I should have done this last week, but because of my arm, I’m really running way behind with my blog posts. It’s already feeling better though, so staying completely away from my laptop is doing the trick.

This post is kind of a round-up of the contests I’ve held during the holidays, finally announcing all the winners. Thanks to everyone who entered, I loved reading all the comments that you entered. For each of the contests I did a random draw, picking 1 person to win.

So to start things off, the winner of the Moon DVD is:

saamFG!

With the comment:

Moon’ was pretty great, an interesting exploration into humanity and identity, emphasised by a fantastic score by Clint Mansell and compelling performance from Sam Rockwell. And Gerty. I love Gerty.

In terms of fave sci-fi films, I’d have to echo ‘Sunshine’ and also ‘Gattaca’, ‘Twelve Monkeys’ and ‘The Matrix’. But I think one film that’s stayed with me even more than those is ‘The Prestige’. Although I’ll probably change my mind tomorrow!

Labelling ‘The Prestige’ as sci-fi does give away the game a bit but that’s not such a big deal in the context of the ending. Certainly a film that deserves repeated viewings. Great little cameo from David Bowie, brilliant central performances from all the lead actors and Christopher Nolan does his usual, impeccable work in the director’s seat.

The winner of the World of Warcraft books is:

Sporky!

With the comment:

Awesome giveaway! I’ve been into gaming ever since I could hold an SNES controller. My parents thought I was too distracted from studying playing with the playstation and soon the ps2. And they were right! Since I’m in an art school now, I’ve been viewing videogames as a modern art form. It’s a good excuse to play good games so I can study and know what makes them good.

And finally the winner of the Lush goodies is:

Cecilie Harris!

With the comment:

It always smells very good when I walk into a lush shop, and there are so many things I haven’t tried yet. I love the smell of xmas (yes I know it’s over, but still), so anything with spice and cinnamon. Also love the smell of vanilla.

Congratulations, you three! Thanks to everyone else that entered, keep an eye on the blog cause ‘m sure to do more giveaways in the future.

My discovery of 2009 was Lush and their wonderful products. I’m so addicted to their stuff now! So I’ve decided to give a couple of their products away to one reader!

Now I know not everyone likes the same stuff, so my question to you dear readers is: What type of scents do you like? I love honey, jasmine and strawberries, so Lush products like Flying Fox and American Cream are my faves. To enter leave a comment behind with your favourites scents, and I’ll try to put a nice sample of Lush products together for the winner based on what you like. Also let me know if you have a bath or not! You’ve got until January 1st 18:00 to enter. Btw, if you re-tweet you get an extra entry!

Anybody is free to enter, but there shouldn’t be any weird delivery costs or restrictions (like I have to be able to ship liquids etc to your country).

I received a pair of World of Warcraft books a couple of weeks ago that I knew would be a prefect Christmas giveaway!

The first book is a World of Warcraft Master Guide (from Brady Games) with tons of tips, useful lists and maps.

The second book is an Atlas with hand-drawn maps of regions, dungeons and towns.

To enter, leave a comment behind answering the following: How did you get into gaming? You’ve got until 1st January 2010 18:00 to enter. Btw, if you re-tweet you get an extra entry!

Anybody is free to enter, as long as there are no weird delivery costs or restrictions.

Thanks for all the entries to the Dollhouse giveaway. I had a lot of fun reading everyone’s comments on what their favourite Joss Whedon moment was. Alas, there can only be one winner though, so I’ve randomly picked one person to get the dvd.

And the winner is…

*drum roll, please*

Adrian!

With the comment:

This is a bit of a cheat, but for me it’s got to be the entirety of Ariel in Firefly – to me, that ep really fulfilled the promise of Firefly, and it was great to see the diversity of the world that he’d created. Ah well, poor Firefly!

Enjoy the dvds, Adrian! As for all the other people who entered, I’m also doing a giveaway of the dvd of Moon right now, which will stay open till the 27th. Besides that I’ll be doing another contest on Christmas Day and two more next week!

One of the best movies of this year for me was definitely Moon. Here’s a bit of what I had to say about it in my review:

Moon takes place sometime in the near future, where scientists have discovered an alternative energy resource harvested from the Moon. Astronaut Sam Bell is an employee for Lunar Industries stationed on a lunar base to extract this resource and send it back to Earth. He is almost at the end of his three year contract, having spent the past three years without human contact, and only his robot Gerty as a companion.

…

Moon is very much an intelligent sci-fi story about the moral consequences and dilemmas of a “What If” situation. It moves pretty slow, and harks back to those sci-fi movies of old, like 2001: A Space Odyssey and Outland.

If you’re still in need for a present for someone and that person likes intelligent movies (being a sci-fi fan is not a must), get this movie. It’s a brilliant, low-budget movie with stunning effects and an interesting plot.

And again thanks to Zavvi.com, I’ve got one DVD to giveaway of Moon! To enter the competition, leave a comment behind on this post with your favourite sci-fi movie.

You’ve got until Sunday 27th 18:00 (UK) to enter. Again sorry to disappoint, but this competition is only open to those based in the UK. For those of you overseas, keep an eye on the blog tomorrow, there will be a giveaway open for everyone!

Regular readers here will know how much I love Joss Whedon’s work. Buffy, Angel, Firefly. The TV shows and the spinoff comic books. I love them all (although some more than others). So it shouldn’t be a surprise to anyone that I’m now addicted to his latest show Dollhouse.

I’m currently in the second season, and although it’s been cancelled, it keeps getting better and better. The latest ep? AWESOME. I can’t wait for the final 3 episodes, and I’m hoping we’re getting a finished story. I’m still annoyed that Fox cancelled it, but knowing Whedon I think we’ll get some closure one way or another.

Anyhow, back to Christmas presents. In my eyes the Dollhouse Season 1 DVD set would make a great gift! If you haven’t seen the show, it’s definitely one every sci-fi geek should watch (especially the 13th episode Epitaph One). Even if you’ve seen the show already, it’s one of those series you should own (just like Buffy, Angel and Firefly).

Thanks to Zavvi.com, I’ve gotten one DVD set of Dollhouse Season 1 to giveaway! To enter the competition, leave a comment behind on this post with your favourite Joss Whedon TV show moment. This can be anything from  a funny quote from Firefly, or an amazing monster fight from Buffy.

You’ve got until Wednesday 23rd 18:00 (UK) to enter. Sorry to disappoint, but this competition is only open to those based in the UK. For those of you overseas, don’t worry I’ve got a couple of other giveaways lined up that are open to everyone!

Thanks for all the entries to the Kushiel’s Dart giveaway. Alas, there can only be one winner though, so I’ve randomly picked one person to get the book.

And the winner is…

*drum roll, please*

Rosevibe!

With the comment:

My favourite fantasy series would have to be the Riftwar saga by Raymond E Feist.

It has everything you could wish for in a fantasy series; politics, colourful characters you can empathise with, compelling story with intertwined tales and supportive subplots, magic, time and space/ dimension travel romance and adventure and of course what saga would be complete without epic battles?

It’s the lord of the rings of my time.
..only better.

Enjoy the book, Rosevibe! As for all the other people who entered, I’ll be holding a couple more contests during the next two weeks, so keep an eye out!

I’ve written about how much I love this series, so I thought it would be perfect book to giveaway during Christmas!

To enter, leave a comment behind answering the following: What is your favourite fantasy series? You’ve got until Wednesday 16th 18:00 to enter. Btw, if you re-tweet you get an extra entry!

Anybody is free to enter, as long as there isn’t any weird delivery costs and restrictions.

I’ve randomly picked one winner to receive the pair of tickets to the Batman All-Nighter at the BFI IMAX for this Friday.

And the winner is…

*drum roll, please*

Jinx!

With the comment:

It’s a toss up between The Joker and Catwoman.

The Joker makes evil look effortless and however twisted the lengths he goes, his motivation is born of a certain kind of bitterness we can all relate to. That sort of vulnerability is a villain’s strength, because we all get taken in by it.

Catwoman might just be an Eartha Kitt thing. She made being bad look so good, and got away with doing it clad head to toe in patent leather and stilettos. She’s the perfect antidote to every comics token ‘damsel in distress’ .

Congrats, Jinx! And thanks everyone who entered the contest. There are still tickets available on the BFI website for £26 per person (£16 for students, £18 for concessions).

I love the BFI IMAX guys! They’ve got another cool screening planned and have again offered me a pair of tickets to give away to my dear readers. And this time it’s for a Batman All-Nighter!

It will take place on Friday 20th November, starting at 23:30. Four movies will be screened: the first two ‘old’ Batman movies from Tim Burton (Batman and Batman Returns) and the two new ones by Christopher Nolan (Batman Begins and The Dark Knight). That means you’ll be in the cinema for over 9 hours…

Yeah, that’s pretty long, but I think it will be completely worth it. I was too young when the Tim Burton Batman movies came out and would love to see them on the big screen. Also I never got to see Batman Begins in a large cinema and, well, IMAX is as large as you can get

The rules are the same as usual. Leave a comment behind here answering the following question: “Who is your favourite Batman villain?”. Anybody is free to enter, but you must be able to come down to London on that day to enjoy your prize. The competition ends on Sunday 15th 20:00. The winner will be contacted later that day.

I’ve already arranged my tickets to go and it would be great to see some readers there. There are still tickets available on the BFI website for £26 per person (£16 for students, £18 for concessions).