In the First Trailer for Crimson Peak, Guillermo Del Toro is Ready to Scare Us Again.

We've all been salivating at the mouth for Guillermo Del Toro's Crimson Peak - his first stab at Gothic Horror, a genre anyone who's seen a Del Toro movie could tell you he was born for. And now the first trailer is released, and it looks like it's going to scare the ever loving pants off of us. What I particularly love is the feel of creeping horror throughout the whole piece - Del Toro isn't going to rely on jump scares, and it shows. Starring Tom Hiddleston and Charlie Hunnam, check out the first trailer for Crimson Peak after the jump.

Jim Butcher's The Cinder Spires has a Release Date!

Jim Butcher, author of the incredibly popular The Dresden Files series of novels, and the less-popular-but-also-awesome Codex Alera series, has been teasing us for years now that he's working on a third series now that Codex Alera is finished. We knew it was called The Cinder Spires, and we knew it was a steampunk series, but beyond that not much was known. Until today - today we have a release date.

Roc Books, who now own the rights to the series thanks to Executive Editor Anne Sowards, made the announcement this week that the book would be released on September 29th, 2015. The first book is called The Aeronaut's Windlass, which is a damn exciting name for the book. Check out the rest of their press release:

Sowards describes The Cinder Spires as, "Horatio Hornblower meets The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen—it's a fantastic, creative new series of airships, privateers, warrior monks, and mad sorcerers. Honestly, it's like Jim put all my favorite things in one book!" Here's a synopsis:
The Cinder Spires is set in a fascinating new world, where an ancient evil has awoken, plunging the world into a shroud of mists filled with monstrous and fantastic creatures. The fate of humanity will rest on the loyalty and courage of a single airship's crew. New York Times bestselling author David Weber said, "This is Jim Butcher at his best…It's steampunk meets magic with a dose of sci-fi for seasoning."
The Cinder Spires: THE AERONAUT'S WINDLASS is poised to be one of the fall's biggest genre releases, and Butcher fans are anxiously awaiting news about the release. Perfect for readers of Brandon Sanderson and Naomi Novik—in addition to Butcher's existing fans— The Cinder Spires is a grand new adventure from one of the biggest names in fantasy.

 A swashbuckling adventure set on an airship? Oh yes, please. 

Sword Coast Legends - the First D&D Video Game to Let you DM in Real Time

Announced today and headed up by Dan Tudge, the director of Dragon Age: Origins, Sword Coast Legends is a new Dungeons and Dragons game in the vein of old-school, top down, Baldur's Gate style adventures. It's based on the D&D 5th Ed ruleset, which we love here at Ace of Geeks, and it's got both single player and Campaign modes. The really interesting part, however, is the Dungeon Master mode.

Guy Ritchie's Slick First Trailer for The Man from U.N.C.L.E. is here!

Ever wanted to see Superman fight The Lone Ranger? Well, now you kinda can. Guy Ritchie, the man who brought us the best Sherlock Holmes films in recent memory (I said films, calm down Cumberbitches) is directing an adaptation of the 60s Spy TV show, The Man from U.N.C.L.E. with Henry Cavill and Armand Hammer (I know he goes by Armie, but when your parents give you that good of a pun for a name I'm gonna use it.) The film looks absolutely stylish as all get out - check out the trailer after the jump.

Book of Life now on DVD and BluRay

I've been looking forward to watching "Book of Life" since I saw the theatrical trailers for it. I thought it would be a cute, colorful little thing. But it was so much more than that! It was released on DVD and Blu-Ray and 3D Blu-Ray January 27th. I bought the Combo pack (3D Blu-Ray+Blu-Ray+DVD+HD Digital), and I'm very glad I did. I don't have a 3D blu-ray player or screen, but the combo pack has cover art that the packaging for the others don't have. I can't say enough about how much I love the art for this movie! I watched the digital vudu download in HD.

Say hi to Chuy! Isn't he cute?

Produced by Guillermo Del Toro, directed and animated by Jorge Gutierrez (creator of Nickelodeon's "El Tigre"), "Book of Life" has a wonderful voice cast - Diego Luna, Zoe Saldana, Channing Tatum, Christina Applegate, Ice Cube, Ron Perlman, and Kate Del Castillo make up the lead cast. Other cast members include Hector Elizondo, Cheech Marin, and Danny Trejo.

The movie opens with a handful of misfit students going on a school field trip to a museum. They are taken on a tour separate from the rest of the school, in a different part of the museum. The tour guide tells them about the Mexican tradition of Dia de los Muertos, and the Land of the Remembered and the Land of the Forgotten. Then she tells them a story about life, love, and the value of being yourself.

The premise is simple enough, and one we are familiar with. Two spirits make a wager over which man will get the girl, and the winner will get to rule the loser's land. One cheats, and wins. When the other finds out, another wager is proposed and won. Balance is restored, and for the pawns in this game between spirits, faith in themselves and each other is restored as well. 

The art is gorgeously drawn and rendered, and very colorful. Central American artisans carved wood puppets of the characters and these were later rendered by computer animation. The story is well-written and engaging. The special features include a short called "The Adventures of Chuy," and some "behind-the-scenes" stuff about the art and the music. I definitely do not regret this purchase. 

The Purpose of a War Story

Set the wayback machine to the 2002-2003 school year. I was 17 years old, suffering with senioritis and itching to go of to college. It was in this year that I would be confronted with a book that would stick with me, probably to my dying day. My teacher, Mrs. Coughlin, introduced The Things They Carried by Tim O'Brien to my class, and to this day it is one of the best books I have ever read.

One particular story really sunk into my mind called "How to Tell a True War Story". In the vignette, O'Brien tells a series of stories, either factual, fictional, or somewhere in between. The point was to illustrate that the veracity of war stories is not dictated by fact or fiction, but based on whether or not it "feels right" like a gut instinct. This story would war with the rational processes of my mind as I studied history for 8 years of undergrad and grad school. The contrary point is this: "History is the interpretation of past by the present, based on primary and secondary sources" - as drummed into me by Professor Magliari. These two different ideas are ever present in my mind when I watch historic or war films. Now I always wonder why they are told, and what the story means.

Jon Stewart to Retire from the Daily Show

According to The AV Club, who was reporting on tweets from folks who were present, Jon Stewart announced at a recent taping of the Daily Show that he would be retiring from the program. No other details are available at this time, and it's unknown when he will be leaving, who his replacement would be, and what Stewart's next steps would be. After Rosewater, we hope he goes on to direct more films.

We at the Ace of Geeks would like to thank Jon Stewart for being the voice of sanity in a world of twenty four hour news coverage. Without his voice, there were times that many of us on staff would not have understood the crises that faced our modern world - and without him, we certainly wouldn't have been able to laugh at them. Thank you, Jon, and good luck in wherever life takes you next.

UPDATE: Comedy Central have released a statement confirming Stewart's retirement. No dates are given other than "later this year."

Thank you Jon. pic.twitter.com/yPdxjnkuLw

— Comedy Central (@ComedyCentral) February 10, 2015