Ong Bak 3 Trailer

So obviously this is too big again, but I put it there to get your attention.
For proper viewing, go to Twitch. This is the Thai teaser.
You can do your own websearch for others.

"Predators" Is Coming

Predators is the new Predator movie, which is being produced by Robert Rodriguez and directed by NImrod Natal, whoever he is. Should be good, I'm (desperately) hoping. I had a bunch of photos on the cast I was going to put up as an entry ages ago, but never got round to it. So instead, there's this.



Obviously it doesn't fit, but go to the link above, which is to the official site, or see it here at FirstShowing.

A Website Called "I Hate My Parents"

Yesterday I was doing random google searches and came across this website, I Hate My Parents, where people post photos of kids and families, like they're traumatic events. Maybe they are, maybe they ain't, but they're funny. These made me laugh.














I'm running away to live with the robots.

Cool Retro Style Kick-Ass Posters

I've been toning down my coverage of all the posters and what-not surrounding the upcoming movie Kick-Ass based on the comic, but really liked these exclusive posters released at South by Southwest Festival in Austin.



Kick-Ass is released April 8th. We get it after the UK, but before the US. Yay for us.
Original story info from Bleeding Cool and MTV.

First Thoughts On Joanna Newsom's New Album "Have One On Me"

I wasn’t sold on Ys, and the fear is that the new album was going to be more like that than The Milk-Eyed Mender, but still, I took the chance and bought it. I haven’t really listened to it properly, I just played it today from my iphone as I worked, so all I got was a sense of the sound and not of the detail, but I’ll get to that.
First things first, some one mustn’t have told them that album art is dead. This 3 disc set kind of made me wish for proper vinyl album so I could enjoy the packaging a bit more. Apart from the elaborate photo evoking some Parisian artist studio, each disc comes in it’s own slipcase with a photo on it of Joanna showing of her long legs and good posture, plus a photo on the booklet, so that it makes a series of 4 photos of her tying up her hair. Evocative and sensual, it hints at a world we’re about to explore on the discs. There’s something innocent and knowing about them, a staged candidness that elevates the pedestrian to the sublime. Or she she’s just got real pretty legs.


As for the music, it’s definitely more Ys than Milk Eyed Mender. But as I said, I haven’t really given it a proper listen. I’m not sure if it has any of the monstrously bloated tracks that appeared on Ys, but I don’t think it does.
I realise that in fact, there was really only the one monstrously bloated track on Ys, actually, no I just checked, 2 of the tracks go over12 minutes, and a third is only a few seconds short of 10. The fourth cracks the 7 minute mark. It was a dense album, with the tracks not giving you much space to access them., and without the whimsy of Milk-Eyed Mender. I find it a hard album to listen to, it’s difficult to engage in.
I don’t think Have One On Me has the same problem, though it’s difficult to say at the moment, as one song tends to blur into another when you’re scrubbing toilets and emptying bins., but it seems an easier listen. Though I fear with it being a 3 disc set, the accusation of bloated may once again apply.
Anyway.
The opening track put me in a mind of Tori Amos and Kate Bush, both with her vocals and the arrangements. I think she used a similar vocal approach maybe on Ys, but can’t remember. Though she doesn’t use it all the time here. Her familiar vocals from Milk Eyed Mender (and Ys) are here as well. The arrangements from what I can discern seem to be the more elaborate type familiar with Ys, but perhaps not as bloated, though I’m not sure that’s a fair description. Anyway, I can’t really say much more at the moment, maybe I’ll have more to say when I’ve had a proper listen to it this week coming. But it holds promise, I think.

Biomega Vol. 1

If I don’t tell you about this, who will?


Biomega is a new comic by Tsutomu Nihei, the creator of Blame. And if you don’t know what Blame is, it’s great comic that I came across in Afternnon Comics, maybe. Actually I forget where I came across it, but I was buying the Japanese edition before there were translated editions, because it looked so cool. Nihei’s style is all about a gothic sci-fi future world where people dress in leather and giant mechanical creatures could explode or transform under the effect of some virus before your eyes. His worlds are huge and sparsely populated. A character could walk for miles through huge concrete canyons, or across vast open distances, all within the city or building, and not meet anyone, but perhaps run into the skeletons or armour of some past being. His line work isn’t the clean linework one expects from manga, and so stands out. His brush is thick with ink, and he paints his figures in solid blacks. Which is not to say there isn’t fine line work, there is, and he uses it to contrast between characters, and the world around them. I think he’s great.




But onto Biomega vol.1.
Once again it’s a dystopian future, one where a virus seems to be turning people into mutated zombie like creatures. There’s some Health Organisation who are preparing for the next stage of humanity, who don’t want to see a cure for this, and there’s a company, Toa Heavy Industry, who are searching for those with immunity. They’re both after a girl, who is protected by a bear. Not a guy in a bear suit, a bear.


That’s a reason right there to love this. There’s plenty of other reasons, like Tsutomu Nihei’s art, the same weapons with incredible firepower, the groovy designs, all part of the package. As I write this, I’m having a hard time actually remembering what Blame was about, but this seems much more focused story-wise, so should be an enjoyable and easier read. Looking forward to the next couple of volumes.

All art from Biomega Vol. 1.

Scooping Brad's Joy: Tron:Legacy Trailer

So there's a Tron:Legacy trailer available now to view somewhere on the internet. Check it out.

Just A Little Humorous Picture I Came Across

And Out Came The Wolves.

I don't know anything about this painting or the guy who painted it, except his name is Nate Frizzel, and the painting is called "And Out Came The Wolves".
But I know I like it.

Unbelievable Trailer For A Movie It Looks Like I Would Make

So as long as you're prepared for some groans and chuckles, there's not much point watching this.
So it's a Malaysian film, shot with an eye to the international marketplace, and it's brilliant, like "Something Else" is.



Original story ran over at Twitch.

Maybe read this bit after watching the trailer, I don't want to spoil any of it's riches.
Things I Love About ThisTrailer
1. "Nah Susan, I'm tired of school. I need a year off. You could come with me?" Such a great line delivery!
2. The voiceover that sounds like it's a speech program from Windows.
3. The fact that it's a clown serial killer. Not at all cliche. That's what I'd do too.
4. The sound of the knife being pulled out from what I can only assume is a steel scabbard.
5. The fact that he gets his gun in a shoebox. I'd use a Converse Box.
6. The fist bump.
7. "I don't want to understand him, I just want to kill him."
8. That weird flapping things the clown does when he's standing against the wall.
9. A killer clown with a machine gun.
10. The title.

Nightmare On Elm Street Poster

So a new poster has arrived, and though I'm expecting this to be a terribly unnecessary remake, I still hope for the best.


I can't even be bothered crediting the source.

Garfield Without Garfield

Thought I'd give a reminder to you that this exists, and is funny, and worth checking regularly, maybe once a fortnight.


Garfield Minus Garfield

Alex Pardee's Inglorious Basterds Poster.

I'd come across this guys stuff before, not much, but a little. I think he kind of does stuff with a horror tinge to it from my limited exposure. But I saw this, and I think it's awesome. It's different to the other piece I saw of his, this seems more Gearald Scarfe like. It's pretty cool.
See, this is the reason I want to move back to the States. This and a bunch of other prints are being sold to raise money for Red Cross' Haiti efforts, but there are only 6 of each poster, and you can only buy them at the gallery where the show is. But I guess we can at least see them online. This (below) is my favourite, but if you're interested you can see the others at Upper Playground's website.

Youtube Clip Of The Day: Aliens Rap

This is turning into just a youtube site, not my intention, but I keep seeing these cool things and want to share them with you. Oh well. It is what it is, as Rocky or Rambo might say. This is not that, it's the story of the movie Aliens told in rap. I like it.



View on youtube.

Youtube Clip Of The Day: Dolph Lundgren Is ...

Dolph Lundgren on Youtube.
He will crush you.

Jeremy Geddes

I’ve been meaning to tell you about this guy for a while, but got lazy again and was crippled by trying to decide which pieces to show you without just putting all his stuff up. His name is Jeremy Geddes, and he’s a Melbourne artist who I think is doing some really excellent work.

The first piece of his I came across was this one above, which was in one of my Spectrum Books. It was one of my favourite pieces in the book, and while I took note of the name, I took it no further. I really liked his execution, the level of skill he displayed, and the subject matter spoke to my HK Triad film part of my brain.

Then the poster blog (OMGPosters.com) site I regularly visit had up some new posters like this one. Again I really liked it, but the name didn’t really ring a bell. But this time I investigated a bit more and found all these wonderful paintings, with Cosmonauts floating through abandoned urban landscapes (see below) and his earlier work, all with this foreboding sense of danger and threat, some specific, some more just in the mood.

Anyway, he’s definitely worth checking out, if you’re into good stuff.
jeremygeddesart.com.

Youtube Clip Of The Day: I'm Yours (ukulele)

So there's a couple things going on here, I'm amazed at the kids skill level already, amused by his lack of knowledge with the lyrics, totally jealous that he's so much better than me, and I like the song, even this version. Maybe you prefer this version.

24 Hour Comic

There's this thing you do if you're crazy, you may have heard of it, called "24 Hour Comics", where you do a 24 page comic within 24 hours. It's psychotic. I've tried it once, it's crazy.
There's this other thing called Angoulême, or Festival International de la Bande Dessinee, basically a comic convention in France. It's huge, it's what my dreams are made off, and they run a 24 Hour Comic competition, or Les 24 heurs de la bande dessinee 2010.
Anyway, my point is, these people do these comics in 24 hours, and I'm blown away by the standard. I'll probably show more, but check this one out first, by some person named Boulet.
That's a cool little story, and I'm amazed at the quality for a 24 hour comic. I can't stay awake that long, let alone do 24 pages in that time.

Yeah, That's Better: Ong Bak 3 Trailer

Apparently, I can't embed this, so click ONG BAK if you know what's good for you.

The List: My Top 10 Films Of 2009

Disrtrict 9
Star Trek
Whip It
Dead Snow
Black Dynamite
The Boat That Rocked
The Hangover
Coraline (3D)
Away We Go
A Serious Man
These are my top ten films for 2009. These are the films that I either just flat out enjoyed the most or connected with on a deeper level. It shouldn’t be much of a surprise that 4 of my top 5 are what we lovingly refer to as “genre” pictures. “Coraline” made into the top 10 I think based solely on the 3D aspect of it, a fine film which was elevated to a great film experience because of the 3D, the only 3D film I’ve enjoyed the experience in. And yes that includes “Up” and “Avatar”. “Dead Snow” and “Black Dynamite” are films I saw at BIFF, and both were really fun experiences that it is a pity a wider audience isn’t able to share. “Dead Snow” was meant to have a November DVD release, but for some unknown reason it’s been delayed. Rest assured, once it is released, I’ll be letting everybody know.
Did anybody else see “A Serious Man”? It was good, really good Coen Bros. movie. Had one of those non-endings which can mostly grate, but this time the film was so well done, I didn’t care that it just seemed to stop for no reason. Or maybe there is a reason and I’m too lazy or dense to think it through and realise what it is.
“Away We Go” seems to be another film that nobody else saw, and it makes it here because of the emotional resonances. Well worth the watch.



Paranormal Activity
500 Days Of Summer
Moon
Fast & Furious
Where The Wild Things Are
Inglorious Basterds
HP & The Half Blood Prince
These were the closest contenders that didn’t make it to the top 10. “Inglorious Basterds” lost out because I needed a 2nd viewing to truly appreciate it. Maybe if I look back in another 10 years and do another list, it might make it then. Same with “Where The Wild Things Are” somewhat. I really enjoyed the film, but there were aspects of it that I just didn’t like, most notably but not exclusively, the soundtrack; which just kept it out from the top 10. I really liked “Paranormal Activity”, I thought it was really effective in what it was trying to do, namely scare the audience, but it just narrowly missed out, as I enjoyed 10 other films more. Same with “500 Days…” and “Moon”. If you like smart sci-fi, I really recommend you check out “Moon”. And how can you not like “500 Days…”, it’s got Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Zooey Deschanel (swoon) in it. Good film.

Well, that’ll do from me I guess. Didn’t really spark the blog conversation I was hoping for, but