Posted by Michael Pinto on Nov 27, 2011 in
Cinema,
Science 
While reading an interesting interview with a medical ethicist and I was suddenly struck by how much this premise reminded me of the 1982 classic film Blade Runner: “Do you think that granting corporations the rights of people in the Citizens United case is disturbing? Then contemplate the fact that corporations have been patenting human genes and tissues at alarming rates — in the last 30 years, more than 40,000 patents have been granted on genes alone.” Read more…
Tags: Blade Runner
Posted by Michael Pinto on Nov 10, 2011 in
Cinema 
I just came across this amazing short film made by Stargate Studios which is a tribute to Blade Runner. If they had done nothing but the opening animation here I would have been blown away, but they took it to the next step and work with some live actors. If you’re a film snob it’s too easy to forget that the original film was done on a budget of $28 million, but just remember that what you’re seeing here was done with no budget and you’ll be impressed: Read more…
Tags: Blade Runner, Ridley Scott
Posted by Tim Sheehy on Nov 7, 2011 in
Cinema 
Many of us were psyched when Ridley Scott announced plans for an upcoming film set in the Blade Runner universe, but until recently, news has scarce. In an interview with the Wall Street Journal, Scott gave us a bit of an update regarding the project. In addition to stating that it’ll be the next film on his plate, Scott hinted that the film would actually serve chronological sequel, though it won’t feature any of the original cast, or even the character of Richard Deckard. I’m not sure how I feel about that, especially since the first film left so many unanswered questions. The film, of course, was loosely based on the Phillip K. Dick novel, Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? and while there have been several novelized sequels that try to bridge the gap between the two, it’s hard for anyone to really consider them cannon. Considering this new film will take the series in a new direction, I wonder if we’ll ever see a proper sequel. Still, it’s pretty awesome that we’re even going to get one in the first place.
Read more…
Tags: Blade Runner, Ridley Scott
Posted by Michael Pinto on Aug 19, 2011 in
Cinema
Ridley Scott is not just a brilliant director but a great storyteller — and to me that’s why him trying to make a new Blade Runner film is a waste of time. What made Blade Runner so brilliant was that Scott made it in the early 80s when everyone’s idea of science fiction was Star Wars. While Alien was a bleak film, it still had that off in the distant future feeling to it — on the other hand Blade Runner seemed like something that could take in your lifetime. And the film drove home that point by making use of 40s film noir and punk rock. Read more…
Tags: Blade Runner
Posted by Michael Sacco on May 28, 2011 in
Cinema 
Ridley Scott’s Blade Runner is a scifi staple, and its unique look continues to be an inspiration for other genre works. But it’s just a movie, made by real people, which is easy to forget. Periodically we’ll get some behind-the-scenes footage or photos that help us put film production into perspective, though, like these Blade Runner set Polaroids from actress Sean Young, who played Rachel in the film. If you want to see Harrison Ford making googly eyes at a camera, or just want to see Sean looking particularly glamorous, her collection is definitely worth a look. Read more…
Tags: Blade Runner
Posted by Michael Sacco on Mar 5, 2011 in
Cinema 
Alcon Entertainment, an investment group owned by Warner Brothers, recently acquired the rights to create new Blade Runner films, though it appears the films must be prequels or sequels, thus ruling out unnecessary remakes. This could be good news for fans of the original Blade Runner, or it could put you into a state of abject terror. Sequels to older movies generally don’t work that well. The good news is, there’s still a lot of time for popular opinion to coalesce – it doesn’t appear that the rights-owners have the slightest idea what kind of film they want to make right now, what material it would feature, anything like that. It’s almost comforting that no one involved with the project has yet piped up and said “I was thinking the best way to make this movie would be to add GIANT REPLICANTS. Squid replicants, dinosaur replicants. Transforming car replicants. That’s Blade Runner, man.” Read more…
Tags: Blade Runner
Posted by Michael Pinto on Dec 20, 2009 in
Cinema 
On paper it sounds like a good idea: Why not take the Philip K. Dick book Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep and make a graphic novel out of it? And that’s what BOOM! Studios has been trying to do for about seven issues of this comic book and they just can’t get it right. I’ve been looking at the previews for a while and something has always set me off about them. Then it struck with this latest issue — this isn’t a graphic novel based upon the novel, but a bad xerox copy of Blade Runner which was the famous film which was based upon the novel. Read more…
Tags: Blade Runner, Boom! Studios, Ridley Scott
Posted by Michael Pinto on Jul 18, 2009 in
Cinema,
Design 
On this day in 1933 visual futurist Syd Mead was born in Saint Paul, Minnesota. He started his career in 1959 working for Ford Motor Company, but for us fanboys our love affair with his work really starts 70s when he started to make the jump from slick looking industrial design to science fiction. His early film work in Hollywood includes credits on the film Star Trek: The Motion Picture, 2010, Tron, Aliens and even the comedy Short Circuit (yes that was his robot design!). However his triumph for me was his preproduction work on Blade Runner: Read more…
Tags: Blade Runner, Science Fiction, Syd Mead
Posted by Michael Pinto on Dec 8, 2008 in
Science 
It might be quite a leap from going to making synthetic single celled creatures by 2011 to full blown Blade Runner replicants by 2019 — but it does make one wonder if we might see that Brave New World of genetic engineering in our lifetime: Read more…
Tags: Artificial Life, Blade Runner
