Voltron coming to Adult Swim
Posted by Michael Pinto on Nov 11, 2006 in Animation
Tron Inspired Commercial
Posted by Michael Pinto on Nov 10, 2006 in Cinema
Check out this cool Honda commercial inspired by Tron:
Watchmen Movie
Posted by Michael Pinto on Nov 10, 2006 in Comic Books
It looks like they are turning Watchmen into a film at long last, I hope they do a good job of it:
“Zack Snyder, who will direct an upcoming film version of Alan Moore’s seminal graphic novel Watchmen, told SCI FI Wire that Warner Brothers likes his take on the material, which goes back to the source for its inspiration, closely following the original 1985 setting and alternate-history American mileu in which Richard Nixon is still president. That faithfulness to the graphic novel, which has been famously considered unadaptable to film, ironically, provided the key to unlocking the script, Snyder said.”
The Shape of Things to Come
Posted by Michael Pinto on Nov 9, 2006 in Cinema
This is one of my favorite classic science fiction movies, it’s not quite as cool as Metropolis but on the plus side H.G. Wells did the script and the soundtrack and special effects are very well done:
“Things to Come is a 1936 British science fiction film, produced by Alexander Korda and directed by William Cameron Menzies. The screenplay was written by H. G. Wells and is a loose adaptation of his own 1933 novel The Shape of Things to Come. The film stars Raymond Massey.
Plot: On the Christmas Eve of 1940, war begins as the city of Everytown is bombed. The war lasts 66 years, during which time civilization falls into anarchy. Eventually the warlord who calls himself The Boss emerges to establish brutish control over the chaos. But then a scientific group called Wings Over the World emerges and is able to quash the regime of The Boss using a peace gas. The scientists then set about building a shining white new scientific Utopia on the ruins of the old civilization. In the year 2036, the culmination of the new society’s scientific vision is the launching of the first Moon shot.”
The Yip-Yips meet the Computer
Posted by Michael Pinto on Nov 8, 2006 in Television
This is a classic clip of the Yip-Yipsfrom Sesame Street discovering an old school computer in 1987:
Silent Aircraft
Posted by Michael Pinto on Nov 8, 2006 in Science
I’ve always dreamed of seeing a science fiction looking delta winged aircraft become reality:
‘Silent aircraft’: How it works
“Engineers from the University of Cambridge and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology have unveiled a radical design for a “silent aircraft”.
The team says any noise from the concept aircraft, known as the SAX-40, would be “imperceptible” beyond the boundaries of an airport. It would also burn far less fuel than conventional planes. The design is the result of three years’ work and includes both new and existing technologies.”
Pulp Fiction Prequel Details Emerging
Posted by Michael Pinto on Nov 7, 2006 in Cinema
Part of me wonders if this is just a bad idea, it’s been ten years since Pulp Fiction and I’m not sure if Travolta could pull off a prequel. And I’m assuming of course that it would have to be a prequal as the Travolta character got killed off in Pulp Fiction. Of course if there is a person who could come up with a creative solution it would be Tarantino:
TarantinoWatch: Viva the Vega Borthers?
“One of the projects that I think most of us have given up on long ago was the sequel to Pulp Fiction focusing on the Vic and Vincent Vega, played by John Travolta and Michael Madsen. It turns out that Madsen himself hasn’t given up hope, and he tells me that QT has approached him with a story concept that could make a movie happen.
Last week I got on the phone with Madsen to talk about the 15th anniversary DVD of Reservoir Dogs (which is coming a year early) and the new Reservoir Dogs video game, and I took the chance to grill him on various upcoming projects. He brought up the Vega Bros movie, something I would never have even thought to ask about.”
Madness Combat: Antipathy
Posted by Michael Pinto on Nov 7, 2006 in Videogames
This is the sixth Flash game which has goth cartoon look to it:
Monster a-Go Go
Posted by Michael Pinto on Nov 6, 2006 in Horror
Cosmic radiation AND pretty girls! Something for everyone from 1965:
“Monster A Go-Go has an unusual, perhaps even unique, production history. Director Bill Rebane ran out of money while making the film. Lewis, who needed a second film to show with his own feature, Moonshine Mountain, bought the film, added a few extra scenes and some dialogue, and then released it, creating an odd, disjointed film with little continuity. The film is infamous among those who have seen it for its incomprehensible “non-ending”.”
Star Wars: The Lost Scene
Posted by Michael Pinto on Nov 5, 2006 in Star Wars
It’s the famous lost scene with Biggs from the original Star Wars! But now that I’ve seen it I think it’s a good Lucas cut it from the film – it’s pretty lame stuff:
Massara Blue Jeans
Posted by Michael Pinto on Nov 4, 2006 in Fandom
It’s the dance craze that’s sweeping the net:
So what is this?
まっさらブルージーンズ (Romaji: Massara Blue Jeans; English: Brand New Blue Jeans) is an Indie-Single of the Hello! Project group °C-ute. The single was released on 2006-05-06 at the second to last date of the Morning Musume Concert Tour 2006 Haru ~Rainbow Seven~, where °C-ute opened the show. It is also on sale at Fanclub Events and at the Hello! Project store.
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.
