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Blade Runner – unsurpassed special effects

Alex — Tue, 26 Jun 2007 04:06:34 +0000

Here’s one for Shag: Blade Runner at 25: Why the Sci-Fi F/X Are Still Unsurpassed.

Emails to the Empire’s worst engineer

Alex — Thu, 05 Apr 2007 12:24:16 +0000

A little Star Wars humor to start you day…

That other Beck

Alex — Fri, 03 Nov 2006 05:54:33 +0000

I’m talking of course about the singer Beck, not our beloved baby. (No relation of course.) Anyhow, Mary and I have both been enjoying his new album. He did a couple killer performances on Saturday Night Live last week and I finally found someone linking to them on YouTube, which will no doubt get pulled as soon as the global media conglomerate gets wind of it.

One of the best things about it was that a bunch of guys were playing spoons in Clap Hands. And the other best thing was that he had marionettes off-stage that were mimicking the band (including said spoons). Awesome stuff.

Even odder was that Mary and I watched Team America: World Police that night as well, so it was like puppet night. Speaking of Team America, I enjoyed it. If you watch it, be sure to watch some of the extra stuff on the DVD about making of – pretty amazing.

Little Miss Sunshine

Alex — Sat, 07 Oct 2006 03:30:00 +0000

Mary and I got out to see Little Miss Sunshine tonight. I’d give it a big thumbs up. The whole cast is great and the story itself is by turns hilarious and touching and rewarding in the end. There are some great shots in it with the classic VW bus posed against skies that are just great.

MSMW

Alex — Wed, 06 Sep 2006 03:33:09 +0000

I caught a chunk of the “Rhythm Section” on KDHX today for the first time. Great show – I dug it. Heard a couple of things I found quite interesting. One was that there is an album coming out soon from Medeski Scofield Martin and Wood (MMW + John Scofield on guitar) and he played a track that was pretty cool.

Another item of note is that they will be in St. Louis on Tuesday, December 5th at Mississippi Nights. Tickets are on sale now if you are a member of their fan club (which is free). I should note that several years ago, I saw them at Mississippi nights and bought a very expensive keyboard the next day in inspiration. So, it might be dangerous (but probably worth it) to see them again.

He also played a track from Chris Wood and his brother Oliver which was fairly awesome – very bluesy and with vocals. They are collectively known as The Wood Brothers. Definitely something I plan on checking out.

Clerks II Trailer

Alex — Thu, 25 May 2006 14:35:42 +0000

The Clerks II Trailer for your viewing pleasure….

Nacho Libre

Alex — Sun, 21 May 2006 04:03:44 +0000

You must witness the opening page of the web site for the new Jack Black movie, Nacho Libre.

Web stuff

Alex — Fri, 14 Apr 2006 18:38:32 +0000

Miscellaneous web stuff:

C is for Cookie – Mashup of “V for Vendetta” trailer and Sesame Street

Douglas Adams short story: Private Life of Genghis Khan

No explanation for this – warning: web page has audio

Terry Gilliam interview on BBC

Alex — Thu, 23 Feb 2006 05:44:17 +0000

Ran across this interesting interview with Terry Gilliam that talks about his problems with financing films.

This is particularly interesting if you’re familiar with the problems he had making Don Quixote as memorialized in the documentary Lost in La Mancha. I’ve seen the documentary and it’s really sad seeing them struggle against financial (and other) problems and finally just giving up. Wish I could have seen it.

Tags: Terry Gilliam, Don Quixote

Movie: Brothers Grimm

Alex — Tue, 17 Jan 2006 04:03:58 +0000

We watched The Brothers Grimm last night and I’d say we were underwhelmed. Actually, we didn’t even finish watching it.

When I first heard about this movie it sounded like an awesome project as the Grimm tales are a rich set of material to mine and Terry Gilliam, one of my favorite directors, was directing. Somehow it just didn’t come together. Seemed to move really slowly, characters were uninteresting, and the special effects were cheesy looking.

For all that, there was some nice imagery here and there. You can count on Terry to always have some good shots that are large spaces, filled with shadows, fog, and hints of interesting things. I wish this one had turned out a little better.