Dorkgasm - Events

Chicago Comic-Con | Events

MRiedlinger — Sun, 02 Aug 2009 13:38:34 +0000

State of the Dork Address

I wanted to take this opportunity to make an announcement or three.

First off, Dorkgasm will be covering Chicago Comic-Con for the second year running! We'll have people on the floor, gathing information and seeking out new contacts and new stories the entire run. Last year we met with the guys from Fangoria Graphix and Dabel Brother's Publishing, and this year we look forward to seeing old faces, as well as new. If you're reading this and have a booth you think we should stop at, drop us a line in the comments or shoot us an email!

One of those covering the event, and this is our second announcement, is our new intern, Jenny! We're excited to see new writers come into the fold, and are proud to support educational pursuits. Jen's never been to Comic Con before, so we look forward to her reactions! Will she be disgusted by the unwashed masses? Or will she get so caught up in how many celebs they have lined up for this year's show? I don't know, but my money is on her finding something that catches her eye so much she forgets what time it is.

This brings us to our final announcement. As you know, it costs money to keep a company going, even one focused on publishing directly to the web. I am proud to say, we'll be online for at least another 3 years! Having said that, it can only mean that we had to re-up our contract with our server because we've been live and online for over two-years now! Not a lot of webistes do that, and though we've only got a small following, we're proud that you're along for the ride! Hell, Entertainment Weekly hasn't stopped butchering genre news, so why should we stop posting it in an informed manner?

Speaking of EW, anyone see the latest vampire issue they did? Not only is Klaus Kinski mentioned instead of Max Schreck (no offense to Herzog, but a remake is a remake), but they also run out of ideas and foolishly put Blade on their list of "best vampires". The whole article reads like it was written by a 14 year-old kinder-bat emo girl who humps her pillow at night after sneaking back from a friends to watch Twilight for the 80th time and who can't help but complain that Eric on True Blood is pretty, but "just too mean". Yeah, they still don't get it...

For a real taste of kick-ass, original vampire action, I suggest you pick up Dabel Brother's Mercy Thompson comics, or watch the Daybreakers trailer again. And to think, I used to be one of those guys who complained about Buffy? I'd welcome it back if I never had to hear about anything shimmering ever again!

Gonzo is God
Michael C. Riedlinger
Dork-In-Chief

Like a Raised Fist

ScarletK — Tue, 04 Nov 2008 16:07:04 +0000

Today at 9:17am. I voted for the next President of the United States of America. Like millions of other citizens filled in the dash on my ballot and watched it get sucked, rather anticlimactically, into the ballot box. I wanted to hear bells or whistles or have streamers float down from the heavens. But no. Just a quick beep and it was done. My part in this year’s election was done.

This is certainly not the first time I have voted but it felt different this time. The last presidential election felt cheap. I felt like I hung my head in shame and spoke for the better of two piles of shit. This time I feel hope. For the first time in a long time, I feel that my voice may actually mean something. The decision I made today may actually influence the lives of people around me, my family and the rest of the World. It should go without saying that this is an amazingly historical election. The economy is in the shitter, we are in the middle of a useless crusade. We have every reason to be pissed at the government and we are screaming for change. Through this election, it feels like I could stand with my fist in the air and be heard. True, it’s just a mark on a piece of paper in a non- battleground state in fake America but FUCK, IT WAS THE HARSHEST MARK EVER!

As yet I do not know who will be the next president of the USA but I know I spoke that is what counts. Speak. Be heard. Have a voice for once your life. Don’t let anything stand in your way. Get out of class, get off your ass! In most places, your boss is even legally obligated to let you off work to go vote, so go do it! Now!

Wizard World Chicago

MRiedlinger — Fri, 20 Jun 2008 04:47:37 +0000

So, Press pass for WWC has been approved, and we should get some good coverage out of the event, though I won't be able to get there til afternoon on Friday... So far, Death Walks the Streets/Scream Factory is on my to do list, as well as the premiere of Batman: Gotham Knight. Any other suggestions, feel free to toss them my way!

Gonzo is God,
Michael

OPERATION SLIPKNOT | Events

ScarletK — Sat, 17 May 2008 19:50:08 +0000

The Dark Knight: Just Kick Ass
By
Cheryl Kobs
Staff Writer

So, we all know about the next Batman movie, The Dark Knight, coming out this summer. In anticipation of the film's release, there is currently a Dark Knight viral marketing campaign taking place. Participants can call phone numbers, investigate web sites and receive packages to discover interesting Easter eggs related to the movie. The latest viral event is called Operation Slipknot. Participants who submitted their phone number at acme security system (at acmesecuritiessystems.com/delos) entered a password that triggered a phone call from Lt. Jim Gordon, informing call recipients that they "now work for him". Participants, myself included, later received the following email message from Lt. Gordon:

"OK friend, you're up to bat now. You have yourself a new assignment: Operation Slipknot."

The link to Operation Slipknot opens a webpage within the Gotham Police Department's Major Crime Unit, showing a number of PD officers with warrants out for their arrest. According to the intel provided, these officers were supposed to be receiving packages containing passports, ID's and plane tickets to different destinations in order to avoid capture by the Gotham PD. The concierge at the Intercontinental Hotel in Gotham City, the last place that all of these people were seen, is sending the packages out. Your first mission is to call the concierge and convince him to send you the package instead using a password provided in an intercepted note from the mob.

Meanwhile, at the Operation Slipknot site, the following message displayed to anyone who clicked the "ASSIGNMENT" button.

Unfortunately, by the time my lazy ass got to the website people had already called the hotel number and all packages had been redirected. When people started receiving these packages in the mail, they entered the information provided into the GCPD system so that, the police could catch the bad cops. The assignment was updated throughout the next two days as the case progressed. The game ended Thursday night at 6pm, at which point a new message appeared on the board along with an update on the status of all of the wanted police officers. Three suspects remain at large, meaning that the package information was simply not entered in time.

Of course, there are no real criminals and there was no real apprehension of anyone but that it why it is called an Alternate Reality Game.

Complete contents of the package created for Officer Andrizzle and intercepted in Madison, WI.

The day after Operation Slipknot concluded, April 25th, the confiscated cell phones received a text message from humanresources@whysoserious.com.

"I wouldn't worry about Gordon. IT'S ALL PART OF THE PLAN."

This leads to the web page http://whysoserious.com/itsallpartoftheplan. The Joker had already played a game from the Why So Serious site, so it was with eager anticipation that everyone typed in the new address. The page displays portraits of 12 American icons, all of whom appear on some form of American currency.

There is also a joker card pinned to the walk with a knife. Clicking on it reveals the newest poster for The Dark Knight. Just kick ass if you ask me. But the fun is just beginning. Each portrait corresponds to a city. By selecting a portrait, a new window appears with the portrait moved aside and a clock counting down like a time bomb. Below the clock is a message giving you instructions to "meet at the coordinates listed below". The coordinates designated places in 12 different cities on three different continents. The timer was set to expire at 5:30pm on Monday, April 28th. The portrait for
the city nearest me, Chicago, gave coordinates to Olive Park.

Gather with 300 of your closest friends at this exact spot on April 28th.

You'll need to be in contact with a partner-in-crime who has online access to relay your instructions once you're there. These instructions will give you the TRAIL to follow, but be sure to look both ways when crossing the street; we wouldn't want you to make an unscheduled visit to the ER now, would we?

Put on a smile and plan to spend about an hour or so bonding with your fellow clowns.

Check back here often for updates or changes.

"TRAIL" and "ER"? What could we possibly be hunting for? Okay it's not a huge surprise that they are hunting for a new movie trailer. Many believe that it is the trailer that premiered at the New York Comic Con, but we won't find out until we complete the scavenger hunt.

At 5:30pm, the page was updated to reveal three sets of instructions to gather a combination number. By clicking on the portrait you can now enter the combination for a small safe. In each safe there is a letter from the joker with a J taped to the bottom.

In the San Francisco safe, a second clue is found that helps decipher and unscramble the "J"s to create the words "Sitting Ducks". This leads to Whysoserious.com/sittingducks, where you can shoot at ducks as if in an old shooting gallery. After shooting the ducks down you are directed to a Jokerized classified ad from the Gotham Times about a projection-threading machine to be released this Sunday.

This all happens as the fans that are in the listed locations are waiting for studio contacts in each city. They are then redirected to a theatre where they are shown a copy of the new trailer but it has been Jokerized. Covered in scribbles and phrases, the film is a hysterical adaptation of the original trailer. One person in each city is selected via raffle to keep the reel of the new trailer. However, those people who were helping their friends from their computers do not get to see the trailer. In a protest of this, and to show everyone who couldn't make it, the video was almost instantly uploaded to youtube.com. Many copies of the video are removed within a couple hours, but there are still bootleg copies throughout the web. This is the Chicago version:

http://youtube.com/watch?v=H3OqlNyE18I

Now this is a hell of an ad campaign. Designed by 42 Entertainment, the same company that designed the ad campaign for Nine Inch Nails Year Zero, this Alternate Reality Game plans to keep the fans involved all the way up to opening night. The trailer shown originally at New York Comic Con is now playing before the Iron Man movie, which also rocked. The trailer shows new parts of the movie and even a short glimpse at Harvey Dent as Two-Face.

So check it out online, do your own snooping and see what you can find. I am eagerly awaiting the next step in this grand scheme. The movie is set to premiere July 18th, at which point I plan to be sitting snugly in my recliner at the iPic, hibiscus martini in hand. Hope to see you there.

Time to put your money where your mouth is!!!!

angelknight32 — Thu, 14 Feb 2008 10:53:13 +0000

Ladies and Gentlemen time to put your money where your mouth is, this is the first horror created by us the fans. Check out the site and submit your ideas and after the final idea has been picked for production you can go here and audition for a part in the flick, if you think that you have what it takes then now is the time to prove it.

If you have difficulties viewing the flyer, click here: http://www.horrorfestonline.com/massify/

MASSIFY
BE PART OF THE FIRST FAN MADE HORROR FLICK!
Go to www.massify.com

After Dark Films and Massify.com invite you to be part of a horror revolution with Ghosts in the Machine, a contest unlike anything that has ever been done before! We are putting the fate of horror movies in the hands of the fans. See what YOU can do with it!

We’re partnering with massify.com, an online film production community, to bring you this innovative and groundbreaking competition – this is the first feature film to be developed entirely via the internet. Pitch your horror ideas or vote for one you like and the winning idea will be produced and distributed as one of our 8 Films to Die For in the 2008 After Dark Horrorfest!

Aspiring villains, victims, vampires, and scream queens – listen up! You also have an opportunity to launch your careers: once a final idea is chosen, we’re going to accept online auditions for roles in the movie!

We want your ideas, your talent, and your votes in this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to bring the next generation of horror films to the screen! Log on now to propose your movie idea or weigh in on the submissions.

8 Films to Die For

MRiedlinger — Sun, 18 Nov 2007 06:48:36 +0000

So far so good at the AFTER DARK HORRORFEST. The folks at the theater we are going to have been great, and the audiences all really receptive. For those that don't know, we here at Dorkgasm are not exactly quiet film goers. Personally, I scream like a little girl when zombies are involved, and no film that lapses into dumbness is safe from lampooning... I blame Tom Servo and Croooooooow. There's one day left, but the last film of each night seems to get a lot of attention from us. Let's just say that Stoner Cannibals are no match for Lady Rambo and her Kabuki Makeup and leave it at that, shall we? :) A big thanks goes to our friend Jason, serving his country in Korea as we speak. Without him, none of the reviews you'll see this week would be possible. Thanks Jason, we miss ya bro!