When I came across the above photo I was blown away: I’ve seen Metropolis and looked at so many stills — yet I never came across a image that represented so well the amazing amount of work that went into this film. So I set on a quest to locate other behind-the-scenes glimpses of the work that Fritz Lang did before he fled Germany in 1933: Read more…
The irony of this Back to the Future Lights and Sound Mark I Delorean is that while it doesn’t have the ability to travel into the future just looking at the photo takes me back to 1985. And the strange thing about the 80s was that there was a very self aware consciousness that the decade had its own unique style and look — which I think that may be the real reason why they picked the DeLorean DMC-12 (1981–1982) as their time machine of choice. Of course to quote Dr. Emmett Brown in the film his reason was “The way I see it, if you’re gonna build a time machine into a car, why not do it with some style? ” Read more…
Recently while a good friend was telling me about the advantages of seeing Avatar in 3D IMAX over just plain 3D I couldn’t help but mention how much I hated “the plot” of the film. My friend then challenged me that while the twists-and-turns of the Na’vi may have been overly predictable that in fact the first Star Wars film was just as telegraphed. Read more…
For about the past week all across Manhattan I’ve been spotting giant billboards for the upcoming Mel Gibson film The Edge of Darkness. And looking at this poster every day I couldn’t help but think “what the hell were they thinking?” Mel’s last public performance was being arrested after driving drunk and then uttering some not so nice words. So you’d think that Mel would want to put this sad episode behind him — yet his poster taunts us with the tagline “Some Secrets Take Us to the Edge”. Read more…
I have to say that one of my bigger disappointments of seeing Avatar wasn’t just the lack of plot in Avatar itself, but the uninspiring trailer for Tim Burton’s Alice in Wonderland which made me heartbroken. Now there’s a chance that the trailer was rushed, and I hope that’s the case because I’m a Burton fanboy and would trust him to get the animation right. Although looking at the above featurette I’m still on the fence.
Above: The painting Dennis Hopper 1971 by Andy Warhol.
It’s with great sadness that I was just reading that Dennis Hopper is struggling with cancer and may be on the brink of death. Sadly the gossip hounds are focused on his announced divorce — but instead of doing that I’d rather pay tribute to an iconic actor who has dominated so many films with his larger-than-life personality. Although I should add that in addition to be an actor that Hopper is also a gifted photographer — here’s an amazing shot he took in the 60s of Andy Warhol and crew hanging out at the Factory : Read more…
I’ll be honest: I’m not quite sure what the functionality of this Pikachu USB Computer Companion actually does. Although one might divine that if you’re any sort of self respecting Pokémon fan that you’ll need this office toy: Read more…
The 80s seems like such a distant era these days and part of the reason was that there was just so little media in that era. Cable television was just starting to take off, but it was a very niche and the America wasn’t even on AOL yet. So there were so very venues for alternative culture aside from perhaps MTV and a few publications. However after Johnny Carson, the David Letterman show was a special oasis of culture. It was based out of New York City so it had a very different vibe, and the guests were much more off the beaten path. Read more…
The above fan mashed video kit bashes together the Dr. Who spacial The Waters of Mars with classic 70s sci fi series Space:1999. What this video reminds me of is just how well the opening titles of Space:1999 hold up — that powerful combination of the music and editing still hold up today.
On paper 2010 has all of the ingredients of a great film: A story by Arthur C. Clarke, a cast that includes A+ actors like John Lithgow, Helen Mirren and Roy Scheider — and then add to that you’ve got a visual genius like Syd Mead working on the production design. Even more impressive is the fact that as a genre hard science fiction films represent a blank canvas of possibilities. Yet as a film fanboy (who loves science fiction) I hated every frame of it. Read more…
The good news: Hollywood won’t ruin this film! The bad news: There isn’t a very strong tradition in Japan for making live action science fiction films. Mind you I’m not saying that this can’t be done, but the odds are against you. So given that I’ve got to say as an ancient Star Blazers fans that this trailer has me much more excited than the animated film that came out this year, which to be fair got better review than I expected. Here’s a screen-by-screen breakdown of my thoughts: Read more…
The problem with being a Christmas baby is that your birthday is forever ignored: Although that can give some motivation to stand out in life and become a success. Here are just a few remarkable talents who have shared their birthdays with the day that everyone else is getting gifts: Read more…
When I came across the above photo I was blown away: I’ve seen Metropolis and looked at so many stills — yet I never came across a image that represented so well the amazing amount of work that went into this film. So I set on a quest to locate other behind-the-scenes glimpses of the work that Fritz Lang did before he fled Germany in 1933: Read more… 
