Two Word Reviews: Get Smart
Posted by Michael Pinto on Jul 27, 2007 in Cinema, Television
And just in case you don’t belive me:
Was that suppose to be funny?
Hollywood Discovers the Fanboy Factor
Posted by Michael Pinto on Jul 26, 2007 in Fandom
This is an interesting article from USA Today on how Hollywood is now trying to figure out what fanboys want to watch:
Whoever Fanboy is, he has plenty of power
“Who is Fanboy? And more importantly, what does he want with Hollywood? Studio executives know he’s out there, somewhere. Stealing scripts. Pirating films. Firing off reviews before a movie opens. Befriending Snakes on a Plane on the Internet, only to crush it in theaters. Quietly marshaling forces behind 300 to make it the surprise hit of the year.
For all the alter egos and caped conventioneers who will populate this weekend’s Comic-Con gathering in San Diego, only Fanboy’s true identity gnaws at the movie honchos who annually prowl the nation’s largest comic-book convention looking for the next pop hit.
Each year, the suits follow his trail, trying to determine what Fanboy will champion, defend or vanquish. Usually, they come back empty-handed. “I know he’s real, because he makes my job harder,” says Marvin Levy of DreamWorks, which had the geek smash Transformers. “But trying to figure out who he is and what he wants to see will keep you up at night”.”
…I”ll give a hint to the powers that be: Just make some damn good films for a change!
Muppets Move to Atlanta
Posted by Michael Pinto on Jul 26, 2007 in Hobbies and Collections
It’s funny before this I never heard of the Center for Puppetry Arts, but it sounds like they’ll be worth a visit for fanboys traveling to Atlanta:
Retired Muppets Will Move to Atlanta
“Time’s fun when you’re having flies, Kermit the Frog once said. And how time has flown: Kermit, or more precisely one of the many puppets that have played Kermit, will be retired to Atlanta on Wednesday, part of a major gift being made by the Jim Henson Foundation.
The flippered phenom, who began life as a scrap of fabric cut from a green coat discarded by Jim Henson’s mother, will be presented to the Center for Puppetry Arts here. He is a symbol of a large gift of Mr. Henson’s work that will be donated to the center and exhibited in a planned Jim Henson Wing, said Cheryl Henson, president of the Jim Henson Foundation.
Ms. Henson, Jim Henson’s second-oldest daughter, and Jane Henson, her mother and Mr. Henson’s first performing partner, expected to be in Atlanta on Wednesday to announce the gift: 500 to 700 puppets, including some of the first Muppets built; props; scenic elements; posters; sketches; and drawings that Mr. Henson created for shows like “The Muppet Show,” “Sesame Street,” “Fraggle Rock” and “Sam and Friends” (where the Muppets first appeared). Cheryl Henson has also pledged $1 million of her own money to the center.”
Happy Birthday Mr. Kubrick
Posted by Michael Pinto on Jul 26, 2007 in Cinema
78 years ago today Stanley Kubrick was born in New York City, and cinema would never be the same again. It sounds selfish but I remember that upon hearing that he had passed away in 1999 that my first emotion was of being cheated out of looking ahead to his next film. Kubrick was always cloaked in secrecy and waiting ten years between film always seemed to add to the anticipation of what was to come.
Here are a few of my recent random thoughts on Kubrick:
Barry Lyndon: I feel like this film has been over looked, yet it has so much to say about life. I’ll always channel surf and come across the Shining and Full Metal Jacket, but never Barry Lyndon. The blame on this one may go to fanboys who prefer science fiction and horror flicks, but as someone who loves cinema I have to say that this film is true gem.
Eyes Wide Shut: Now that I look back on it, the only problem with this film was Cruise and Kidman. Cruise did a great job acting in Magnolia and Kidman was A+ in the Hours, but their lack of chemistry seemed to ruin Eyes Wide Shut for me. Then again I also feel that Leonardo DiCaprio has ruined every recent Martin Scorsese fim.
A.I.: Artificial Intelligence: Looking back on it I think Steven Spielberg did a great job directing this film, I think his only sin was releasing it so soon after Kubrick passed away. I wonder of this film came out today if it wouldn’t get a bit more respect? Even though it looks like a Spielberg it does feel very produced by Kubrick. I think as time goes by this film will get more respect.
Hello Kitty Robot
Posted by Michael Pinto on Jul 25, 2007 in Hobbies and Collections
Danger Will Robinson! This Hello Kitty Robot looks like it might chant “Cute! Crush! Destroy!” It’s also going to cost Kitty fanboys and fangurls a pretty penny too, each robot is $6,299.99 (but they are available for presale right away):
“Hello Kitty had release this fabulous Hello Kitty Robo. This robot can communicate with your using the Hello Kitty’s voice. It can chat with you in 3 different situations: 1 As a close friend; 2 With the family; 3 Guessing game. This is a perfect robot for whoever does not have a lot time to stay with child. Hello Kitty Robo can help you to stay with your child to keep them from being lonely.”
Found via GeekAlerts.
The Best Sneaker Commercial I’ve Ever Seen…
Posted by Michael Pinto on Jul 25, 2007 in Animation
The above commercial was created for Nike by Takeo Hatai:
“Takeo Hatai has been in animation and computer graphics for more than 16 years. He directs his first TV commercial in 1997 for MTV which won several awards and nominations such as Siggraph or the Japanese Computer Grand Prix and decide to go abroad in 1999 in the search of “something else”. Having directed 3 commercial films for Bouygue Telecom by that time, he goes to Paris where he decides to reside. Now he directs commercial films for names such as Honda, Nike and Shiseido from “Le Pivot” his 3D post-production studio based in Paris and produces digital art in his spare time.”
If you can read Japanese his blog is here.
Pug Vader
Posted by Michael Pinto on Jul 24, 2007 in Star Wars
Just admit it, you think this is cute!
Found on Cute with Chris via Neatorama.
Goon Cover is a Class Act
Posted by Michael Pinto on Jul 24, 2007 in Comic Books
What I love about this cover for Goon #19 by Eric Powell is that it combines a very cartoony feel with a painterly technique that you might see in a classic pulp fuction magazine cover. It’s so rare to see a cover with so much humor that also features a great lighting technique at the same time. Although I have to admit that when I viewed the final cover Dark Horse had ruined it by putting a purple banner over the top of the artwork and used second rate typography to boot. But anyway the description of the book sounds interesting as well:
“The long winter of our discontent is over-feast your eyes on the return of Eric Powell and The Goon! That’s right, Powell has finally escaped Albatross’s basement and returned to the sweet, nurturing bosom of funny books. The regular ongoing series picks up right where it left off as the Zombie Priest’s sanity cracks up. His endless swarms of beastly little minions attack the Goon and Franky en masse, and there’s no telling how long the brand-new Norton’s Pub will last this time around!”
Stop Motion Vintage Video Games Tribute
Posted by Michael Pinto on Jul 23, 2007 in Videogames
The above tribute to vintage video games was created by PES:
“The concept of Game Over was to take something electronic and remake it by hand, and essentially do it in this style that I’ve been developing where familiar objects that look like other things are swapped in. This is a style that obviously I’ve been working on for a few years now, and I used it in KaBoom!, but this is basically a re-creation of something that’s computerized or electronic, done by hand. And also, a lot of the lore surrounding old video games is virtually unknown to the general public. For instance very few people know that the original Pac-Man character was modeled after a pizza. And this is confirmed by the creator of Pac-Man in a couple interviews that are online. And I thought that that was a beautiful idea – but let’s put that together in the most direct form. Let’s actually animate a pizza as a Pac-Man with a missing slice. That’s just an example of some interesting background thing that I thought was cool to bring to life.”
Tastes Like Chocolate Tree Stumps
Posted by Michael Pinto on Jul 23, 2007 in Hobbies and Collections
Shown above is the playful package design for Bourbon Kikori No Kirikabu which are cookies with a chocolate coating shaped to look like tree stumps. To be honest the cookies didn’t taste that great, but I love the look of all of the cute little illustrated creatures that adorn the box art:
Dynamo
Posted by Michael Pinto on Jul 22, 2007 in Animation
I found the above short animated film on DailyMotion, it took my a bit of Googling but I found some information on it:
“Dynamo is the graduation film by Fabrice Le Nezet, Mathieu Goutte and Benjamin Mousquet three Supinfocom students. It’a a 3D animated short made up to look like stop-motion. “Dynamo tells the story of two characters who live on a planet and work together to keep it rotating. The mechanics of the planet are dependent on its two inhabitants”, but one day it just stops.”
If Trekkies Ruled the World
Posted by Michael Pinto on Jul 22, 2007 in Star Trek
There’s a great Photoshop competition at Worth 1000 with the theme If Trekkies Ruled the World. Shown abobe is ‘Mr. President’ by CocaCasta.
Cat’s Eye at a Glance
Posted by Michael Pinto on Jul 21, 2007 in Animation
Above: The manga from Cat’s Eye.
So after a week of hard work I got to catch up with my DVR and watch Cat’s Eye which is playing on ImaginAsianTV (thank you Time Warner Cable). The last time I saw this classic anime show was back in the 80s. Back in the day the only way to see this stuff in the United States was to watch it on VHS tapes. The problem for most early anime fanboys like myself was that you were watching a copy of a copy of a copy, so my first shock in looking at Cat’s Eye was the lack of static and high audio quality. It was also a real pleasure to hear the audio without any tape hum, and back in the day there were no subtitles so it was a real treat not to guess what was being said by each character.
In fact the nice thing that ImaginAsianTV is doing is that unlike Adult Swim they’re showing the episodes in Japanese so you get a better flavor for the show, it’s like having a high quality version of a YouTube experience. Although I admit that it’s odd to shift gears when they go to a commercial which is always in English.
On the whole I have to say that Cat’s Eye has held up pretty well for an anime tv show that was made over twenty years ago. Looking back at it I can see why I became an anime fan in the first place, the quality of the animation looks better than pretty much any animation made in the United States at that time for television or even theaters. The other thing the show reminded me was that in an era before the Simpsons, Cat’s Eye was aimed at an older audience which American animation was avoiding in the 80s.
Barack Obama: Harry Potter Fanboy?!
Posted by Michael Pinto on Jul 21, 2007 in Fandom
The more I get to know about Barack Obama the more I like him:
“Democratic presidential hopeful Barack Obama is the “Harry Potter parent” who has read all six books about the boy wizard’s adventures with his older daughter, his wife said Wednesday. In an interview with The Associated Press, Michelle Obama said her husband has read the books aloud with 9-year-old Malia and saw the latest movie, “Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix,” with her last Sunday.
Both are awaiting the release of J.K. Rowling’s seventh and final book in the series, “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows,” this weekend, but finding time to read won’t be easy, she said. “The challenge will be scheduling Harry Potter reading time in between Iowa and New Hampshire and fundraising, but I guarantee you they will figure out a way to do it,” Michelle Obama told the AP. “Harry Potter is huge in our house”.”
Saturn’s Sixtieth
Posted by Michael Pinto on Jul 21, 2007 in Science
How come 1.2 miles wide merits moon status while Pluto doesn’t rate as a planet?
Saturn’s sixtieth moon discovered
“A new moon has been discovered orbiting Saturn – bringing the planet’s latest moon tally up to 60. The body was spotted in a series of images taken by cameras onboard the Cassini spacecraft. Initial calculations suggest the moon is about 2km-wide (1.2 miles) and its orbit sits between those of two other Saturnian moons, Methone and Pallene. The Cassini Imaging Team, who found the object, said Saturn’s moon count could rise further still.”
Space Invaders Tie
Posted by Michael Pinto on Jul 21, 2007 in Videogames
In most cases I advise against sporting a fanboy oriented tie in a work setting, however the Space Invader tie shown above is an exception to that rule as the pattern is very subtle and thus in good taste:
“For men who used to be the boys at the local arcade, this Space Invaders tie is the perfect balance of 80s adolescence and grown up charm. Inspired by the popular arcade video game, this tie looks just like the game screen full of rows and rows of attacking aliens.”
Found via GeekAlterts.
Amazing Chinese Film Posters Collection
Posted by Michael Pinto on Jul 20, 2007 in Hobbies and Collections
Shown above is a poster for the 1962 film the Bride Napping which I found at shaolinchamber.com, an amazing where they have a great Chinese poster collection online (with a special focus on the Shaw Brothers).
My favorites at a glance are (some slightly NSFW) Divorce Hong Kong Style, the Human Godess, Girl with the Long Hair, Adultery Chinese Style, and of course Oily Maniac (a horror film from 1976).
Special thanks to Chris Liendo for the tip!
The Greatest Achievement of the Human Race
Posted by Michael Pinto on Jul 20, 2007 in Science
Thiry-eight years ago today (July 20, 1969) the human race accomplished its single greatest technological achievement of all time when a human first set foot on another celestial body.
Above: Buzz Aldrin with a seismometer on the lunar surface.
Darth Vader Laptop
Posted by Michael Pinto on Jul 19, 2007 in Star Wars
The toy shown above is a Star Wars themed faux laptop aimed at kids. Here’s the description from Oregon Scientific:
“Are you part of the Dark Side? Pick up the interactive light sabre and choose a learning path with Darth Vader. Darth Vader laptop is the ultimate learning toy for your children. Enter Sith’s realm and let Darth Vader challenge young children’s skills in mind-blowing games in logic, music, and other breathtaking activities.”
Found via Engadget.
Sayonara Zetsubō Sensei: Perfect Cake Division
Posted by Michael Pinto on Jul 19, 2007 in Animation
Shown above is a clip from episode 2 of Sayonara Zetsubou Sensei (さよなら 絶望 先生) which translates into English is Goodbye, Despair Teacher. The teather in question (doing the cake math above) is Nozomu Itoshiki a high school teacher who takes all aspects of life, language and culture in the most negative light possible. Sayonara Zetsubou Sensei just went on the air at he start of July, and there will be 12 episodes of the show. Not only do I like the dark comedy, but I also like how they use photographic images in combination with the traditional animation look. Here are some images from episode one:
And here are some covers from the manga which the anime series is based upon:
1966 Flocked Batmobile
Posted by Michael Pinto on Jul 18, 2007 in Hobbies and Collections
Shown above is a 1:18 1966 Flocked Batmobile limited edition made by Hot Wheels, if you’re lucky enough to be at Comic Con at the end of July. They’ll be selling about 100 a day for $300 each for a few lucky fanboys.
In the Shadow of the Moon
Posted by Michael Pinto on Jul 18, 2007 in Science
Shown above is the trailer for ‘In the Shadow of the Moon’ and it’s well worth checking out. I guess it’s no secret that I’m a space exploration fanboy at heart (and I got my L5 Society membership card from the late 70s to prove it too), so when I read about this upcoming British documentary I got very excited. The film is about the Apollo missions from 1968 and 1972, when nine American spacecraft voyaged to the Moon, and 12 men walked upon its surface. This era feels like a lost golden age to me, so my hope is that this film might spark some interest in getting humans back to the moon and maybe visiting Mars too. The film should be hitting theaters in early September, so tell your fellow fanboys (and fangurls) about it.
The Curse of the Red Shirt
Posted by Michael Pinto on Jul 18, 2007 in Star Trek
There are so many clever t-shirt shops it’s hard to be impressed anymore, but I rather liked the fanboy reference in the above t-shirt which can be found at ThinkGeek.