performers, Christopher Eccleston, David Tennant and Matt Smith. The year 2005 was an historic year in the world of Doctor Who. After a 17-year hiatus broken up only by 1996's one-off Doctor Who television movie, the series made a glorious return to television screens worldwide. The newly launched Doctor Who features impressive special effects, powerful stories, monsters new and newly conceived, and most important of all, a trio of engaging actors who each brought their own unique individuality to this iconic hero. Doctor Who showrunner Steven Moffat leads this exceptional review of each actor's tenure as the Doctor followed by a thrilling 2-part story for each Doctor. Celebrate the glory that is Doctor Who with The Doctors Revisited.

And we're giving away three sets!


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Boston Geeks! Win Tickets to 'THE HOBBIT: DESOLATION OF SMAUG'

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From Academy Award®-winning filmmaker Peter Jackson comes “The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug,” the second in a trilogy of films adapting the enduringly popular masterpiece The Hobbit, by J.R.R. Tolkien.

The three films tell a continuous story set in Middle-earth 60 years before “The Lord of the Rings,” which Jackson and his filmmaking team brought to the big screen in the blockbuster trilogy that culminated with the Oscar®-winning “The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King.”

“The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug” continues the adventure of the title character Bilbo Baggins as he journeys with the Wizard Gandalf and thirteen Dwarves, led by Thorin Oakenshield, on an epic quest to reclaim the Lonely Mountain and the lost Dwarf Kingdom of Erebor.

Having survived the beginning of their unexpected journey, the Company continues East, encountering along the way the skin-changer Beorn and a swarm of giant Spiders in the treacherous forest of Mirkwood. After escaping capture by the dangerous Wood-elves, the Dwarves journey to Lake-town, and finally to the Lonely Mountain itself, where they must face the greatest danger of all—a creature more terrifying than any other; one which will test not only the depth of their courage but the limits of their friendship and the wisdom of the journey itself—the Dragon Smaug.
To enter to win tickets to see the film on December 9th at the Regal Fenway Cinema, click here: http://l.gofobo.us/0KsckzM9 Or, go to www.gofobo.com/rsvp  and enter RSVP Code:  FOG4Z51


For more details visit www.thehobbit.com
THE HOBBIT: DESOLATION OF SMAUG arrives in theatres on December 13th




Obsessed With Taking Care of Virtual Animals

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By Susan Patterson
If you think about your childhood, it probably seemed perfectly normal to take care of an inanimate object like they were a living, breathing creature.  Take for instance the Tamagotchi.  We pestered our parents to death for it and ultimately let it die when we couldn't take care of it at school.  Then there was Furbies, Digimon, Pokemon, and multiple flavors of Pokemon.

Now we live in the digital age with computers, cell phones, iPads, Smartphones, and just about any device one can imagine or rip off from Star Trek.  This allows a whole new generation to go crazy taking care of virtual farms, virtual animals, virtual kitchens, etc.

Take for instance Farmville.  How many million of people have bugged their Facebook friends wanting to get some tools or seeds or whatever they can beg off their buddies.  Another more recent game if Pet Rescue Saga.  Take people's love of animals and throw in some SPCA attitude and millions of people are going nuts trying to save animals.

Horses are also getting a ton of play nowadays.  The most disturbing of these trends, sorry guys, is the Brony revolution.  Yes, those male My Little Pony lovers are sweeping the internet and there is even an upcoming BronyCon. 


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Happy Thanksgivukkah: What Does Your (Jewish) Mom Say?

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Wishing you all a happy and healthy holiday!

Check out this great video from my old friend Michael Kelberg.




That Time of the Week: DVD/Blu Releases From 11/19 & 11/26!

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Provided you've survived your turkey induced food coma and have successfully avoided all big box stores until today, we've got a big batch of titles below including the last chapter of the Cornetto trilogy, a slew of awesome Shout!/Scream Factory releases, the final season of one of the greatest tv shows ever, some retro goodies and a few really awful titles.

Fire up that queue and prep that shopping cart.  It's that time of the week!


2 Guns

Universal / Released 11/19/13
Academy Award winner Denzel Washington and Mark Wahlberg lead an all-star cast in the explosive action hit 2 Guns. When an attempt to take down a drug cartel blows up in their faces, two undercover operatives are forced to go on the run together, though neither knows that the other is a federal agent. Suddenly, everyone on both sides of the law wants them dead, and their only hope is to trust each other. Extras include commentary, featurettes, deleted and extended scenes.

Last Word:  Sometimes you just want to see people shoot people. Other times, you want to step it up a notch, with a decent story and good actors to shoot people. 2 Guns delivers basically everything you want from a good, classic action movie.  Mark Wahlberg and Denzel Washington share a perfect chemistry as two guys who really cannot decide whether to trust each other. Wahlberg plays his usual flippant and comedic Michael 'Stig' Stigman to Washington's dramatic, do-whatever-it-takes Robert 'Bobby' Trench.

From Edward James Olmos (Battlestar Galactica, Dexter) as the ruthless drug lord, Papi Greco, to Bill Paxton (Big Love, Aliens) as the mysterious money hunter and even James Marsden (X-Men) as Stig's ally-turned-enemy Quince, the movie is packed with intense actors cast exactly for their precise roles.

It features car chases, explosions, a helicopter crash, and all those other fun action things. It even has the wacky twist, revealed fairly early in the film, that both Stig and Bobby are actually law enforcement officers believing the other to be crooked and criminal.  It would be easy to classify 2 Guns for being a 'been there, done that' film. In some ways, it is. You have seen all these individual aspects come together before in films much like this. You have seen conspiracy in the military, betrayal, and an unlikely pairing of opposing personalities. The difference?  Does there have to be one?

The film captures the best elements of the genre and turns them into a single film, based on the comic series of the same name.  Washington brings a class and prestige that would otherwise have been lacking, making Wahlberg's brash candor work as comic timing. Some of the stunts, such as Stig and Bobby lifting themselves from harm's way while a bull attempts to crush them or Stig leaping from his car through Bobby's car's window to tackle Bobby out the door and on to the ground are new ideas that build on a perfect storm of ridiculous circumstances.  The result is a fun and entertaining ride, pure and simple. (– Joe Yezukevich)

The World's End

Universal / Released 11/19/13
Simon Pegg and Nick Frost reteam with director Edgar Wright (Shaun of the Dead, Hot Fuzz) in this wildly entertaining thrill ride. Twenty years after their first epic pub crawl attempt, the "five musketeers" reunite in their home town to complete the ultimate challenge - one night, five friends, twelve bars - a boozy quest on which only the strongest will survive. But after a bizarre series of encounters with the out-of-this-world locals, they soon realize that reaching their final pub, The World's End, may be the least of their troubles. They're having the time of their lives, ready to take on the world... but tonight they may have to save it. Extras include featurettes, commentaries, making of, outtakes, deleted scene, trivia track and storyboard picture in picture.

Last Word: An inebriated Invasion of the Body Snatchers, Edgar Wright’s The World’s End is one of those crazy, inspired gems that seems to come by every once and a while and just slap you with surprise.  The premise is simple—five childhood friends are reunited to return to their hometown and complete the Golden Mile, a pub-crawl consisting of 12 pubs and 12 pints, concluding at a bar known as The World’s End.

“What could possibly go wrong?” asks Gary King (a brilliant Pegg), a shining example of middle-aged arrested development/desperation who gathers up the rest of his crew for a night of nostalgia, drinking and wishful good times. Rounding off the rest of the posse is Andy (Nick Frost), Oliver (Martin Freeman), Steven (Paddy Considine), and Peter (Eddie Marsan), all of who have grown up and moved on with their lives while Gary has tragically remained stuck in the heyday of his youth.

The opening act of The World’s End focuses much of its attention on this painful reunion of friends who really don’t seem to get along much anymore.  It’s Gene Kelly and Stanley Donen’s It’s Always Fair Weather but without the musical numbers. Instead, Wright and Pegg’s ingenious, sci-fi inspired script puts this diverse (and increasingly inebriated) group of characters against an adversary even more menacing than time—the entire town has been taken over by robots.  In the end, no punches are pulled, no boundaries left uncrossed. It’s nice when filmmakers and storytellers alike dare to take risks.  And in these regards, Edgar Wright has built a career on fearlessness. (– Greg Vellante)

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Win 'THE SEASONING HOUSE' on Blu-ray!

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The Seasoning House - where young girls are prostituted to the military. Angel (Rosie Day), an orphaned deaf mute, is enslaved to care for them. She moves between the walls and crawlspaces, planning her escape. Planning her ingenious and brutal revenge.
And we're giving away three copies!

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Welcome To The 2013 Holiday Gift Guide

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How is it a year already?

2013 has flown by, and here we are again.  Whether you're a first time reader or regular friend of FOG!, we hope that you'll join us this week as we'll be posting our recommendations of some fantastic and hopefully, a bit unique gift selections that belong under the Christmas Tree, Menorah or Kwanzaa Bush of any pop culture loving aficionado.

We've worked hard to avoid recommending the same items that are found across the net this season, and hope that you find some original and truly fantastic gift ideas among our selections!

Wishing you and yours a happy and healthy season.

Nerd to your mother,

Stefan Blitz, Editor-in-Chief
Elizabeth Weitz, Managing Editor

2013 Holiday Gift Guide: Crazy, Extravagant and Expensive

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Let’s play “If I Won the Lottery” and take a look at some of the most incredible (and a few wildly expensive) geek gifts that your heart would require if money were no object…followed by the crushing despair of real life when you realize you never can.

It’ll be fun!

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2013 Holiday Gift Guide: Stocking Stuffers & Ephemera

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You can make an impression without breaking your wallet or you can find the perfect thing you didn't know existed within.  Whether it's for a stocking hung by the chimney with care, a holiday gift swap or a memorable host gift, we got you covered.

That's how we roll...

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2013 Holiday Gift Guide: Home & Office

2013 Holiday Gift Guide: Books

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Books, glorious books.

We all know reading is fundamental, but these selections after the jump might be the perfect gift for yourself or someone on your list.


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2013 Holiday Gift Guide: Kid-Stuff

2013 Holiday Gift Guide: Food & Drink

2013 Holiday Gift Guide: Music & Audio Related

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Whether you are an audiophile or blessed with a tin-ear, here's an array of some pretty sweet gifts that would fill your life with a bit of rhythm.

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