A while back I was shown a trailer for an upcoming horror video game titled Among the Sleep. It instantly grabbed my attention because of just how darn unique it looked. It doesn’t involve you button mashing your way through wave after wave of nightmare inducing beasties, and in fact, doesn’t involve any kind of combat whatsoever. See, in this particular game, you play as a terrified two-year-old child. Instead of fighting off any dangers that might be approaching, you’ll have to interact with your environment and find places to hide from said danger, such as under the bed or in a cupboard. The main focus of the game is exploration and atmospheric horror, but the developers also hope to add some puzzle and adventure elements.

But they need your help. The game is being made by a small Norwegian developer called Krillbite Studio, with a team of people who still have to work part-time jobs to get by. They’ve done a large chunk of the game already, but they’re hoping by looking to fans for help, they can quit those part-time jobs and focus 100% on finishing the game while staying independent and free of the constrictions of a publisher.

Continue below to see the developer’s pitch for why you should donate, and some videos looking at gameplay from Among the Sleep. [...]

For the past six years, writer/artist Ryan Browne has been hard at work creating one of the most fun, unique, and critically acclaimed web comics out there, God Hates Astronauts. And now it’s finally finished and ready to be delivered right to your door as a fancy 180-page hardcover collection, after a Kickstarter campaign to secure the funding necessary to actually print it.

Not satisfied with just sending his already done files off to the printer, Browne has went back and make some coloring tweaks and BRAND NEW lettering. He also got some fantastic creators to draw 18 two page origin stories for some of the characters in the book. Artists like Tim Seeley, Jenny Frison, Tradd Moore, Christopher Mitten, Zandor Cannon…the list goes on and on.

Continue below to see a Kickstarter video and an image of what the final product looks like. [...]

The Impossible
Directed by Juan Antonio Bayona
Written by Maria Belon (story), Sergio G. Sanchez (screenplay)
Starring: Naomi Watts, Ewan McGregor, Tom Holland, Samuel Joslin, Oaklee Pendergast
Apaches Entertainment/Summit Entertainment
Rated PG-13 | 114 Minutes
Release date: January 4, 2013

I can say that since things have died down at work, back to normal hours, and having some extra money due to the extra hours, I have been able to see a nice bunch of movies to start 2013. And hopefully that is a trend that continues for awhile. Although next week is vacation for me and I’ll be spending it in Vegas, so I am not sure if a movie will be watched then.

But I did once again venture off to one of my local Landmark Theaters, the Oriental, to see this movie, The Impossible. There had been some strong buzz for this one going in, and even a little more buzz now after yesterday’s Oscar nominations were announced, with Naomi Watts up for a Best Performance by a Lead Actress nomination for the film.

The Impossible is based on the real life family, the Bennets: Maria (Watts) and Henry (Ewan McGregor), and their three sons, Lucas (Tom Holland) Thomas (Samuel Joslin), and Simon (Oaklee Pendergast). While vacationing in Thailand for Christmas, they were about to become just one of the stories of survival from a 2004 tsunami that devastated the area [...]

When Quincy Gow left his career in New York City, he walked away from working on the sets of projects as diverse as The Amazing Spider-Man to Precious to FX’s Louise, what many of us would consider a dream job. He returned to his home state of Michigan in part to be closer to an old friend of his who’s been diagnosed with cancer who, despite his illness, insists on working towards the completion of a children’s book. Quincy was compelled to help in the only way he knew how, make a movie [...]

What happens when the thing you love, the thing you are most passionate about, becomes all that you are? Director Shea Sizemore‘s A Chess Player aims to examine what happens when your dream consumes you, leaving only that dream.

Sizemore’s short film will span 50 years and follow Tony, a man who discovers his love for the game of Chess and builds his entire life on it, only to fall from its graces in surprising and tragic ways. Think Brooklyn Castle meets Fight Club: underground basement tournaments, cigarette smoke fills the air as bare lightbulbs hover above a shifting crowd of onlookers.

The spectators watch with excitement, shouting and making bets, passing money as two people play against the clock and themselves. Sounds pretty bad-ass, right?

Shea Sizemore needs YOUR help to make this short film a reality, however. With only 19 days remaining, Shea has raised $1,910 of his $7,500 goal on Kickstarter. But enough of me blabbering on, I’ll let Shea tell you all about it [...]

From the hearts and souls of gamers, geeks, and nerds come some of the greatest fan films ever. And thanks to fundraising sites like Indiegogo, now those who cannot create can donate! Fallout: Lanius is one of those fan films that will be head and shoulders above the rest. With a totally achievable goal of $10,000, this origin story of Legate Lanius is going to be spectacular! Remember Lanius is the primary big baddie from Fallout: New Vegas and this is all about explaining who he is and why he turned out the way he did.

Wade K. Savage has written the script and is the director/producer of the film as well. Based in Perth, Australia, Savage and a group of “hardcore Fallout fans” (his words, verbatim) are hellbent on creating a Fallout film of epic proportions. Having won the coveted “Independent Spirit” award at the Night of Horror International Film Festival, he has shown himself to have the skills necessary to render such a masterpiece, especially since he has surrounded himself with others just as skilled and dedicated [...]

Are you a fan of helping artists make their indie projects a reality via Kickstarter and websites like it? It’s an addictive hobby, coming together with a bunch of other people, chipping in a few bucks here and there, and seeing someone’s dream evolve into a reality.

One such project badly in need of your help to reach said reality stage of evolution, is Nerd vs. Geek. And with only a couple of days remaining, it needs quite the push to reach its $16,232 goal. [...]