More than meets the eyes

The new trailer for the live-action Transformers movie is out.

Yep, Optimus Prime, Megatron, toy cars that turn into toy robots, those are the ones.

The teaser that came out earlier this year was lame at best, but this full trailer has me excited for more.

It's much, MUCH darker looking than the original cartoon. It's been compared to a cross between a disaster & horror film. And with Micheal Bay at the helm, you know it's gonna be full of action and explosions.

Head over here and check out the trailer. I recommend the full screen HD version myself.

Let's just hope it's actually good.

I got game!

Checked the mail today, and there was a little package from Playstation Underground (if you have a PS2, and are not an Underground member, head over and sign up). They frequently send out new game announcements, fancy glossy PS3 ad magazine/book/things, and most importantly, game demos.

This was the latter.

It was a nice little CD sized package, that when opened revealed a folded up pirate flag, poster, and of course the game demo. The demo is for Level 5's latest RPG Rogue Galaxy, due out next month.

Level 5 brought us the wonderful Dragon Quest VIII, as well as the Dark Cloud series.

I have wanted this game from the moment I heard about it. I really like the other games that Level 5 has produced, and this one looks to be as good as, or better than those.
I was heading out to the store when I checked the mail, so didn't have time to try the demo then, and when I got home there was a package in the door.

Another game.

This time it was a full game. I had entered a contest at 1up.com to win a copy of a game called Thrillville, and I won!

I hadn't heard of the game before entering, but it was a themepark construction sim made by Lucas Arts, and I tend to like their games, so I entered. The game came with a Thrillville folder and a congratulatory note from the evil Usagi-san of whom I had to become a minion of in order to enter the contest.

So now I have to decide which to try first.

I will probably go with the demo, as that will be shorter, but I know it will leave me wanting and waiting for more.

Keep on Trekkin'

It looks like the world of Star Trek may be coming back into the spotlight in a big way soon.

Not only is there a new Trek film in development with J.J.Abrams (Alias, Lost, MI:III) producing and directing, there is also talk of a new animated series in the works.

I am very hopeful about the new film being in the hands of Abrams as I really liked Alias (for the first 3 or so seasons, at least), love Lost so far, and thought MI:III was a fun roller coaster ride. Rumors abound about what the new film will be about, with the front runner being a prequel to the original series with a recast young Kirk and Spock. With Matt Damon's name being bandied around for Kirk's role. I could see that working. Just PLEASE not Affleck as Spock.

The other possible new Trek, the animated series, I'm not as sure about.

The basic idea I really like, but they want to do 6 minute mini-episodes for the web, with TV and DVD releases later, similar to the Star Wars: Clone Wars series. I'm not as keen on the need to shorten everything into bite sized pieces, as that tends to leave you with a not as fleshed out story or characters. But the plan is to flesh out the new series with various web content on the Star Trek site.

If they planned on doing the series based in an already established Trek time period that would better suit this shorter format, as the core audience would already be familiar with characters and conflicts, but the plan is to base it 150 beyond the Next Generation time period. It could still be good, I would rather have at least half-hour episodes to tell the stories.

You can read more detailed information on the proposed new animated series, as well as any other new Star Trek news over at The Trek Movie Report.

Have a Coke and a smile

I found this wonderful little piece of art the other day, and it just brought a smile to my face (and made me thirsty).

Click on the picture for a better look, then check out the artist's website for other heartwarming comics and paintings.

Hell Yes

This is just the type of film I'd like to be working on. Just need a lot more money and know how for the special effects they used.

This is the latest project from the Second season of Project Greenlight directors.

They just started a new Comedy/Horror series over at Atom Films called HellHoles.




I think this first episode is great, and I hope they can keep up this quality.

Rock Spectacular

This Friday is the loooong awaited Skatey-Eight CD release show.

Everyone head to Rubbles in Mt. Pleasant, Michigan for a wild night of music.

Here are a couple of live songs to tide you over until Friday.

The first from Skatey-Eight and the second from Friday's headlining band, The Burning Bushes. Eventually these full shows will be available on DVD.

Adventure!

While playing around with the green screen, I decided to do an animation test. I liked the results enough to polish it up with a bit of music, sound effects, and titles.




There's more where that came from, or at least there will be.

20-0-3-15

And another book list thinger from the wife.

Below is a Science Fiction Book Club list most significant SF novels between 1953-2006. The meme part of this works like so: Bold the ones you have read, strike through the ones you read and hated, italicize those you started but never finished and put a star next to the ones you love.

*1. The Lord of the Rings, J.R.R. Tolkien
2. The Foundation Trilogy, Isaac Asimov
*3. Dune, Frank Herbert
*4. Stranger in a Strange Land, Robert A. Heinlein
5. A Wizard of Earthsea, Ursula K. Le Guin
6. Neuromancer, William Gibson
*7. Childhood’s End, Arthur C. Clarke
8. Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?, Philip K. Dick
9. The Mists of Avalon, Marion Zimmer Bradley
10. Fahrenheit 451, Ray Bradbury
11. The Book of the New Sun, Gene Wolfe
12. A Canticle for Leibowitz, Walter M. Miller, Jr.
13. The Caves of Steel, Isaac Asimov
14. Children of the Atom, Wilmar Shiras
15. Cities in Flight, James Blish
16. The Colour of Magic, Terry Pratchett
17. Dangerous Visions, edited by Harlan Ellison
18. Deathbird Stories, Harlan Ellison
19. The Demolished Man, Alfred Bester
20. Dhalgren, Samuel R. Delany
21. Dragonflight, Anne McCaffrey
22. Ender’s Game, Orson Scott Card
*23. The First Chronicles of Thomas Covenant the Unbeliever, Stephen R. Donaldson
24. The Forever War, Joe Haldeman
*25. Gateway, Frederik Pohl
*26. Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone, J.K. Rowling
*27. The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, Douglas Adams
*28. I Am Legend, Richard Matheson
*29. Interview with the Vampire, Anne Rice
30. The Left Hand of Darkness, Ursula K. Le Guin
31. Little, Big, John Crowley
32. Lord of Light, Roger Zelazny
33. The Man in the High Castle, Philip K. Dick
34. Mission of Gravity, Hal Clement
35. More Than Human, Theodore Sturgeon
36. The Rediscovery of Man, Cordwainer Smith
37. On the Beach, Nevil Shute
*38. Rendezvous with Rama, Arthur C. Clarke
39. Ringworld, Larry Niven
40. Rogue Moon, Algis Budrys
41. The Silmarillion, J.R.R. Tolkien
*42. Slaughterhouse-5, Kurt Vonnegut
43. Snow Crash, Neal Stephenson
44. Stand on Zanzibar, John Brunner
45. The Stars My Destination, Alfred Bester
*46. Starship Troopers, Robert A. Heinlein
47. Stormbringer, Michael Moorcock
48. The Sword of Shannara, Terry Brooks
*49. Timescape, Gregory Benford
*50. To Your Scattered Bodies Go, Philip Jose Farmer

Shaken and stirred

Last night we went to see the latest James Bond flick "Casino Royale" starring Daniel Craig as the latest incarnation of 007.

The trailers made it look like this was going to be a really good Bond film, and all the reviews I've read say how great it is and how the series has returned to the roots of Ian Flemming's books.

I'm very happy to say this movie was everything and more than I had hoped it would be. Gone are cars that can turn themselves invisible. No cheesy one liners after every kill. No scene where James gets a collection of gadgets that just happen to be exactly what he needs to get out of a jam.

Instead we get a spy story, that while it does have some fantastical elements, is mostly grounded in reality. When Bond gets into a big fight with some baddies, he ends up with bruises and cuts like anyone else would. We know he's not going to die (Craig has at least 2 more 007 films in his contract), but this Bond could get really hurt while fighting the bad guys (and he does). In one scene that will have the toughest of men squirming in their seats, he takes much more punishment than ANY previous film has dished out before.

There are big action pieces in the film that Bond fans expect, but there is also a lot more story than these films have been offering as of late. As this is a reboot, taking the story from Fleming's first Bond novel of the same title, we see how James gets to become a double-O agent, and see some of the things that shape him into the secret agent we know he becomes.

There was a bit a fan backlash at the casting of Craig. Some fans thought he wasn't right for the part. One reason being that he is blonde. Personally, I though he was great in the role. He was tough, debonair, but rough around the edges, as I would expect from someone just being promoted to super-spy status. I've heard other say it, and I have to agree, I think Craig is the best Bond since Sean Connery, and if his follow up films as the super spy continue in the same league as "Casino Royale", he will definitely tie him.

Bottom line: I would highly recommend this film to anyone that likes action, adventure, spy, and of course Bond films. This IS something to write home about.

Adventures of Space Tree

Last night we got to see an advance screening for the new film "The Fountain". I was eager to see it as the buzz I heard about it made it sound really different and interesting.

For the most part it was a good film, but left me and most everyone else (judging by the comments of the people around us after it ended) scratching our heads.

Some spoilage may occur below:

The film might be about a Spanish Conquistador (Jackman) that is sent by the queen of Spain (Weisz) to find the fountain of youth; or it might be about a modern day doctor (Jackman) whose wife (Weisz) is dying from a brain tumor; it could also be about an unnamed man (Jackman) traveling through space in a soap bubble with a tree (Weisz?) in it; or it could be about all three of these.

The film gives an explanation for Jackmanquistador that works for me, but the bubble boy bit left me wondering too much. I don't usually need things spelled out for me, and in fact I hate it when film makers feel the need to explain every minute detail of what is happening, but a little more background into this character, or at least how he got into the bubble would have been nice.

I know they were going for a "new take" on the sci-fi genre, but this didn't work for me. I'm sure they wanted it to make people really think about and discuss the story with each other, but it just left most people scratching their heads. It seems like one of those stories that the writer totally knows what is going on, but doesn't realize he hasn't given enough information to the audience for them to get it as well.

I know there are reviewers out there that just love the film, and I was really hoping to be one of them, but alas it really was Nothing To Write Home About.

Would you cluck like a chicken?

Derek did indeed know that the PS3 wouldn't be available until tomorrow morning. He also got to Best Buy around 3PM yesterday, rather than 8:30 as I thought. And they don't go on sale at midnight either. He has to wait til 7AM to get a ticket that says he's guaranteed one. I'm not sure how long the wait continues after that.

He spent most of the night sitting bundled up in his camping chair while the rain drizzled down. Best Buy told everyone that they could pull their cars up along the building if they wanted to sleep in them.

This morning he set up a tent, and is now cold, but dry. He also was able to run home and take a shower this morning thanks to a friend that is waiting with him.

I decided to go visit him today to see how the wait was going.



While he and about 30 other people have been waiting, all the local news teams have been by to interview people. Most of the stations are less than a mile away from the store. Derek was one of the folks who made it on TV. He found out when a friend called him to say she just saw him on the news with all the other nerds.

To keep themselves amused, some of the other people in line have been telling people who asked what they were waiting for that Best Buy was going to be giving away 60 inch plasma TVs. One lady even came back to the store a couple hours later with a big pick-up truck for her TV.

What would you do-oo-oo....?

I really like video games.

I really want the new PS3 and the Wii.

I'll pay the high prices they ask to play these (unless someone else would rather pay).

But I will not spend almost a day and a half sitting outside a Best Buy in the rain with temps ranging between 46-37 degrees.

My friend Derek doesn't feel the same way.



This was the scene last night of the people behind him in line at his local Best Buy.

They are all waiting to be some of the first people to get a PS3.

He got there around 8:30 last night, and was only fourth in line. So if he can stay in line until midnight tonight, he should be able to get one.

I'm not certain he realized when he got into line last night that it IS tonight at midnight that they go on sale, NOT last night. Maybe he did, but I hope he has people to relieve him, or it could get messy.

Then the question is: After waiting so long for a PS3, does he keep it, or does he sell it on ebay? The deluxe PS3 sells for $600, and is currently getting bids in the $1,000 - $3,000 range.

I'll have to call him later today, and see if he's still in line.

7

I'll also give the grown-up version of that last list a shot, again from LibrariAnne

In 2005, Time magazine picked the 100 best English-language novels (1923-present). Mark the selections you have read in bold. If you liked it, add a star (*) in front of the title, if you didn't, give it a minus (-). Then, put the total number of books you've read in the subject line.

The Adventures of Augie March - Saul Bellow
All the King's Men - Robert Penn Warren
American Pastoral - Philip Roth
An American Tragedy - Theodore Dreiser
-Animal Farm - George Orwell
Appointment in Samarra - John O'Hara
Are You There God? It's Me, Margaret - Judy Blume
The Assistant - Bernard Malamud
At Swim-Two-Birds - Flann O'Brien
Atonement - Ian McEwan
Beloved - Toni Morrison
The Berlin Stories - Christopher Isherwood
The Big Sleep - Raymond Chandler
The Blind Assassin - Margaret Atwood
Blood Meridian - Cormac McCarthy
Brideshead Revisited - Evelyn Waugh
The Bridge of San Luis Rey - Thornton Wilder
Call It Sleep - Henry Roth
Catch-22 - Joseph Heller
The Catcher in the Rye - J.D. Salinger
A Clockwork Orange - Anthony Burgess
The Confessions of Nat Turner - William Styron
The Corrections - Jonathan Franzen
The Crying of Lot 49 - Thomas Pynchon
A Dance to the Music of Time - Anthony Powell
The Day of the Locust - Nathanael West
Death Comes for the Archbishop - Willa Cather
A Death in the Family - James Agee
The Death of the Heart - Elizabeth Bowen
Deliverance - James Dickey
Dog Soldiers - Robert Stone
Falconer - John Cheever
The French Lieutenant's Woman - John Fowles
The Golden Notebook - Doris Lessing
Go Tell it on the Mountain - James Baldwin
Gone With the Wind - Margaret Mitchell
The Grapes of Wrath - John Steinbeck
Gravity's Rainbow - Thomas Pynchon
The Great Gatsby - F. Scott Fitzgerald
A Handful of Dust - Evelyn Waugh
The Heart Is A Lonely Hunter - Carson McCullers
The Heart of the Matter - Graham Greene
Herzog - Saul Bellow
Housekeeping - Marilynne Robinson
A House for Mr. Biswas - V.S. Naipaul
I, Claudius - Robert Graves
Infinite Jest - David Foster Wallace
Invisible Man - Ralph Ellison
Light in August - William Faulkner
*The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe - C.S. Lewis
Lolita - Vladimir Nabokov
Lord of the Flies - William Golding
*The Lord of the Rings - J.R.R. Tolkien
Loving - Henry Green
Lucky Jim - Kingsley Amis
The Man Who Loved Children - Christina Stead
Midnight's Children - Salman Rushdie
Money - Martin Amis
The Moviegoer - Walker Percy
Mrs. Dalloway - Virginia Woolf
Naked Lunch - William Burroughs
Native Son - Richard Wright
*Neuromancer - William Gibson
Never Let Me Go - Kazuo Ishiguro
*1984 - George Orwell
On the Road - Jack Kerouac
One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest - Ken Kesey
The Painted Bird - Jerzy Kosinski
Pale Fire - Vladimir Nabokov
A Passage to India - E.M. Forster
Play It As It Lays - Joan Didion
Portnoy's Complaint - Philip Roth
Possession - A.S. Byatt
The Power and the Glory - Graham Greene
The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie - Muriel Spark
Rabbit, Run - John Updike
Ragtime - E.L. Doctorow
The Recognitions - William Gaddis
Red Harvest - Dashiell Hammett
Revolutionary Road - Richard Yates
The Sheltering Sky - Paul Bowles
*Slaughterhouse-Five - Kurt Vonnegut
Snow Crash - Neal Stephenson
The Sot-Weed Factor - John Barth
The Sound and the Fury - William Faulkner
The Sportswriter - Richard Ford
The Spy Who Came in From the Cold - John Le Carre
The Sun Also Rises - Ernest Hemingway
Their Eyes Were Watching God - Zora Neale Hurston
Things Fall Apart - Chinua Achebe
To Kill a Mockingbird - Harper Lee
To the Lighthouse - Virginia Woolf
Tropic of Cancer - Henry Miller
Ubik - Philip K. Dick
Under the Net - Iris Murdoch
Under the Volcano - Malcolm Lowry
*Watchmen - Alan Moore & Dave Gibbons
White Noise - Don DeLillo
White Teeth - Zadie Smith
Wide Sargasso Sea - Jean Rhys

Well, it looks as if what Time magazine calls the best aren't really my kettle o' fish. I surmise that the reason my number was higher with the children's books is because as a child I read what I was given, and as an adult I get to choose my own books.

26

I got this from LibrariAnne.
To be honest, I may have read more of these, but don't remember. Some were published years after I was reading these type of books.

Mark the selections you have read in bold. If you liked it, add a star (*) in front of the title, if you didn't, give it a minus (-). Then, put the total number of books you've read in the subject line.

Charlotte's Web by E. B. White
The Polar Express by Chris Van Allsburg
*Green Eggs and Ham by Dr. Seuss
*The Cat in the Hat by Dr. Seuss
*Where the Wild Things Are by Maurice Sendak
Love You Forever by Robert N. Munsch
The Giving Tree by Shel Silverstein
The Very Hungry Caterpillar by Eric Carle
Where the Red Fern Grows by Wilson Rawls
The Mitten by Jan Brett
Goodnight Moon by Margaret Wise Brown
Hatchet by Gary Paulsen
*The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe by C. S. Lewis
Where the Sidewalk Ends: the Poems and Drawing of Shel Silverstein by Shel Silverstein
Bridge to Terabithia by Katherine Paterson
Stellaluna by Janell Cannon
Oh, The Places You'll Go by Dr. Seuss
Strega Nona by Tomie De Paola
Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day by Judith Viorst
Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What do you see? by Bill Martin, Jr.
*Charlie and the Chocolate Factory by Roald Dahl
The Velveteen Rabbit by Margery Williams
A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L'Engle
Shiloh by Phyllis Reynolds Naylor
*How the Grinch Stole Christmas by Dr. Seuss
The True Story of the Three Little Pigs by Jon Scieszka
Chicka Chicka Boom Boom by John Archambault
*Little House on the Prairie by Laura Ingalls Wilder
The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett
*The Complete Tales of Winnie the Pooh by A. A. Milne
The Boxcar Children by Gertrude Chandler Warner
Sarah, Plain and Tall by Patricia MacLachlan
Indian in the Cupboard by Lynne Reid Banks
Island of the Blue Dolphins by Scott O'Dell
Maniac Magee by Jerry Spinelli
The BFG by Roald Dahl
*The Giver by Lois Lowry
If You Give a Mouse a Cookie by Laura Joffe Numeroff
*James and the Giant Peach by Roald Dahl
Little House in the Big Woods by Laura Ingalls Wilder
Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry by Mildred D. Taylor
*The Hobbit by J. R. R. Tolkien
*The Lorax by Dr. Seuss
Stone Fox by John Reynolds Gardiner
Number the Stars by Lois Lowry
Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of Nimh by Robert C. O'Brien
Little Women by Louisa May Alcott
The Rainbow Fish by Marcus Pfister
Amazing Grace by Mary Hoffman
The Best Christmas Pageant Ever by Barbara Robinson
Corduroy by Don Freeman
Jumanji by Chris Van Allsburg
Math Curse by Jon Scieszka
Matilda by Roald Dahl
Summer of the Monkeys by Wilson Rawls
*Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing by Judy Blume
Ramona Quimby, Age 8 by Beverly Cleary
The Trumpet of the Swan by E. B. White
Are You My Mother? by Philip D. Eastman
*The Chronicles of Narnia by C. S. Lewis
Make Way for Ducklings by Robert McCloskey
*One Fish Two Fish Red Fish Blue Fish by Dr. Seuss
*The Phantom Tollbooth by Norton Juster
The Snowy Day by Ezra Jack Keats
The Napping House by Audrey Wood
Sylvester and the Magic Pebble by William Steig
The Tale of Peter Rabbit by Beatrix Potter
Tuck Everlasting by Natalie Babbitt
*The Wizard of Oz by L. Frank Baum
Anne of Green Gables by Lucy Maud Montgomery
*Horton Hatches the Egg by Dr. Seuss
Basil of Baker Street, by Eve Titus
The Little Engine That Could by Watty Piper
The Cay by Theodore Taylor
Curious George by Hans Augusto Rey
Wilfrid Gordon McDonald Partridge by Mem Fox
Arthur series by Marc Tolon Brown
The Great Gilly Hopkins by Katherine Paterson
Lilly's Purple Plastic Purse by Kevin Henkes
Little House books by Laura Ingalls Wilder
The Little House by Virginia Lee Burton
The Runaway Bunny by Margaret Wise Brown
Sideways Stories from Wayside School by Louis Sachar
Amelia Bedelia by Peggy Parish
Harriet the Spy by Louise Fitzhugh
A Light in the Attic by Shel Silverstein
Mr. Popper's Penguins by Richard Atwater
My Father's Dragon by Ruth Stiles Gannett
Stuart Little by E. B. White
Walk Two Moons by Sharon Creech
The Witch of Blackbird Pond by Elizabeth George Speare
The Art Lesson by Tomie De Paola
Caps for Sale by Esphyr Slobodkina
Clifford, the Big Red Dog by Norman Bridwell
Heidi by Johanna Spyri
Horton Hears a Who by Dr. Seuss
The Sign of the Beaver by Elizabeth George Speare
The Watsons Go to Birmingham-1963 by Christopher Paul Curtis
Guess How Much I Love You by Sam McBratney
The Paper Bag Princess by Robert N. Munsch

In arms way

I found this over on my friend Les' blog and thought it was quite funny.
If only I had a green screen....

It's not easy being green

My latest (and by far not my greatest) bit of video is me setting up and testing my green screen at home for the first time.



It takes up a fair amount of the basement designated as my videogame/tv space, but it's easy enough to take down.



Once I get the lighting better situated, I'll be able to do more.

First entry

As my first post, I'd like to share with you my earliest surviving short film.

It was one of four such films shot in 1984 or 85 for a film making class I was taking at O.C.C. with my friend Brett. A few years later it was transferred from super 8 film to VHS video via my old video camera aimed at a movie screen. That accounts for some of the horrible lighting.

After this transfer, Brett and I timed these films and selected music from our collection of movie soundtrack records, and using a feature from a now ancient VCR, we recorded a new audio track to the previously silent films.

So here is the short I call "Jett and the Power Crystal"