Outpost Productions caters to a wide audience of Geek Pop Culture in Malaysia recognising that geeky fans are often passionate on not just one but multiple fandoms. In our ideal world, Star Wars fans and Trekkies peacefully co-exist. Same with comic book geeks who love both Marvel and DC. We publish geeky content here and support local pop culture events with fan engagements and coverage. MTFBWY and Live Long & Prosper!
Finally after 6 seasons of 60 episodes since 2011, Winter has finally come to Westeros. Granted in George R. R. Martin's fantasy world, seasons can last for years. And despite record viewership and Emmy awards, the storyline for A Song of Fire and Ice is set to conclude over a final 13 episodes, of which 7 comprising season 7 has started airing last week on 17 July (or 16 July US time). Season 8's last 6 episodes will be in 2018 or 2019 (of the wait!).
Game of Thrones Season 7 activation event in Sunway Pyramid, Blue Concourse.
As a treat for Malaysian fans celebrating the release of Season 7, HBO Asia and Astro held a Game of Thrones event in the popular Sunway Pyramid Shopping Mall early this month. The key exhibit comprised a Pencil Micro-sculpture Exhibition by Russian scuptor Salavat Fidai. His art pieces are formed out of the graphite in pencils, or more commonly called pencil lead (although there is in fact no lead in pencils!).
16 pencil micro-sculptures showcasing elements from Game of Thrones.
Try to imagine how small these sculptors would be considering the slim graphite shaft encased in length of pencil wood. Yes, so small that the term micro is aptly appropriate and require magnifying glass to see the thematic details from Game of Thrones that Salavat Fidai has sculpted into 16 pencil art pieces. These include House sigils, the Iron Throne, the 3-eyed Raven, and more.
It's not poor eyesight, it's really that small!
The Iron Throne sculpted from pencil graphite.
The 3-eyed Raven, though spotting that 3rd eye is rather challenging.
For a better close-up look at these sculptors than could be captured by our cameras, check out articles by The Hive Asia And Says.com.
Don't get too comfortable as recent rulers on the Iron Throne have met with untimely deaths.
Of course no Game of Thrones event would be complete without the Iron Throne, and there is was open for fans to be King of Westeros for a minute and take home a souvenir photo.
Looked like a cake sculpture of Daenerys' dragon.
There were also various activities for event guests to be challenged for a chance to win Game of Thrones souvenirs. Eager fans would have to visit 6 stations at the event concourse and receive a stamp for participation. This included an archery range (Ygirtte's Challenge), a hand coordination exercise (Journey to the Throne), visiting various Astro counters, and posting self-photo on social media.
The passbook of upto 6 challenges to redeem free Game of Thrones loot.
Let arrows fly like Ygritte shooting at Jon Snow (ops!).
"Navigating" through Westeros requires hand-eye coordination.
Now that Winter is Here, beware the danger form the north. Indeed a pair of White Walkers appeared periodically but were less icy than expected, perhaps since Malaysia is always Summer!
The Night King (left) and a White Walker soldier. Wonder if they melt in tropical weather?
White Walker recruitment.
Game of Thrones Season 7 finally Premiered on Monday 17 July, 9am Malaysian time (16 July, 9pm US time. For true fans in Malaysia, HBO Asia hosted a Premiere Episode Viewing Party in TGV Cinemas that night. Thanks to a last minute invite from Sunway Pyramid, I got to join in on the festivities with fellow.... er, Thronies (Game of Thrones fans).
Expect fire and ice to clash this season on Game of Thrones.
Hosted in the Chillax lounge of the cinema, we were offered food worthy of a King's feast (always good in any event!). Everyone got their chance to be Kings and Queens on the Iron Throne for photo opportunities together with cosplayers of Daenerys Targaryen and Petyr "Littlefinger" Baelish.
Daenerys Targaryen finally wins the Iron Throne with Littlefinger by her side and a pair of Sparrows.
"Engage!"... ops, sorry this isn't a Captain's Chair.
Thronies with a Maester's knowledge of Westeros and Essos were rewarded with official Game of Thrones merchandise from Trivia Quiz hosted by Malaysian TV persona Daphne Iking.
Event emcee Daphne Iking offering a Game of Thrones Monopoly for the Trivia Quiz.
A Maester's knowledge will score you Game of Thrones loot!
Party guests group photo before heading into the cinema hall. Looks like #TeamTargaryen.
Photo credit: HBO Asia.
Counting down to the Season Premiere screening, we were all ushered into the cinema hall and shown a recap of the Season 6 finale "The Winds of Winter". The recap was well worth it as this season finale ended on such a high-note to really fuel the enthusiasm for Season 7, which had been eagerly awaited for over a year.
Revved up for Game of Thrones Season 7.
The Season 7 episode opening credits with Ramin Djawadi's iconic score were greeted with a collective cheer. "Dragonstone" kicked off with a masterful opening act continuing Arya Stark's journey and soliciting much applause from fans. The episode then visits all the remaining players that matter in the Game of Thrones. If you have yet to watch this episode, get to it NOW via Astro On Demand or Astro Go. If you have watched the episode already, it's still worthwhile to read-up on any of the online recaps to check that you haven't overlooked some detail in this expansive fantasy political world. Here's recap by EW.
Alissa Dania won an oversized Funko POP figurine for naming all 3 of Daenerys' dragons.
After the screening, another round of Trivia Quiz too place with Game of Thrones jacket, Funko POP and Monopoly set being given away. Thronies coming to the event in costume were then lined up for the camera and winners chosen to receive digital gadgets worth some significant nuggets of gold.
Can you identify all these Game of Thrones cosplay?
Winning the main prize for the Cosplay Contest was Saiful Imran (right) as an Unsullied Soldier. Since it's only cosplay his wife would be relieved that his nether regions remained intact.
No one left empty-handed either as all guests received a HBO goodie bag filled with Game of Thrones stationery, window stickers, cap and badges of the 3 remaining houses vying for the Iron Throne.
The last 3 Houses in the Game for the Iron Throne. Photo credit: Riez Forester.
#WhoWillWin the #GameofThrones ?
Game of Thrones now airs locally same time as US exclusively on HBO (Astro Ch 411/431) every Monday at 9am with repeats at 9pm. The series will also be streaming on On Demand and Astro GO.
Disclaimer: Game of Thrones and other trademarks are copyright George R. R. Martin and/or HBO, referenced here for fan service engagements without intent to infringe.
Last week, Marvel fans throughout the
world rejoiced seeing Hugh Jackman #OneLastTime as Logan / Wolverine
in cinemas, closing a 17-year cinematic journey for the world's most
famous mutant. Just one month earlier, another ripple veterbrated in
Fox's Marvel universe with the introduction of new character from
comics to television, Legion. Although one of the lesser known
mutants, Legion has been in the comics over 30 years since 1985 and
may be more recognised as the lovechild of X-Men leader, Professor X
himself. He is also arguably one of the most powerful mutants in
existence with all-manner of powers but afflicted with mental
disorders manifesting split personalities.
Legion's TV poster (top) seems to take inspiration of this X-Men comic cover of the namesake character in 1995.
If you want to know more about the
comic version of Legion check out this brief video:
Anyway, this new TV incarnation of
Legion centers around the character's human alter-ego, David Haller
(Dan Stevens) psychological journey in an 8-part mini-series
produced by FX Productions and Marvel Television. Legion’s
executive producers include Noah Hawley and John Cameron, the pair
responsible for FOX’s Emmy® and Golden Globe®-winning series
Fargo on FX. The Legion executive production team also includes the
award-winning director, writer and producer Bryan Singer, who
kicked-off the X-Men movie franchise in year 2000.
Official synopsis for the series:
Legion is the story of David Haller (Dan Stevens), a troubled young man who may be more than human. Diagnosed as schizophrenic as a child, David has been in and out of psychiatric hospitals for years. Now in his early 30s and institutionalized once again, David loses himself in the rhythm of the structured regimen of life in the hospital: breakfast, lunch, dinner, therapy, medications, sleep. David spends the rest of his time in companionable silence alongside his chatterbox friend Lenny (Aubrey Plaza), a fellow patient whose life-long drug and alcohol addiction has done nothing to quell her boundless optimism that her luck is about to change. The pleasant numbness of David’s routine is completely upended with the arrival of a beautiful and troubled new patient named Syd (Rachel Keller). Inexplicably drawn to one another, David and Syd share a startling encounter, after which David must confront the shocking possibility that the voices he hears and the visions he sees may actually be real.
A haunted man, David escapes from the hospital and seeks shelter with his sister Amy (Katie Aselton). But Amy’s concern for her brother is trumped by her desire to protect the picture perfect suburban life she’s built for herself. Eventually, Syd guides David to Melanie Bird (Jean Smart), a nurturing but demanding therapist with a sharp mind and unconventional methods. She and her team of specialists – Ptonomy (Jeremie Harris), Kerry (Amber Midthunder) and Cary (Bill Irwin) – open David’s eyes to an extraordinary new world of possibilities.
Find out more about the cast of Legion in this featurette:
Read reviews of the Pilot episode "Chapter 1" by IGN rated 9.3, non-spoiler) and locally by Star2 (rated 8.5). Key word: Trippy!
A local activation event on the series Premiere week for Legion took place at Sunway Pyramid from 9 to 12 February 2017. #ProjectLegion conducted "psyche evaluations" and our Outpost Commander was admitted as a patient. After a some tests and trippy trip through the "mirror universe", he was discharged as still functionally fit for society subject to medication (candy pills).
#ProjectLegion activation event at Sunway Pyramid.
Our Outpost Commander admitted for psyche evaluation.
Legion is currently mid-way through it's first season and on-air same day as US here in Malaysia on FOX, Astro channel 724 every Thursday, 9.00pm. "Chapter 5" just released at the time of this blog post so that's just 3 more episodes to go.
Thanks for the kind folks at Fox TV Asia, we have 10 Legion t-shirts to GIVEAWAY to our faithful geek followers. For a chance to WIN these goodies, follow these simple steps:
Share this Blog post on your Facebook timeline with something nice to say about Legion and/or Outpost, e.g. "Legion blows my mind because I can now get trippy every Thursday at 9pm on FOX, Astro channel 724", or "I love Outpost Productions because I get to geek-out so much from their latest pop culture intel". Creative input will grant you favour.
Include hashtags #LegionFoxMY #OutpostGiveaway
WIN this official Legion t-shirt, courtesy of Fox TV Asia.
BONUS for X-Men cosplayers!
Post your photo cosplaying any mutant character from the X-Men universe (TV, movies, comics) to participate instead and also receive Legion schizophrenia meds (actually candy pills-lah!) to maintain your sanity. Please name the character being cosplayed in your post and paste in the following message:
Find-out more about Legion and how to win free stuff at www.Outpost.com.my
#LegionFoxMY #OutpostGiveaway
Sample cosplay entry photo:
I am MAGNETO.
Find out more about Legion and how to win free stuff at www.Outpost.com.my
#LegionFoxMY #OutpostGiveaway
Set your post privacy to public so we can see it and remember the hashtags so we can look for it.
Contest closes Thursday 16 March 2017, 11.59pm. Thereafter stay tuned to our Facebook Page Outpost Productions over the next few days to find out whether you have won!
The small print (contest terms & conditions):
Participation only for residents in Malaysia.
Selection of winners will be solely at our discretion.
Winners will announced on our Facebook Page anytime after 17 March 2017. It is the winners' own responsibility to lookout for the announcement and respond accordingly to the redemption instructions given.
Giveaways will be sent to winners' mailing address (within Malaysia) by courier. We will not be responsible for successful delivery.
We reserve the right to revise these terms and conditions at any time without prior notice.
New episodes air on FOX Astro CH724 every Thursday, 9.00pm.
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Disclaimer: Legion, X-Men and other trademarks are copyright to Marvel Entertainment, and/or their respective owners, referenced here for fan service announcements without intent to infringe.
