BBC Winter Olympics Animation

This is a beautiful piece of animation.

If only the real event was more like this.

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Pee-Wee Gets An iPad

Pee-Wee Herman gets his hands on an iPad and shows it to the Playhouse Gang.

Now that's celebrity endorsement.

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Apple iPad

Well it may not be able to hover or fly, but the iPad is looking like a step closer to the future I imagined.

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Iron Man 2 Trailer

Having really enjoyed the firt Iron Man film, I have high hopes for this second installment of the Armoured Avengers adventures.

And boy does this trailer promise to deliver more...

Read more: http://www.firstshowing.net/2009/12/17/must-watch-first-official-trailer-for-jon-favreaus-iron-man-2/#ixzz0ZwdHoQLf

Loving the shots of Nick Fury and War Machine.

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Raymond Crowe - The Christmas Bunny

Beautiful hand shadow short film from Raymond Crowe. Especially for Christmas.

Happy Holidays All!

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New Alice In Wonderland Trailer

Disney have just released this stunning new UK trailer for the upcoming Tim Burton and Johnny Depp film - Alice in Wonderland.

This is looking amazing in 2D so I can't wait to see the final 3D version.

Alice in Wonderland arrives in Disney Digital 3D™ on March 5, 2010.

Via the magic of email.

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ABC Warriors

Great looking ABC Warriors test animation - looks great, can wait to see more.

Via Internet

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Tim Burton MoMA Spot

Lovely new Tim Burton short.

Sent from the Web

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Weezer - (If You're Wondering If I Want You To) I Want You To

Great new song and video from Weezer.

Sent from Internet

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Star Wars - Trench Run

Here is the trailer for THQ's new Star Wars - Trench Run game for Apple's iPhone.

Now you'll be able to blow up the Death Star on your way home on the bus. The game is due for release via the appstore very soon. Keep an eye out for it.

Photosketch - Your Doodle to Photo

Thanks to five very creative students from universities in China, Singapore and Israel we'll soon be able to take our basic doodles and turn them into to photo-realistic pictures withing seconds.

This is the promo video for their creation 'PhotoSketch' - it all looks pretty amazing but I have my doubts about how well this will work in practice. This elaborate PDF explains how it all works - PhotoSketch

This video gives you the basics - pretty amazing stuff!

PhotoSketch: Internet Image Montage from tao chen on Vimeo.

The New Doctor Who Logo

So here is the official BBC intro movie for the all new Doctor Who logo.



I kinda like it. What do you lot think?

Fantastic Mr Fox Featurette

To get you even more excited about the upcoming Wes Anderson animated feature 'Fantastic Mr Fox' here's the recently released behind the scenes featurette. I can't wait to see this.

You Are Not Welcome Here - District 9

For some reason, possibly a virus, but the less said about that the better, I've forgotten to mention one of the other films I'm really looking forward to this September - District 9.

District 9 is directed by Neill Blomkamp, and produced by Peter Jackson and is based on Blomkamp's earlier short film 'Alive in Joburg'.

Along side 'Moon', 'District 9' is looking to provide good old school sci-fi thrills.

Here is the latest trailer, which is more action orientated than the first and the original short film -






District 9 is released in the UK on 9th September.

Terry Gilliam is Back...

After a relatively poor summer blockbuster season, the end of the year is looking really impressive. We can look forward to 'Where The Wild Things Are', 'Fantastic Mr Fox', and the new film from Terry Gilliam 'The Imaginarium Of Doctor Parnassus'.

Terry Gilliam is one of the great film makers and his ability to create new worlds within his films is unsurpassed. Doctor Parnassus has made the news for being the last screen performance of the late Heath Ledger, with Johnny Depp, Colin Farrell and Jude Law stepping in to complete the role.

If you've not seen or hear about this film, a new trailer has just been released and you can see for yourself how amazing this film is looking below.

This new trailer focuses on the deal Doctor Parnassus (Christopher Plummer) makes with Mr Nick (Tom Waits) and Tony, the man (played by Heath Ledger, Johnny Depp, Colin Farrell and Jude Law) who helps him with the problem.

Parnassus opens in the UK on October 16th. And I can't wait to see it.

And So It Begins...

Over at Hardluck Hotel I've been drawing peoples attention to Spike Jonze's new film 'Where The Wild Things Are', but there is another film I'd like you to look out for, the new stop motion animation from Wes Anderson, " The Fantastic Mr Fox ". 'The Fanatsic Mr Fox' features the voices of George Clooney, Meryl Streep, Bill Murray and Owen Wilson, and is based on the classic Roald Dahl story. Bill Murray plays a badger in the film, so what other reason do you need to go see it.

If your still not convinced take a look at the newly released trailer...



'The Fantastic Mr Fox' should hit UK cinemas on November 13th 2009.

MADMEN - Me in 2D

If your not watching it already why not MADMEN yourself in preparation for a 2 season boxset marathon.

You can get the DVD boxsets from amazon.co.uk -

MADMEN Season 1 only £9.98 - Mad Men - Complete Season 1 [DVD] [2007]
MADMEN Season 2 only £17.88- Mad Men - Complete Season 2 [DVD] [2008]

You don't need an ad man to tell you it's a good deal.

Season 3 should be hitting UK screens early next year.

DEADLINE - Stop Motion Film by Bang-Yao Liu

Deadline is Bang-Yao Liu's senior project at Savannah College of Art and Design. The idea is that every time he is busy, he felt he was not fighting with his work, but the post-it notes and deadlines he was facing.

This is exactly the reason why I don't make lists or use post-it notes for anything other than doodling on.




Credits -
Directed by Bang-yao Liu
Music by Röyksopp (http://royksopp.com)
Sound design by Shaun Burdick

Now check out the making of film -

Amazing Data Visualizations

Take a trip over to Webdesigner Depot to check out their recently posted 50 Great Examples of Data Visualization.

I've already seen and used TwittEarth, but Tag Galaxy and Twingly Screensaver look pretty interesting.

Go direct to the page - Data Visualizations.

TO BOLDLY GO....

Star Trek (2009) acknowledges the past but sends us off to explore brave new worlds and new civilizations. With the right balance of reverence to what came before and the desire to make these characters live and breathe for a new audience, it takes all that once was and creates something new and, to quote a certain engineer, exciting.

What really makes the film work is it’s cast, who take these fan favourites and breathe new life into them. Stand out performances for me are Karl Urban as ‘Bones’ McCoy, he is everything that made me incredible fond of the character, the humanity, humour and pathos is there in spades. Zachary Quinto as Spock must be a clone of Leonard Nimoy as he is Spock in everyway. The surprise performance for me was Chris Pine who had the most difficult task of filling Kirk’s boots, and he does. Chris Pine is our Kirk just younger and with a different face, he has managed to bring not just the original performance but the idea of who the character is into a driving focal point for the film. If we did not believe in this Kirk it wouldn’t work, but we believe, oh yes we believe.

In much the same way as all the great stories have been retold over the years, Robin Hood, King Arthur, Sherlock Holmes, James Bond among others, Star Trek has now joined that elite club of characters and stories that can and will live forever. This film demonstrates that however much we love the original and its cast, it’s the universe that they live in and the stories that can be created that has us coming back time and again.

Special mention must also go to Michael Giacchino who has created a score that has stuck in my head, and does for this film what the John Williams scores did for Star Wars. Talking of the score it’s also good to know The Beastie Boys still kick ass in the 23rd Century.

Star Trek is back, and I recommend you see it.

If this gives you a desire to check out the original series, the newly remastered DVD’s are available for amazon.com – get them here – Star Trek - The Original Series - Series 1 - Complete - Remastered [DVD] [1966]


Credits –

Directed by
J.J. Abrams

Written by
Roberto Orci
Alex Kurtzman

Based on
Television series “Star Trek” created by
Gene Roddenberry

Cast
Chris Pine… James T. Kirk
Zachary Quinto… Spock
Leonard Nimoy… Spock Prime
Eric Bana… Nero
Bruce Greenwood…Capt. Christopher Pike
Karl Urban…Dr. Leonard ‘Bones’ McCoy
Zoe Saldana…Nyota Uhura
Simon Pegg…Scotty
John Cho…Hikaru Sulu
Anton Yelchin…Pavel Chekov
Ben Cross…Sarek
Winona Ryder…Amanda Grayson
Chris Hemsworth…George Kirk
Jennifer Morrison…Winona Kirk

Original Music by
Michael Giacchino