Sunday, December 18, 2011
Saturday, December 10, 2011
Friday, November 18, 2011
Time and Creativity
Thanks to Meeni for putting me on to this short film - something very interesting being said here.
What do you think? Do you agree? I think the final statement pretty much nailed it for me.
Wednesday, October 26, 2011
Being Elmo
Thanks to kfrilly for putting me on to Being Elmo. Quite how this has managed to pass me by I don't know, especially considering my love for Jim Henson and all things Muppet related. This documentary looks at Kevin Clash the puppeteer who brings Elmo to life. I'm already sold on this based on the trailer alone.
I'm hoping that this will be available on DVD or screening at one of my local cinemas in the long gap before we get the new Muppet movie.
Tuesday, October 18, 2011
Star Wars Art: Comics
I love Star Wars and I also love Art Adams artwork and comic books. This publication is going on the Amazon wish list.
Monday, October 10, 2011
Kate Bush - Wild Man
Kate Bush is back with a new album '50 Words For Snow'. Due for release in November this is a radio of the first single from the album. The album will feature special guests including Stephen Fry on the title track.
Based on this the album is looking very interesting.
Thursday, October 06, 2011
Friday, September 23, 2011
60's Dexter and Stickman
Just a couple of things that caught my attention this week. First up are these incredible Saul Bass inspired retro titles for Dexter by Ty Mattson. This completely captures the Harry Palmer Ipcress Files style I've always thought the Dexter titles was going for.
Here are those Ipcress Files titles - notice the similarities especially in John Barry's incredible score.
Next up is Draw a Stick Man.
This just shows you how great HTML 5 can be - a beautiful example of how to while away a few minutes in a charming and engaging way. So click on that link and unleash that inner creative spirit.
Sunday, September 11, 2011
Back For The Future
Looks like Doc Brown has been out in the Delorean again! Here are couple of recent adverts featuring the Back To The Future franchise.
Still no power laces. Looks like we'll still have to wait until 2015 before we get those and hoverboards.
Although I can't afford a pair of those shoes myself I do hope that they raise a lot of money for The Michael J Fox Foundation. It's great to see Michael and to hear Alan Silvestri's awesome theme again. It still gives me the chills even now.
Thursday, July 21, 2011
All Good Things...
Many things are coming to an end this summer. I'm not one for change and these kinds of things can make me rather emotional. Anyway thanks to TrailerAddict for posting this video about the end of the Harry Potter series of films. It's been a great journey following first the novels and then these films - the first of which for me has entered the pantheon of great British children's films along side the likes of The Railway Children.
Watching this featurette and seeing Daniel, Rupert and Emma as little kids again kinda brings a tear to the eyes.
Wednesday, July 13, 2011
The Fantastic Flying Books of Mr. Morris Lessmore
The fact that this film is not available on the UK iTunes is criminal - beautiful stuff.
Tuesday, June 28, 2011
The Rocketeer Tribute Film
This film has been created as a tribute to Dave Stevens Rocketeer character originally published by Comico back in 1982. I loved those comics and Dave's artwork was simply beautiful. This film captures the fun aspect of the character with a different art style but I'd love to see a full length version based on this teaser.
Tuesday, June 14, 2011
Best Song of 2011 - PARTY POM POM
Adam Buxton of Adam and Joe fame has created the best song of 2011 -
The song was inspired by this conversation Adam and Joe had a few years ago -
Thanks to Chris Bowles for the fantastic animation.
Anyway here are the lyrics if you need them to sing along -
My friend
Frederick said come round I said yes.
We can play a bit of Wii, we can play DS
We can play Super Mario Galaxy 2
But I tell you right now that I’m better than you
I know this is your house, where you live with Mum & Dad
I know you want to win, and that is very sad cos
I got the tricks bruv , I got the skill
I been training pretty hard and I’m ready to kill
I’m a cold blooded plumber, I’m a nunchuck king
When you begin to lose then I begin to sing
And here is the thing, the thing that I sing
Can you feel the sting from the thing that I sing?
CHORUS
Would you like to come to a party Pom Pom?
Would you like to be my guest?
It’s gonna be a poo poo party Pom Pom
A poo poo party’s the best
You don’t need to bring no presents
There ain’t gonna be no cake
Just bring the Wii and you’d better guarantee
That you don’t make no mistake
Are you gonna come to my party Pom Pom?
Are you gonna be my guest?
It’s gonna be a poo poo party Pom Pom
A poo poo party’s the best!
VERSE 2
How are you enjoying all the humiliation?
Would you like some more on your Daddy’s Playstation?
Hold up a second cos your Mummy’s coming in,
Save the level and wait for the speech to begin:
What you doing inside? It’s a nice day out
Go and get the football. Have a kick about.
Nice bit a exercise, that’s what you need
Or go and get book and have a lickle read
Why you gotta sit there playing that machine?
Staring at a plumber on a flickering screen
That’s not real life, that’s just nonsense
No wonder all the children now are turning out so dense
CHORUS
We’re in the middle of a party Pom Pom
Don’t stop the party now
Freddy’s getting covered in poo poo pom pom
A little bit of poo poo anyhow
We’re learning all about plumbers
We’re learning all about stars
We rescuing a princess in distress
Using physical and mental powers
Come along and join in the party pom pom
Give all your worries a rest
It’s gonna be a poo poo party pom pom
A poo poo party’s the best
Are you going to come to the party Pom Pom?
Did you get the special invitation?
It’s gonna be a poo poo party Pom Pom
We’re celebrating your annihilation!
Wednesday, June 08, 2011
Walk - A Typical Day
Looks like Dave Grohl and I have more in common than I thought.
Great new video for the Foo Fighters new single 'Walk' - it's days like this that are responsible for my usual tweets and Facebook updates - just with added public transport.
Monday, May 23, 2011
Marvelous Movie Monday
Now I'm not that big a fan of romantic comedies but every now and again one comes along that somehow just hits that soft spot I've got hidden away. The latest film to uncover that spot is 'Green With Envy' the new romantic comedy staring Amy Adams and Jason Segel. It's the story of a small town couple who head to Hollywood and discover their dreams of hitting the big time may cost them the one thing that matters most -- each other.
This trailer is that has just hit the net and I promise that once it's over you'll have this film at the top of your must see list.
Friday, May 13, 2011
Fabulous Film Friday
I went to see Joe Cornish's debut feature Attack The Block today. It has confirmed my feelings that the future of British cinema is in very good hands. It's made me really happy to see directors like Joe Cornish, Richard Ayoade and Edgar Wright producing films that appeal to a wide audience and proves that Britain is not all petticoats and East End gangsters.
Both Film4 and the UK Film Council also deserve credit for putting money into these films and the UK Film Council will be sadly missed. So if you want to see a great film I'd recommend you visit your local cinema to see Attack The Block, head to your local HMV and buy a copy of Shaun of the Dead, Hot Fuzz and Scott Pilgrim and then head back to your local cinema and demand they screen Submarine because you want to see it on a big screen.
If you have no idea what I'm talking about then just take a look at these trailers for Richard Ayoade's Submarine, Joe Cornish's Attack The Block and Edgar Wright's Hot Fuzz.
Happy Viewing!
Sunday, May 01, 2011
Invasion Of The Not Quite Dead Teaser
Last year I discovered filmmaker AD Lane's totally fan funded film project 'Invasion Of The Not Quite Dead'. I was very impressed with what I saw at the time and signed up as initially as a Pre-Order Producer and later upgraded to an Associate Producer. AD is using Twitter as a way of raising awareness of the project and regularly embarks on tweetathons where he stays awake for upwards of 50 hours. During the last tweetathon I donated a further few pounds and was lucky enough to win a prize draw where my producer credit was upgraded to Ultimate Producer and I bagged one ofthe costumes you can see in the newly released teaser trailer.
At the beginning of April AD and his crew went to Bulgaria to shoot the 1970's based intro to the film - and this is the resulting teaser trailer.
AD is currently engaged in a 55 hour tweetathon which ends tonight so if you can spare £10 or more then please sign up to become a producer on the film - the perks are amazing and if you donate before the end of the tweetathon you'll be entered into a prize draw for an Ultimate Producer upgrade and a costume. I won last time so you really are in with a chance of winning. Head to the official 'Invasion Of The Not Quite Dead' website to see what's on offer and make your donation.
Friday, April 29, 2011
Foo Friday
A couple of weeks ago the Foo Fighters released their sixth studio album 'Wasting Light'. To promote the album the band also released this film of them performing the whole album live from the bands own Studio 606 complex.
You can buy Wasting Light from Amazon by clicking on the album cover -
Thursday, April 28, 2011
Trailer Thursday
2011 is turning out to be a pretty good year for quality cinema releases. Already Submarine has proved how great British films can be and Thor has kicked off the blockbuster season in spectacular fashion. Over the next few months we have a many more huge films to look forward to and this week has seen the release of yet more exciting trailers.
First up is Harry Potter and The Deathly Hallows Part 2. The Harry Potter series has come a long was since the first film way back in 2001. Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone was such a great start to the series and for me has become one of the classic children's films. Since then the series has matured and developed with it's audience just like the books and is now about to conclude with what looks like a fittingly epic final film. I very much enjoyed Deathly Hallows Part 1 and Part 2 (although I wish it was actually being released at Christmas which for me is the perfect time for these Harry Potter films) can't arrive soon enough.
Next it's the latest and final trailer for X-Men: First Class. I've enjoyed all of Matthew Vaughn's previous film and his latest collaboration with screenwriter Jane Goldman looks likely to put the X-Men franchise back on track after a couple of disappointing outings. This trailer rams up the emotion, the poignancy, and amazing visuals this film is promising to deliver.
It would appear that 2011 will be the summer of the superheroes.
Friday, April 15, 2011
Friday Roundup - The Wrath of Calm
Okay so I admit it - I couldn't think of a suitable post title so this will have to do - but if you have suggestions for puntastic titles, please leave them in the comments below.
So this week it's a couple of trailers I quite like the look of. First up is the latest trailer for Iron Man director Jon Favreau's latest Cowboys and Aliens. The film stars Daniel Craig, Harrison Ford and Olivia Wilde in the adaption of Scott Mitchell Rosenberg's 2006 Platinum Studios comic.
Next is the first official trailer for Rupert Wyatt's upcoming Rise Of The Planet Of The Apes. Starring current hot property James Franco and featuring effects work, including all digital apes, by long time Peter Jackson collaborators WETA, this is looking to be an interesting take on the Apes mythology.
Finally just a quick mention for two films I hope you'll take the time to seek out at your local flea pit. Both will probably require some effort on your parts as they probably aren't getting the promotional push they deserve. First and most importantly I urge, plead, implore you to go and see Richard Ayoade's debut feature Submarine. This is a sublime piece of filmmaking and should be on your must see list. It's certainly one of my films of the year already.
Sunday, April 10, 2011
Friday, April 08, 2011
Friday Animation - Minchin and Tartakovsky NSFW
Some nice animation appeared online this week - first up is an animated version of Tim Minchin's 9 minute beat poem 'Storm' - please note the audio on this is NSFW.
Credits - Written and performed by Tim Minchin. Directed and animated by DC Turner. Produced by Tracy King.
Next up is an animated prologue for the film Priest 3D, starring Maggie Q and Paul Bettany. The interesting thing about this is it's been done by one of my animation heroes - Genndy Tartakovsky, creator of Samurai Jack. Not sure about the live action film but this short animation is great.
Friday, April 01, 2011
Star Wars - Remade by Pegg and Frost
I would rather see this made into a full length feature than the 3D tinkering we are getting. Enjoy.
Wednesday, March 30, 2011
The Doctor Returns!
The new series of Doctor Who hits our screens in April and the BBC have just released a new trailer. This looks brilliant.
Here is the previous trailer for extra Doctor goodness.
Tuesday, March 22, 2011
Happy 80th Birthday Captain Kirk
The mighty William Shatner turns 80 today, so in tribute to the greatest starship captain of them all here are a couple of his greatest hits.
Happy Birthday Bill.
Monday, March 21, 2011
Monday Roundup - The Prequel
So it's Monday already, which means I missed my semi regular Friday Roundup, so consider this a prequel of sorts.
First up is a sneak peak at the final part of the Harry Potter saga. I really enjoyed Deathly Hallows Part 1 and with so much action to pack into Part 2 I can't wait for this one to arrive in cinemas.
There have been a couple of these Wes Anderson style alternative film trailers and as a fan of The Fantastic Mr. Fox I loved this version of Wes Anderson's The Fantastic Mr. Starfox, based on one of Nintendo's best know game franchises. The stop motion animation here is great and this is a film I would love to see on the big screen.
And finally a couple of images for you - one of which would not have been possible on Friday. Firstly it's a really nice poster of Penelope Cruz for the latest Pirates of the Caribbean film, On Stranger Tides.
Saturday, March 19, 2011
Friday, March 11, 2011
Friday Roundup 2: The Sequel
This week I am 15 again. The reason for this is the trailer which has just dropped for the Steven Spielberg produced, J.J. Abrams directed 'Super 8'. Everything about this trailer takes me right back to the days of Close Encounters, Goonies, E.T. and The Explorers. I'm not sure if the music used in the trailer is taken from Michael Giacchino's score, but if it is, it once again proves that he is the modern day John Williams or Jerry Goldsmith.
The movie is due to reach UK cinemas in August and looks to be a big hit.
With Doctor Who due to return to our screens on 23rd April both here and in the US, BBC America have releases a nice promotional image for the new season.
Elsewhere I've been listening to the new songs from The Strokes and Foo Fighters. Both are great songs and I'm looking forward to the new albums.
I can't embed the official video for Rope at the moment but you can see it on the MTV site.
Monday, March 07, 2011
Space Shuttle Discovery - Star Trek Wake Up Call
Today the astronauts aboard the Space Shuttle Discovery, currently on it's final mission, awoke to the theme from Star Trek. But this time it was a little different...
From the official NASA - Space Shuttle site -
William Shatner, who played Captain James T. Kirk on the original Star Trek television series, provided a special message to the crew of space shuttle Discovery during the 3:23 a.m. EST wakeup call.
As Alexander Courage’s theme song played underneath, Shatner replaced the original television introduction with, “Space, the final frontier. These have been the voyages of the Space Shuttle Discovery. Her 30 year mission: To seek out new science. To build new outposts. To bring nations together on the final frontier. To boldly go, and do, what no spacecraft has done before.”The “Theme from Star Trek” received the second most votes in a public contest from a Top 40 list for NASA’s Song Contest. The top two songs with the most votes from that list earned a slot on the list to wake Discovery’s crew during its final mission. The total number of votes cast during the four-month contest for STS-133 was 2,463,774. Of that, Star Trek received 671,134 votes (27.2 percent). Shatner recorded the new, special introduction for Discovery’s final voyage – its 39th flight and 13th to the International Space Station.The song is posted at: http://www.archive.org/details/STS-133Pilot Eric Boe will undock Discovery from the space station at 7 a.m. and conduct a full-lap fly around of the complex at 7:30 a.m., before separating from station at 8:43 a.m. Later in the day, the crew will use the Orbiter Boom Sensor System to conduct a “late inspection” of the shuttle’s heat shield.
The Shuttle is due to undock from the International Space Station later today and begin it's return to earth. The next Shuttle mission is the last for the Space Shuttle Atlantis which is due to launch in April.
Visit the official NASA site for more info on all upcoming space missions.
Friday, February 18, 2011
Friday Roundup
So it's been a busy week with quite a few interesting things appearing online. I've not been able to post stuff up as it's happened so I thought I'd just do a 'Friday Roundup' which may become something more regular.
First up is the announcement trailer for upcoming zombie survival horror game Dead Island. The trailer generated a lot of buzz for it's very cinematic style and it is quite an impressive bit of footage. The use of slow motion, reverse chronology and music really sets is apart from other game trailers. The whole thing owes a nod of gratitude to The Walking Dead, which the trailer apes to a certain extent. I have my doubts as to whether the game itself will deliver on the promise set up by the trailer but it'll be interesting to see if it does. Please note that the trailer is probably NSFW and those under 18 as it does contain graphic scenes of zombie attack. The video comes courtesy of the good folks over at IGN.
Next up is the new trailer for Marvel's Thor due to arrive on screens in April. Thor has always been one of my favourite Marvel characters and the film (directed by Kenneth Branagh) looks an interesting prospect. This trailer ups the action and Natalie Portman content which may be a wise move in the run up to the Oscars where she is hot favourite to walk away with the Best Actress statue. I'm looking forward to seeing this film even though I would have preferred Brian Blessed in the role of Odin.
Tuesday, February 08, 2011
Brad Bird Annie Award Winner
Ever since I first encounted Brad Bird's work (it was Family Dog on the Steven Spielberg anthology show Amazing Stories) I've been a fan. To me his work has encapsulated everything that is great and good about animation. I've followed his career with great interest and his work has always been outstanding - from the underrated The Iron Giant to his joining Pixar and giving us one of the greatest superhero movies in The Incredibles, his stories and characters have always been superb.
Now Brad has been awarded one of the most prestigious awards in animation - The Winsor McCay Award. His acceptance speech comes direct from the set of the lastest film he's directing, the live-action Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol and even in this his humour and creativeness shines through.
Brad Bird is one of the most creative and inspiring people in Hollywood and this award is long overdue.
Monday, February 07, 2011
Arcade Fire Live
Super Bowl Film Trailer Round Up
So during Super Bowl XLV some new film TV spots were shown. These are my pick -
Transformers: Dark of the Moon
Cowboys and Aliens
Rango
Battle: Los Angeles
Captain America: First Avenger
Thor
Super 8
Pirate of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides
Kung Fu Panda 2
And the film that could be this years Inception
The Adjustment Bureau
Thursday, February 03, 2011
Rango Theme - Los Lobos
Los Lobos have recorded the theme song to the forthcoming Johnny Depp animated film directed by Gore Verbinski. It sounds perfect for the film with echoes of Ennio Morricone and old western TV shows.
Los Lobos - Rango Theme Song by antirecords
Here's a poster for the film - I'm quite looking forward to seeing this.
Wednesday, January 26, 2011
TMNT - Fight The Foot Fan Film
I've always been a fan of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles having read the original Eastman and Laird comics back in the 80s. I loved the first film but wasn't a big fan of the sequels or the Hero Turtles cartoon. I did enjoy the recent Imagi Animation Studios film from a year or so back. I'd hoped it would kick off some new interest in the characters but that never happened.
Now comes this fan film entitled Fight The Foot - it's live action and is pretty interesting. I'm curious as to where this could go and would always welcome some future Ninja Turtle action.
Friday, January 21, 2011
Mummenschanz
I remember seeing Mummenschanz on The Muppet Show way back in the 70s. Their work was something magical and beautiful. But in recent years I've not seen much of their performances. It's something I must correct.
If you've never seen or heard of them before here is a short film of their show at the Luxor Theatre. I do recommend you follow the links to other videos of them - their work is amazing.
Wednesday, January 12, 2011
Pale Blue Dot
When I was growing up, man was walking on the moon and I dreamed of space. Carl Sagan was the voice that taught me about what mankind could achieve and that knowledge is one of mankind’s greatest gifts.
The future is here and I still dream of the things Carl taught me about. Yesterday I stumbled across this video – it includes a short reading by Carl Sagan from his book Pale Blue Dot: A Vision of the Human Future in Space.
These images accompanied by Carl Sagan’s words stopped me dead. In fact it reduced me to tears. The dreams I had as a child still run strong in this older body of mine and I still look up at the sky filled with a sense of wonder.
So I hope you can take the time to sit, listen and watch one of the most powerful short films I’ve seen in a while. Then tonight go outside and look up at the stars and dream.
This version of the piece is by damwse and is based on the earlier work of Michael Marantz whose self-composed piano score can be heard, and it’s a beautiful piece of music.