Awesome Leisure

If speed and films (but not necessarily Keanu) are your cup of tea, come on down to New York Jr.  for the Windie City Shooutout. Chicago’s premier 72-hr film race with $25k in prizes takes place 8/12-15.

If you showed up on time for the latest Harry Potter flick, you’ve probably already seen this. But for the rest of you, it’s time to whet your whistle for the grand finale of the current Batman series.

A surreal mix of stop-motion animation composited with a live actor, Lizzie Oxby’s engrossing, award-winning short film was originally released in 2003, but you can catch the entire thing online right now.

Based on the classic camp horror flick, Charley Brewster (Anton Yelchin) stumbles onto the secret that his neighbor Jerry (Colin Farrell) is a vampire, hell-bent on feasting on his friends and neighbors.

Shark Week’s coming up fast, but don’t believe all the media hype. As Christina Zenato here shows us, sharks aren’t really the ruthless killing machines Hollywood wants you to believe.

Shot in a single day in 2010 by thousands of individuals across the globe, editor Kyle Ruddick is now combining over 3000 hours of film into an epic documentary of our incredible, diverse planet.

Absolut’s small-batch premium vodka is made using a restored 1929 copper rectification still, producing ever-so-subtle fruit and floral notes not found in other pure vodkas.

The Gregory Brothers have built a career out of songifying. Now with their free iOS app, you can try your hand at songifying too. It auto-tunes audio and even adds music to it! Success not included.

Chess can be a slow-paced game, establish some urgency by making your pieces out of ice. And when you’re sick of playing, just use freeze some extra game pieces to chill your drinks.

WALL-E’s Andrew Stanton directs his first live-action film, the story of John Carter and his mysterious journey to the planet of Barsoom – the native word for “Mars” for the Martians living there.

The music streaming, sharing and purchasing service that’s taken Europe by storm finally comes to the States. Spotify users enjoy access to millions of tracks on multiple platforms, including mobile.

From the founder of swissmiss comes a hip new store for temporary tattoos. Since Tattly is online, people can easily submit designs, so pretty soon there’ll be something for everyone.

If you’re like us, your crazy fantasy of leaving on a cross-country bike trek just got a little crazier thanks to Topeak’s Bikamper. It’s a personal shelter that uses your bike in place of tent-poles.

YouTuber purplefinale gives us a front row seat on the Takabisha, one of the rides at the Fuji-Q Highland amusement park. Its 121º freefall angle makes it the world’s steepest roller coaster.

Johnny Depp’s whipsmart turn as a chameleon may not have been as kid-friendly as some animation, but Gore Verbinski’s PG flick is fun for adults with its sophisticated humor and quirky animation style.

Too busy to take the time off to go on a cruise? That’s okay, if you can spare just 5 minutes out of your busy day, that’s all you’ll need to take the express 134 hour tour of Norway’s Hurtigruten.

Director Alejandro Bruges injects life into zombie flicks. Juan de los Muertos is the story of a slacker in the middle of a zombie uprising, and a commentary on the Cuban way of life.

This nasty new biological weapon is capable of infecting enemies and turning them into contagious plague bombs to spread their ailment to others. Reminds us of Halo’s Flood except in gun form.

Jörg Sprave shows off his new creations. The big star here is his strongest, most accurate and thus most lethal slingshot crossbow yet, with 22mm thick rubber tubes and an assault rifle scope.

The Drunk Kitchen is good for laughs, but if you want to watch a real pro check out Vincent Talleu as he makes croissants and other pastries. You’ll be craving for bread by the end of the video.

The Far Cry series gets another round of graphical and gameplay upgrades. Ubisoft Montreal gives us a brief glimpse at the game’s skill point system, lush surroundings, and an awesome zipline kill.

(NSFW) If the 2-minute demo of Bioshock Infinite was too much of a tease for you, here’s a treat. It’s the full 15-minute demo shown to insiders at E3, and explains why it swept the awards at the show.

Written and directed by David Robert Mitchell, The Myth of the American Sleepover is a tribute to the confusing, romantic and just generally crazy days and nights that many of us had as teens.