A live-action movie adaptation of Ghost in the Shell is on the way, as you may have heard, and excitement levels vary from person to person after the controversial casting of Scarlett Johansson in the lead role.

But anyone who’s a fan of movies—no matter what their thoughts on this movie happen to be—appreciates the use of practical effects, and Ghost in the Shell has some incredible ones. Mythbusters star Adam Savage and his Tested YouTube channel paid a visit to the special effects masters over at Weta Workshop recently, where he was shown some of the work they created for Ghost in the Shell. More specifically, the robot geisha. A great deal of work went into creating them, and there’s a phenomenal amount of detail to appreciate. This video alone doubles my interest in the movie simply knowing they went this route over digital effects when possible.

You can see what Weta built in the video below.

Oooohh! I am SO excited to announce this contest!

Our good friends over at WETA Workshop “” those dream engineers behind so much of the great movie imagery of the last two dozen years “” have given us the opportunity to bestow our readers with three of their amazingly detailed The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey art prints direct from their New Zealand workshop.

We’re not giving away three copies of one print, we’re giving away one copy of three DIFFERENT prints; An Unexpected Journey art print by Gus Hunter, Thorin’s Map parchment art print by Daniel Reeve, and Floor Plan of Bag End parchment art print by Daniel Reeve. So when you submit your entry, we ask that you please note which print you desire most.

AND, unlike many of our contests, for this giveaway the folks at WETA have made it possible for us to accept entries from everyone, everywhere! That’s right, it’s been a long time since we’ve been able to do it, but this contest is open to all citizens of the planet Earth “” WORLD WIDE, baby!

One (1) winner will receive:

• One (1) copy of An Unexpected Journey Art Print
  by Gus Hunter

One (1) winner will receive:

• One (1) copy of Thorin’s Map Parchment Art Print
  by Daniel Reeve

One (1) winner will receive:

My Monstrous Militia,

Dead, nearly dead, and undead alike rejoice, ’cause it’s that time of the month again. Time take a look the latest group o’ gangrenous guts being gouged from the gullet and strewn about for all to see.

Later is Now, Baybah!
In case you had forgotten, 28 Weeks Later opens today and ObZomb (that’s me) says ‘Yes, yehaw, and yahoo!’ I cannot wait to feast my rotting ocular nerves upon what’s sure to be an awesomely good rip ’em up. I’m hoping we’ll get to see glimmers of Robert Carlyle‘s genius turn (IMHO) as Colqhoun in Ravenous show through a bit in 28 Weeks… man, that movie creeped me out!