Love Nina Dating Game
Posted by Michael Pinto on Nov 4, 2006 in Videogames
No it’s not “Love Hina” but a game based on her long lost anime sister Nina!
Preview of 28 Weeks Later
Posted by Michael Pinto on Nov 3, 2006 in Horror
Here’s footage of 28 Weeks Later, a sequel to 28 Days Later (Zombie fun):
First Look at 28 Weeks Later, sequel to 28 Days Later
Tintin’s Cars
Posted by Michael Pinto on Nov 3, 2006 in Comic Books
This is a great webpage that has quite a few illustrations of cars shown in Tintin and their real world models:
Pretz Commercials
Posted by Michael Pinto on Nov 2, 2006 in Japanese TV
Like their chocolate flavored cousins Pocky, Pretz are long and thin breadstick-like snacks that have the same kind of crunch as a pretzel stick. Here’s a pretty happening Marilyn Monroe inspired commercial for them which stars J-Pop idol singerAyaya:
Mad Max 4?
Posted by Michael Pinto on Nov 2, 2006 in Cinema
Bad news campers, it looks like the powers that be are set to make another Mad Max movie! I’d like to see Tina Turner be cast in the lead role this time:
Mad Max Director George Miller On Mad Max 4
“Mad Max 4 is so prepared, there seems to be a lot of momentum for it to get done. Right now, I’ve got another, smaller film to do, and then we’ll gear up and do “Mad Max” again. In what form and so on, I don’t know. But it hasn’t gotten stale in the meantime, and I’m very very keen to do it. It seems like there’s the appetite out there.”
Michael J. Nelson’s RiffTrax
Posted by Michael Pinto on Nov 1, 2006 in Cinema, Television
Mystery Science Theater 3000 fansboys should check out RiffTrax, from MST3 head writer Michael J. Nelson. His site allows you to buy a MST3esque mp3 files that you can play along while you’re watching a movie. The tracks are pretty cheap and so far he’s covered the Matrix and has plans to cover the first Star Wars movie:
Michael J. Nelson’s RiffTrax.com
“Do you feel that some of the movies coming out of Hollywood are just, well, missing something? At RiffTrax, you can download Mike’s running commentaries and listen to them along with your favorite, and not so favorite DVDs. It’s like watching a movie with your funniest friend. And it’s easy to do. Don’t just sit back and take whatever Hollywood throws at you. Transform the DVD experience with RiffTrax. It’s the most fun you’ll ever have at the movies.”
Space Yogurt
Posted by Michael Pinto on Nov 1, 2006 in Science
“The Dregs of Sake” sounds like it would be a great name for a band (or a fun drinking game):
Space Yogurt Made With Astro-Bacteria
“Space Yogurt from Himawari Dairy is now available in Japan. Himawari Dairy, a Kochi-area dairy manufacturer, reserved a seat aboard a Soyuz rocket that took off from Baikonur Cosmodrome this spring. The “passengers” were two strains of bacteria: lactic acid bacteria used in ordinary yogurt and a unique strain of Lactobacillus paracasei cultured from pickles preserved in the dregs of sake (called sake lees), which is thought to enhance the body’s immunity to disease.
Cosmic radiation was expected to have an effect on the bacteria. “Lactic acid bacteria is delicate, so we are looking forward to seeing what happens,” says company president Bunjiro Yoshizawa. “It will be nice if space travel improves the yogurt’s flavor and boosts its immunity-enhancing properties”.”
This who can read Japanese should visit the Himawari Dairy website.
Lunatic at Large
Posted by Michael Pinto on Nov 1, 2006 in Cinema
It looks like they might make a film based on an old Stanley Kubrick script:
After Death, My Sweet: From an Idea by Kubrick, a New Film May Be Born
“Stanley Kubrick never threw anything away. On the other hand, he didn’t have much of a filing system, and when he moved — permanently, it turned out — from Hollywood to London in 1962, a great many things went astray. Among them was the sole copy of a film treatment called “Lunatic at Large,” which Mr. Kubrick had commissioned in the late ’50s from the noir pulp novelist Jim Thompson, with whom he had worked on “The Killing,” a 1956 bank-heist story that became his first successful feature, and then on 1957’s “Paths of Glory.” The manuscript remained lost until after Mr. Kubrick’s death, in 1999, when his son-in-law, Philip Hobbs, working with an archivist, turned it up, along with a couple of other scripts, and set about trying to make it into a movie.”
…Part of me will always be somewhat let down that Kubrick didn’t a chance to create a few more films before he passed away, but on the other hand if they give a project to thi sto the right director you might get a bit of magic. In fact when AI came out I hated it because it wasn’t directed by Kubrick, but the more I think back to it the more I like it.
Below: Kubrick on the left and noir pulp novelist Jim Thompson on the right.
Nodame Cantabile
Posted by Michael Pinto on Oct 31, 2006 in Japanese TV
Episodes of the Japanese comedy/drama Nodame Cantabile (のだめカンタービレ) are now up on YouTube:
Some background info from Wikipedia:
“Shinichi Chiaki is the top piano student at his university and an excellent violinist, but Chiaki doesn’t care about playing these instruments as much as he dreams of someday being a conductor. Chiaki, however, has several deeply rooted fears about traveling, and so finds himself “trapped” in Japan. Because he’s trapped, Chiaki starts to question exactly how far he can possibly go in music, especially when he’s passed over again and again for others he thinks are less worthy of musical scholarship and fame.”
Here in the states Del Rey has also come out with the manga version which inspired the tv show:
Vampires are a Mathematical Impossibility
Posted by Michael Pinto on Oct 31, 2006 in Science
I think herr professor Efthimiou lacks imagination:
Vampires a Mathematical Impossibility, Scientist Says
“University of Central Florida physics professor Costas Efthimiou’s work debunks pseudoscientific ideas, such as vampires and zombies, in an attempt to enhance public literacy. Not only does the public believe in such topics, but the percentages are at dangerously high level, Efthimiou told LiveScience. Legend has it that vampires feed on human blood and once bitten a person turns into a vampire and starts feasting on the blood of others.
Efthimiou’s debunking logic: On Jan 1, 1600, the human population was 536,870,911. If the first vampire came into existence that day and bit one person a month, there would have been two vampires by Feb. 1, 1600. A month later there would have been four, and so on. In just two-and-a-half years the original human population would all have become vampires with nobody left to feed on.”
Fate/Stay Night Toys
Posted by Michael Pinto on Oct 30, 2006 in Hobbies and Collections
I stumbled across this great clip of a Fate/Stay Night toy from Japan:
So I then did a bit research and came across this cute smoker-friendly doll based on the Fate/Stay Night:
Here’s some background info:
“Fate/stay night (フェイト／ステイナイト?) is a Japanese visual novel game created by TYPE-MOON in 2004 that has been adapted into an anime television series by Studio Deen. There is also a manga series, currently serialized in the monthly Shōnen Ace magazine. It has enjoyed immense popularity, especially in Japan, spawning numerous adaptations, merchandise, memorabilia and amassing an extensive fanbase around the world.”
Ewok Annihilation
Posted by Michael Pinto on Oct 29, 2006 in Star Wars, Videogames
Hate Ewoks? You’re going to love this game!
Vintage Halloween Photos
Posted by Michael Pinto on Oct 29, 2006 in Hobbies and Collections
Flickr has a great group for vintage Halloween artwork and photos:
NYC’s Village Halloween Parade
Posted by Michael Pinto on Oct 28, 2006 in Hobbies and Collections
If you’re a fanboy near NYC this is the Halloween event to check out:
New York’s Village Halloween Parade
“This year marks the 33rd Annual New York’s Village Halloween Parade. Started by a Greenwich Village mask maker and puppeteer in 1973, the Parade began as a walk from house to house in his neighborhood for his children and their friends.”
Pocket Wookie
Posted by Michael Pinto on Oct 28, 2006 in Hobbies and Collections, Star Wars
Pocket Wookie likes the ladies and has more fun than you:
Joy World
Posted by Michael Pinto on Oct 27, 2006 in Videogames
A very odd fantasy themed game from Korea in which you have to kill a lobster:
Science & Society Picture Library
Posted by Michael Pinto on Oct 27, 2006 in Hobbies and Collections
This is an amazing collection of photos to explore:
The Science & Society Picture Library
“SSPL represents over a million images from the Science Museum, the National Museum of Photography, Film & Television and the National Railway Museum. With over 50,000 images digitised, and dedicated staff available to help you research others, you are sure to find the right image. Our collections include 4000 personalities, the Daily Herald and Manchester Daily Express archives, and the work of Julia Margaret Cameron, William Henry Fox Talbot and Tony Ray-Jones.”
Below: A great photo of H.G. Wells.
The First Monster Musical
Posted by Michael Pinto on Oct 26, 2006 in Horror
Because incredible is the word for this 1964 film:
The Incredibly Strange Creatures Who Stopped Living
and Became Mixed-Up Zombies
“The Incredibly Strange Creatures Who Stopped Living and Became Mixed-Up Zombies (sometimes “!!?” is appended to the title) is a 1964 monster film written and directed by Ray Dennis Steckler. Steckler also starred in the film, billed under the pseudonym “Cash Flagg”. In this film, three friends visit a carnival and stumble into a cult of occultists and disfigured monsters. Produced on a $38,000 budget, much of it takes place at The Pike amusement park in Long Beach, California, which resembles Brooklyn’s Coney Island. The film was billed as the first “monster musical” (beating The Horror of Party Beach by a mere month in release date).”
Star Wars 30th Birthday: May 25, 2007
Posted by Michael Pinto on Oct 26, 2006 in Star Wars
There’s a move to celebrate May 25th next year as “The Universal Day of the Jedi” to celebrate the 30th birthday of Star Wars. What’s even cooler yet is there is a big Star Wars convention being planned to mark the day:
Star Wars Celebration IV in Los Angeles To Mark 30th Anniversary of Saga
“To celebrate the 30th Anniversary of Star Wars, Lucasfilm Ltd. and Gen Con LLC will throw the largest party ever for fans of the saga, taking over the entire Los Angeles Convention Center in May 2007 for five days filled with live entertainment, celebrities from all six movies, special film and video presentations, an exhibit of movie props and costumes, exclusive merchandise sold at a 24-hour-a-day store, pop culture tributes, immersive events, costume contests, and scores of additional activities.
Star Wars Celebration IV will fill the L.A. Convention Center from Thursday, May 24 to Monday, May 28, 2007. Admission to the first day of the event will be for worldwide members of the Official Star Wars Fan Club, many of whom will help plan and run special programming themselves. The convention will be open to the general public from Friday through Monday, Memorial Day.”
Below (left to right): Lucas makes the cover of Time magazine in 1983, Lucas directing the first Star Wars, and an 8 track tape from the 70s!
Rashomon on Google Video
Posted by Michael Pinto on Oct 25, 2006 in Cinema
It’s great to see a Kurosawa classic on the small screen:
This film is Akira Kurosawa’s adaptation of Ryunosuke Akutagawa’s short story dealing with the subjectivy of eyewitness evidence in the solving of a crime. In July 2006, a Japanese court euled that all Japanese films produced before 1953, including this one, are part of the Public Domain.
South Park Flash Game
Posted by Michael Pinto on Oct 25, 2006 in Videogames
Straight from the second season of South Park, someone has lit a giant snake firework and now it’s wrecking havoc. It’s up to YOU to save the town… or, alternatively, to take out townspeople yourself… or both:
South Park Flash Game: Snake Blast
Sesame Street: First 5 Seasons on DVD
Posted by Michael Pinto on Oct 25, 2006 in Animation