Well ok ‘suggests’ is a bit strong. Primeval is not a masterpiece by any stretch but it had it’s own appeal as well. Based ‘loosely’ on real events and betrayed totally wrong on TV spots and theatrical Trailers Primeval isn’t the story of a serial killer in the most honest sense. It’s actually a film about a man eating crocodile who has killed over 300 people in the swamplands of Africa.
The story is set to the backdrop of civil war torn Burundi where a killer crocodile is devouring people on a regular basis. A news director at a fictitious television studio decides to send in a team to film and capture the crocodile in time for sweeps.
Posted by Michael Pinto on Jan 13, 2007 in Comic Books
Lunchbox is a new webcomic by Ovi Nedelcu, an illustrator based out of Portland, Oregon. He’s best known right now the Pigtail comic published by Image. Ovi’s new webcomic features a sister/baby brother team, and has a sort of nice Sendak “Where the Wild Things Are” quality to it (minus the monster suits of course). There’s also a hint of the playfulness that you see in Calvin & Hobbes as well. Ovi ‘s draftmanship is A+, and there are already six strips in the series. I can’t wait to see more…
“At a time when it’s near-impossible to launch a new linear cable network, NBC Universal thinks it has a plan: repurposing old content and programming it across digital platforms. The company is planning Chiller, a horror-themed network that will exist as a standard and HD cable channel, a VOD package and a broadband Website.
Chiller, which is slated to launch March 1 and already has carriage on DirecTV, will use for its programming old horror TV shows and movies from the Universal library and others. Titles include the TV shows Twin
Peaks and Tales From the Crypt and movies The Shining, Psycho and The Birds.”
Of course everything old is new again, here are the opening titles from “Chiller Theater” which use to run in NYC during the 60s:
…of course the title designs I remember for the show which were done using claymation animation in the 70s can be found it at the bottom of this webpage:
Posted by Michael Pinto on Jan 12, 2007 in Television
Yo Gabba Gabba! is an amazing kids show that I found on the net a few months ago, well now it looks like it’s set to premiere on Nick Jr. in Fall 2007:
“Super secret sources indicate that Yo Gabba Gabba!, a zany kids’ show produced by Christian Jacobs (The MCBC, duh) and Scott Shultz, has been picked up and will begin airing on Nick Jr. in Fall 2007. The first 20 episodes have been in production for a couple months now and from what I’ve seen so far all is going well in Gabbaland (don’t know what it is called, your guess is as good as mine).
Yo Gabba Gabba! is a revolutionary approach to children’s programming; it combines a HIGHLY imaginative cast of characters and beautiful set design and imagery that stimulates visually with an upbeat focus on learning and creativity. Guest stars will include Biz Markie and Aquabats band members The MC Bat Commander and Ricky Fitness.”
Posted by Michael Pinto on Jan 12, 2007 in Animation
Emelia is a beautifully made computer animated short by Derek Flood, who has been working as an animation director and lead animator for both high end commercials as well as for feature films. “Emelia” tells the story of a five-year-old goth girl and the world as seen through her eyes. This dark and quirky story of redemption takes us into Emelia’s head, letting us see in wild and fantastic images what she feels and thinks internally as she deals with parents, playgrounds, and all the angst and despair that every little goth girl has to deal with.
Posted by Michael Pinto on Jan 12, 2007 in Japanese TV
The Toto Washlet Apricot is the latest in high tech toilet fixtures from Japan, but for some odd reason they’re using a giant chicken and frog mascot in their commercials (but the jingle they use is quite catchy):
Posted by Michael Pinto on Jan 11, 2007 in Star Trek
The History Channel will air a documentary narrated by Leonard Nimoy (Spock) next month about the Star Trek phenomenon. Produced to celebrate the franchise’s 40th anniversary, “Star Trek: Beyond the Final Frontier” features interviews with many of the stars and crew from the four spinoff series, at look at the fandom, and its cultural impact.
Posted by Michael Pinto on Jan 11, 2007 in Television
Fans of the sci-fi and horror genres know who Joss Whedon is. The creator of Buffy the Vampire Slayer and it’s popular spinoff Angel for the WB and UPN had a loyal following built on Joss and his team’s ability to tell stories. When Fox came knocking asking Joss to create a TV show for their network what he presented them with was a hybrid sci fi/western combination called Firefly. From there Fox did everything they could to make the show’s failure a guarantee. From refusing to air the two hour pilot to moving the show around different nights and different times Firefly was doomed to failure without ever being given a chance. After a handful of episodes the series was canceled.
Fans of the show were up in arms. How could Fox do this? How could they not even give Joss and company a chance to show what they could do? A few months later Fox released Firefly as a boxed set and had to be amazed at the way the set sold. It sat at the top of the charts for months, people were giving them as gifts and the word began to spread. This was a damn good show and well worth watching! The storyline was amazing, the characters complex and loveable the villains reminiscent of the Empire from the original Star Wars Trilogy. The cry was loud and it did not go unnoticed.
Posted by Michael Pinto on Jan 10, 2007 in Animation
“Samurai” is a gentle spirited colorfil mini-film created as part of an advertising campiagn for General Electric. The plot of the short “tells a tale of a pint-sized samurai faced with a seemingly impossible challenge as proposed by a behemoth Emperor and his wicked minions.” The short was produced by Three Legged Legs, the LA-based animation collective comprised of Greg Gunn, Casey Hunt and Reza Rasoli.
It’s just what every Hello Kitty fan wants, the KT4560 Hello Kitty Stereo Clock Radio (seen above) also allows kitty fans to dock their pink iPods! It also easy to take that additional cat nap with that ultra big snooze button that’s easy to press with the most sleepy of paws.
Posted by Michael Pinto on Jan 9, 2007 in Animation
Iwao Takamoto had an amazing life, he was born in 1925 in Los Angeles and his family was from Japan. After the bombing of Pearl Harbor his family like many Japanese-Americans, was sent to an internment camp. It was there that Takamoto received basic illustration training from a couple of friendly co-internees. Takamoto got his big break after the end of the war when he was hired as an assistant animator by Walt Disney Studios in 1947:
“Iwao Takamoto, the animator who created the cartoon canine Scooby-Doo as well as characters on such shows as “The Flintstones” and “The Jetsons,” died Monday after suffering a massive coronary, a spokesman said. He was 81. Takamoto died at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles, where he was being treated for respiratory problems, said Gary Miereanu, a spokesman for Warner Bros. Animation.
Takamoto designed Scooby-Doo, his equally famished and cowardly master Shaggy, and their pals Velma, Daphne and Fred in the late 1960s while working at the Hanna-Barbera animation studio. The Great Dane’s name was inspired by an improvised line at the end of Frank Sinatra’s “Strangers in the Night”.”
Last fall Rob Zombie (House of 1,000 Corpses, The Devil’s Rejects) was given the green light to write and direct the next installment of the horror franchise Halloween. Rob wasn’t intrested in doing a sequel to what has become a dead horse. Instead he is going back and retelling how Michael Meyers came to be. Over on the ‘offical Halloween movie blog’ on Myspace Rob has been slowly releasing the cast list for the new movie this is what he has so far.
Dr. Loomis – Malcolm McDowell-This suprised the hell out of me but I think it will end up being a good choice.
Young Michael Myers – Daeg Faerch
Adult Michael Myers – Tyler Mane-Best known as Sabretooth in X-Men he’s a large presence and should fit the role well
Deborah Myers – Sheri Moon Zombie-Well yeah, Sheri is in everything Rob does.
Mason Strode – Pat Skipper
Cynthia Strode – Dee Wallace Stone
Ronnie White – William Forsythe-Another Devil’s Reject he’s going to play the abusive boyfriend to Sheri Moon Zombie’s Mama Myers.
Big Joe – Ken Foree-Yet another Devil’s Reject Cast member a veteran actor who will allways be linked to the original Dawn of the Dead in my mind.
Nole Kluggs – Lew Temple
Ismael Cruz – Danny Trejo
Many of the main characters have yet to be announced including: Laurie, Annie, Lynda, Judith, Sheriff Brackett, Kendall Jacks, Grant Clark, Principle Erics, Councilman Edwards, Lindsey Wallace, Tommy Doyle, Deputy Charles, Dr. Koplenson, Barbara Florentine and Morgan Walker
As a fanboy of the horror genre and a huge Rob Zombie mark I can not wait for this movie.
Richard Carroll is an avid movie viewer and all around fanboy. You can probably find him at his computer playing Guild Wars when not watching,writing, reading or roleplaying something (Oh and then there’s the real world and work). Check out some of his written works at www.ficofthedead.com. A website in need of a webmaster to ensure it gets updated. (Any takers? Anyone? *grins*)
“Given the cold dry conditions of Mars, life could have evolved on Mars with the key internal fluid consisting of a mix of water and hydrogen peroxide, said Schulze-Makuch. That’s because a water-hydrogen peroxide mix stays liquid at very low temperatures, or -68 degrees Fahrenheit, and doesn’t destroy cells when it freezes. It can suck water vapor out of the air.
The Viking experiments of the 1970s wouldn’t have noticed hydrogen peroxide-based life and, in fact, would have killed it by drowning and overheating the microbes, said Schulze-Makuch. One Viking experiment seeking life on Mars poured water on soil. That would have essentially drowned hydrogen peroxide-based life, he said. And different experiment heated the soil to see if something would happen which would have baked Martian microbes.”
Posted by Michael Pinto on Jan 7, 2007 in Animation
Banga is an orange flavored fruit beverage from France. This vintage commercial from 1980 features six island girls and their pet monkey singing the praises of their favorite drink:
It’s a sad for fanboys the world over, Momofuku Ando the inventor of instant noodles has died in Japan. But on the positive side he often ate his noodles and lived to the age of 96, although I don’t think that still qualifies ramen as “health food”:
“Mr Ando was born in Taiwan in 1910 and moved to Japan in 1933, founding Nissin Food Products Co after World War II to provide cheap food for the masses. His most famous product, Cup Noodle, was released in 1971.
Mr Ando said the inspiration for his product came when he saw people lining up to buy bowls of hot ramen noodle soup at a black market stall during the food shortages after World War II. He developed his first instant noodles, Chicken Ramen, in 1958.”
