New UK trailer and poster for Electrick Children starring Julia Garner, Rory Culkin, Liam Aiken, Billy Zane

WITH projects under his belt including Back to The Future I and II, Twin Peaks, superhero film The Phantom and animated series The New Adventures of Batman - plus memorable maritime roles in Dead Calm and Titanic - Billy Zane is well known both to the geekosphere and the mainstream.

He next appears in the drama Electrick Children, released by Revolver Entertainment and Picturehouse Entertainment on July 13. A new UK trailer was released today and is included here with the poster.

Directed by Rebecca Thomas, Electrick Children stars upcoming actress Julia Garner - previously seen in Martha Marcy May Marlene - alongside Rory Culkin (Signs, Scream 4, You Can Count on Me), Liam Aiken (Road To Perdition, The Killer Inside Me) and Billy Zane (above right).

Electrick Children is a coming-of-age story set against the backdrop of a sheltered childhood amongst the Mormon community.

The 26-year old first-time director grew up in a Mormon community and served an 18-month Mormon mission in Japan, prior to writing Electrick Children.

Below is the official description and the new trailer; the poster can be seen above.

Pregnant by music?  On her 15th birthday, Rachel, a young Mormon girl from a fundamentalist Utah community, discovers a forbidden cassette tape with rock music on it.

Having never heard anything like it, she has a miraculous experience and three months later, claims to have had an immaculate conception from listening to the music.

Her parents arrange a marriage, but Rachel runs away to the closest city, Las Vegas, to search for the man who sings on the tape, thinking he has something to do with her mysterious pregnancy...

Revolver Entertainment is a UK independent film distribution companies and recently set up its own production arm called Gunslinger, which has produced three films in its first 15 months including Shank, a top 10 UK box office hit in 2010, and Anuvahood, which has broken all previous box office records for R...

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[Source: Coventry Telegraph - The Geek Files]

14 outstanding airport amenities

More and more airports are sympathetic to the waiting game and are adding unique amenities to help keep travelers entertained. Live music, golf or ping pong, anyone?

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[Source: CNN.com - Travel]

10 unusual honeymoon hot spots

From the windswept beaches of a car-free island in the Baltic to tasting wine rarely sipped outside Argentina, these hideaways rarely appear on the usual post-wedding itinerary.

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[Source: CNN.com - Travel]

Austria

From the rugged, sculpted wilderness of Austria's mountains to its richly historic cities like Vienna, iReporters take us on a journey across this majestic country with their photos.

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[Source: CNN.com - Travel]

Why tall ships still fascinate

They were the transport of choice for explorers and pirates alike, but tall ships are far from ancient relics of a bygone era.

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[Source: CNN.com - Travel]

Will Ferrell and Zach Galifianakis face off in political battle of The Campaign

NEW posters show Will Ferrell and Zach Galifianakis facing off in a bitter election battle in their upcoming comedy The Campaign.

They play two rival North Carolina politicians with presidential ambitions.

Released in UK cinemas on September 28 and directed by Jay Roach (Austin Powers trilogy, Meet the Fockers), the film also features Jason Sudeikis, Katherine LaNasa, Dylan McDermott, John Lithgow, Dan Aykroyd and Brian Cox.

When long-term congressman Cam Brady (Will Ferrell) commits a major public gaffe before an upcoming election, a pair of ultra-wealthy CEOs plot to put up a rival candidate and gain influence over their North Carolina district. Their man: naive Marty Huggins (Zach Galifianakis), director of the local Tourism Center.

At first, Marty appears to be the unlikeliest possible choice but, with the help of his new benefactors' support, a cutthroat campaign manager and his family's political connections, he soon becomes a contender who gives the charismatic Cam plenty to worry about.

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[Source: Coventry Telegraph - The Geek Files]

Facebook Of Latvia Is Bigger Than Facebook (In Latvia)

Draugiem.lv might not have a billion users. But it owns the web--and some of the biggest brains on it--in Latvia. Here's what Facebook could learn from it.

When Facebook hits the inevitable user plateau, perhaps it should take a cue from Eastern Europe. Latvia’s largest social network, Draugiem.lv, conquered its home country’s social landscape, then expanded to become a self-described “breeding ground for IT innovations and startups.”

Launched in 2004 by Lauris Liberts and Agris Tamanis, Draugiem.lv is one of few social networks to still beat Facebook in their home country; Draugiem boasts 1.2 million Latvian users over Facebook’s 327,000, according to Jānis Palkavnieks, Draugiem Group spokesperson.

“Five hundred thousand log in to the network every day,” Palkavnieks says. Active users average 44 minutes per day, generating a billion page views per month.

CLICK ON THE IMAGE TO VIEW A TOUR OF THE Draugiem.lv HEADQUARTERS

But what’s cooler than a billion page views? Owning the entire Internet (in one’s native language, at least). “Its about 44% of all Latvian internet,” Palkavnieks says. 

Advertising revenues on social networks are notoriously abysmal--Draugiem brings in under $20 million a year. To squeeze more revenue from its grip on Latvian Internet users, Draugiem has opened up something akin to New York City’s Betaworks to incubate ancillary tech companies.

“The biggest stock holder Agris Tamanis is a big fan of gadgets and that's why we are producing technology also,” Palkavniesks says.

From digital vending machine monitoring to smart home systems to lead-gen analytics, the social network has sprouted 11 startups to date. It’s created Latvian versions of RescueTime and Groupon, an inspirational quote site, and even a “design your own bracelet” store called FriendlyBracelets.

CLICK ON THE IMAGE TO VIEW A TOUR OF THE Draugiem.lv HEADQUARTERS

“Latvians mostly prefer local brands, and on top of that, we’re able to react very quickly to...

[Source: Fast Company]

Top 10 Most Popular Stories Of The Week

Catch up on the stories people were clicking, reading, sharing, tweeting, Facebooking, pinning, and more--from the Fast Company network.

This week we give you a peek into some of the top creative minds from the Master Class series, John Cleese, and many others. We also have some riveting tech stories examining Google Glass, the new Tesla S super hybrid, and rumors about the upcoming iPhone release.

1. School’s In For The Summer: Catch Up On Co.Create’s Master Classes Co.Create

In case you missed the Master Class series, find out how leading creatives do what they do best.

2. 10 Of The Year's Most Amazing Science Photos Co.Design

Check out the year’s most astounding scientific photography.

3. The 3 LinkedIn Etiquette Rules You Should Never Break Fast Company

Read on to make sure that you don’t lose your job for misbehaving on social media.

4. 4 Lessons In Creativity From John Cleese Co.Create

Get creative with John Cleese.

5. Test Drive: What Life Looks Like Through Google Glass Fast Company

Kevin Purdy gets a hands-on look at Google Glass.

6. Apple Rumor Patrol: The Next iPhone Is Nearly Here--Will It Be NFC-Ready? Fast Company

Kit Eaton serves up the latest update rumors on the new iPhone.

7. "We Need A Fundamentally Different Way To Create A Brand": An Agency CEO Sums Up The State Of Advertising Co.Create

Andrew Keller’s (CEO of CP+B) thoughts on the state of adverti...

[Source: Fast Company]

Who is Ray Kurzweil?

In my opinion, Ray Kurzweil is a futurist full of confidence that technology will save us and the planet. And I want to live in Ray Kurzweil's vision of the future with its promise of immortality and computers smarter than human beings. Hmm.. just like Battleship Galattica?

...

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[Source: About.com]

Casting notes: Ryan Reynolds is new Highlander; Viggo Mortensen joins Last Voyage of the Demeter

RYAN REYNOLDS is to star in the new Highlander reboot, it has emerged.

In May, it was revealed that the actor had entered into talks and now The Tracking Board says he has officially been cast in the role after a month of negotiations.

Juan Carlos Fresnadillo is directing the remake of the cult classic. The 1986 original starred Christopher Lambert as Connor MacLeod, a Scottish swordsman belonging to a mysterious race of immortals.

After centuries of duelling to survive against other immortals - hence the film's tagline of 'there can be only one' - MacLeod must confront the last of his kind, who lusts for the fabled Prize.

Viggo Mortensen has reportedly been offered the lead in director Neil Marshall's Dracula flick The Last Voyage Of The Demeter, about the ship that brought the Count's coffin to England.

Bloody-Disgusting says Viggo will play the lead role of Henry Clemens, whose role in the tale hasn't been specified. Ben Kingsley was previously reported to be playing the ship's captain and Noomi Rapace is rumoured to be playing a character called Anna Billington.

In Bram Stoker's Dracula novel, the ship docks at Whitby with no survivors on board - just the body of the captain lashed to the wheel.

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[Source: Coventry Telegraph - The Geek Files]

Beauty And The Beast – Comic-Con Button Art

Promotional button art for The CW's Beauty and the Beast
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[Source: KSiteTV]

Sablik ankles Top Cow for parts unknown–CORRECTED

Top Cow publisher Filip Sablik has told friends that Friday will be his last day at Top Cow, where he was publisher for the last 4 years of a 6 month stint. But fear not, Sablik has a NEW job at a comics publisher which he'll be announcing at Comic-Con. Jessi Reid, Top Cow's Social Marketing Coordinator, will be taking over Sablik's duties at Top Cow.
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[Source: The Beat]

One lucky person can win a trip to Middle Earth!

In just a few short weeks, SDCC-goers can enter to win a trip to New Zealand to live up a true Hobbit experience.
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[Source: The Beat]

Nice cartoon: Gary Leib’s “New York Coffee Nerves”

Surely if you're anywhere near the comics biz you are guzzling vats of weapons-grade caffeine in order to get you through to The Big Show. Well this cartoon by the great Gary Leib may make you think twice. Plus, The New York Times is making cartoons now?
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[Source: The Beat]

Today’s war teaser implicates Iron Man

Just guessing tomorrow will be Hulk, right?
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[Source: The Beat]

Spider-Man’s new… Spide-Kick

Marvel have revealed that issue #692 of Amazing Spider-Man will bring 'Alpha' to the World. But what is Alpha?
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[Source: The Beat]

HeroesCon interview: Francesco Francavilla

by Jimmy Aquino, Comic News Insider, Special to The Beat

I sat down with old pal and amazing artist Francesco Francavilla on Sunday at HeroesCon. Always a great interview, Francesco and I talked about his recent work on Batman,  upcoming Captain America/Black Widow mini-series, The Black Beetle, cover work, Comic Twart, What Not, and his genuine love for cartooning. You can check out other great interviews I got at HeroesCon over at the Comic News Insider (my podcast) site! 

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[Source: The Beat]

Paley Center To Host An Evening With Syfy’s Eureka

The Paley Center will host An Evening With Syfy's Eureka
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[Source: KSiteTV]

The Beat in triumphant return! Or: Well, that was scary

All the apologies in the world for today's Beat outage. I finally figured out how to get it back online. Our Elite Tech Team is working on a more secure and long-lasting solution but in the meantime, Python, Apache, and MySQL are refusing to play nice. Man, I missed the Beat. It was scary not having it around.
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[Source: The Beat]

Gene sequencing project identifies potential drug targets in common childhood brain tumor

St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital – Washington University Pediatric Cancer Genome Project lifts lid on the most aggressive subtype of medulloblastoma and finds genes that cooperate in tumor development.
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[Source: St. Jude Children's Research Hospital - Latest News]

The Oatmeal Lawsuit Part II — Let’s Sue the American Cancer Society

Last week, we told you about the webcomic, The Oatmeal getting sued for defamation and The Oatmeal's hilarious response. I was also wondering what the response of the lawyer filing the suit was going to be. He's suing the American Cancer Society and the National Wildlife Foundation. Oh, yes. This just got even stranger and it's making some waves in legal circles.
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[Source: The Beat]

Greg Beeman Blogs About The Falling Skies Premiere

Falling Skies director Greg Beeman has blogged about the second season premiere
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[Source: KSiteTV]

Vaccines Work to Save Money and Improve Lives

Delivering three crucial childhood vaccines in the world’s 73 poorest countries over the next decade could lead to $63 billion in cost savings.
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[Source: Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation]

Once Upon A Time Season 2 News: Meghan Ory To Become Series Regular

Meghan Ory will be a series regular in Season 2 of Once Upon A Time
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[Source: KSiteTV]

TNT’s Dallas Episode 3 “The Price You Pay” Images

Images from the Dallas episode "The Price You Pay"
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[Source: KSiteTV]

Portia de Rossi To Play Lily Munster In Mockingbird Lane

Portia de Rossi will be playing Lily Munster in Mockingbird Lane
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[Source: KSiteTV]

Kibbles ‘n’ Bits: June Foray won an Emmy!

§ At age 94, voice actress June Foray, won her very first Emmy! It's about time! Foray has been in the animation business since 1943, when everyone's grandparents were born, and since then has voiced Rocky the Squirrel, Witch Hazel, Jokey Smurf, and a zillion other characters. She won her Emmy for a voice on Garfield and is probably the oldest person ever to be nominated and win an Emmy.
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[Source: The Beat]

6 Exercises To Strengthen Compassionate Leadership

Want loyal, dedicated, and passionate employees? Be a loyal, dedicated, and passionate boss. Here are some tools to develop well-being in your workplace through better communication.

When you use compassionate communication in your conversations, something quite surprising occurs: both your brain and the brain of the person you're talking to begin to align themselves with each other. This special bond is a phenomenon referred to as "neural resonance," and in this enhanced state of mutual attunement, two people can accomplish remarkable things together. Why? Because it eliminates the natural defensiveness that normally exists when people casually converse.

The capacity to deeply relate to others is a key to all forms of relational success--at work and at home. If you find yourself in the position of overseeing others--be they your employees or your children--remember this: leaders who give the least amount of positive guidance to their subordinates are less successful in achieving their organizations' goals, and the employees are unhappier with their work. Indeed, by not taking an active role in dialogue and teamwork building, they generate more interpersonal conflicts within their groups. Here are 6 steps to work on to become a more compassionate leader. 

Step 1: Stay Present

When you focus intently on your breathing and relaxation, you pull your attention into the present moment. When we become completely absorbed in something as simple as breathing or relaxing a specific part of our body, the inner speech of everyday consciousness stops, at least momentarily, and this allows us to become aware of the subtle things that are immediately happening around us. We hear sounds we rarely notice, we feel more sensations in our body, and if we bring this "presentness" into a conversation, we hear more clearly the subtle tones of voice that give emotional meaning to the speaker's words.

Step 2: Cultivate Inner Silence

Most of us are only able to stay ...

[Source: Fast Company]

Special guests and Coffin Awards at Nightmare to Remember film festival

COFFIN Awards are up for grabs at the fifth annual A Nightmare to Remember horror film festival.

Taking place from 7pm to 10pm on June 16, 2012, at Opera Plaza Cinema, 601 Van Ness Avenue, San Francisco, it will show a line-up of 20-minute-and-under horror film shorts. Cost is $15 at the door.

Special guests on the black carpet will be Devanny Pinn (The Black Dahlia Haunting, Nude Nuns With Big Guns) and Brandon Slagle (The Super, 2012: Ice Age).

They will be joined by John Stanley (Creature Features, Nightmare in Blood) and filmmaker Dave Reda along with and genre enthusiasts from all parts of the country. Guest judge this year is scream queen Debra Lamb.

Hosted by Miss Misery, the festival includes a free raffle, plus a 'blood bag' filled with goodies for the first 20 people in line. The top three films gets a Coffin Award.

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[Source: Coventry Telegraph - The Geek Files]

360 - Trailer

From two acclaimed artists: director Fernando Meirelles (City of God, The Constant Gardener) and writer Peter Morgan (The Queen, Frost/Nixon). With a stellar international cast that includes Rachel Weisz, Anthony Hopkins, Jude Law, Ben Foster, Jamel Debbouze and Moritz Bleibtreu, 360 is a moving and exciting dramatic thriller that dazzlingly weaves together the stories of an array of people from disparate social backgrounds through their intersecting relationships.
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[Source: Latest Movie Trailers]

Star Trek captain Patrick Stewart goes warp speed ahead into Silverstone Celebrity Challenge race

STAR TREK actor Sir Patrick Stewart is now ready to boldly go where no Starship Entrerprise commander has ever gone before.

The 71-year-old movie legend - who played Captain Jean-Luc Picard in the iconic sci-fi series as well as starring in the X-Men franchise - has just passed his official ARDS racing driver test and is ready to compete in a special Celebrity Challenge race at this summer's Silverstone Classic powered by the AA.

"I'm relieved and delighted," said Stewart who passed both written and driving tests required to obtain a MSA competition licence at a rather damp Silverstone.

"It's such a fast learning curve from the moment you first step into the car. At one point it was raining quite hard out there; I could hardly see out of the windows... and you really do need to be able to see out of the windows when you're driving fast!"

Despite the conditions the test was not about to defeat a man who has travelled around the universe at warp speeds. "I can't say it wasn't a challenge at times but I've enjoyed it very much," he said.

"I've watched too many professionals at work on the race track over the years to feel that I can now call myself a fully-fledged racing driver but it was exhilarating that's for sure and I'm looking forward to putting my new skills into practice."

Though new to Silverstone, the Captain's log does reveal that Stewart has a previous track record.

"The only time that I've raced was on the Long Beach Grand Prix course in California which was in a Pro-Celebrity Toyota race and I really, really enjoyed it. But I've been in retirement for the last 10 years," he grinned before explaining why he was now making a comeback. "It was too irresistible... the chance to drive a great British sports car at Silverstone, what could be better?"

The final frontier for Stewart will come in a special, star-studded Celebrity Challenge race being staged as one of the highlights of this summer's Silverstone Classic powered b...

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[Source: Coventry Telegraph - The Geek Files]

Comic Book Bites: Spider-Man may link to Venom and Avengers; Lucas Till on hopes for Havok in next X-Men

HOT on the heels of The Avengers, producers Avi Arad and Matthew Tolmach have hinted that Sony may follow the Marvel template to create a shared Spider-Man universe on the big screen.

Now a solo Venom story is in the works with Chronicle director Josh Trank rumored behind the wheel, it seems a crossover with the newly-rebooted Amazing Spider-Man franchise may not be too far away.

"What I'm trying to say to you without giving anything away is hopefully all these worlds will live together in peace someday," said Tolmach when talking to Hollywood.com. "Look for the worlds to make sense with one another."

But according to Arad it could be even bigger than just the Spider-Men, perhaps even connecting with The Avengers.

"Everything is possible. If something like that happens, it's great for Disney, it's great for Sony, if the right story comes in. We are now working on Venom first," Avi told Crave Online.

Of course, that scenario has more than just a great story standing in its way. The bigger leap has more to do with how the two studios agree to split the revenue.

There are no dates or talent - other than Trank's surmised attachment - set for Venom's big-screen redemption, but with superheroes ruling the cinema and Amazing Spider-Man already booked for a sequel, we shouldn't have too long to wait.

Another franchise feeling the Avengers Effect you have already read about here is Twentieth Century Fox's X-Men series.

With rumors about X-Men: First Class 2 setting the internet ablaze - much of said speculation surrounds the Days of Future Past story from the comics - even the actors can't help but wonder what's next for our misunderstood mutants.

"All I know is that my mom told me we're going to start shooting in January," says Lucas Till, who plays Alex Summers aka Havok, in a conversation with IGN.

But he wants his character to resemble the comics more closely in the sequel: "I really hope in the next one that the chestpiece - beca...

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[Source: Coventry Telegraph - The Geek Files]

Iran and the Bomb

With every passing month the international dispute over Iran’s nuclear programme becomes more intractable. On the one side, the West and Israel are convinced that Iran is working towards a nuclear weapon and are determined that this should never be allowed to become reality – even if

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[Source: Top Documentary Films]