Solo

If you're reading this, you probably have an internet connection.  And if you've had an internet connection at any point in the past few days, you've probably seen the trailer for this summer's Solo, the origin story for Han Solo in Star Wars.  If not, here it is:

There's also some nifty teaser posters:


So far they've got four different character versions:


I was disappointed that there were only four, so I started making up some of my own.  Call it wishful thinking:


With a bit of free time on my hands, I decided to make a few more posters for characters that are unlikely to appear in the film, but might make things interesting:










So that was fun.

Harbinger Down

Last night I had a rare opportunity.  A good friend of mine invited me to a private screening of an upcoming film called Harbinger Down.  If you haven't heard of it, here's the trailer:



More importantly, if you haven't heard of it, it was made by the folks at Amalgamated Dynamics, the practical creature effects shop behind the last two movies in the Aliens franchise as well as the Alien vs. Predator movies, Starship Troopers, and dozens of other major creature features.  They decided to run a crowdfunding campaign to make a film that showcased nothing but practical creature effects.  The end result is a thoroughly enjoyable film that harkens back to the monster movies and horror films I ravenously consumed in my youth.

But what really made it special was the combination of the audience and the location where we were watching it.  

The friend that invited me to the screening is one of the lead model makers at 32 Ten Studios.  This is the shop that currently resides at the former site of Industrial Light and Magic in Marin County.  So their screening room happens to be the exact same little movie theater where the final editing was done on Empire Strikes Back, Return of the Jedi, the Indiana Jones movies, and many more.  It also happens to be the theater that THX sound was originally invented for.  The whole place is positively dripping with history.

The audience was a mix of special effects veterans from throughout the last forty years of filmmaking.  Alec Gillis, one of the founders of Amalgamated Dynamics and the director of the film, was there to introduce the film and ask questions afterward.  Dozens of other FX legends filled the auditorium.  Phil Tippett, one of the biggest names in stop-motion animation and the former head of the ILM creature effects shop was sitting in the front row.  

In short, the people in that room were probably responsible for deciding how half of my childhood looked.

The end result was a fun evening watching a fun movie in an amazing place with an even more amazing crowd.  I was thrilled and humbled to be invited.

John Carter of Mars

I pay a lot of attention to movie news. With that in mind, I'm disappointed in how little I've seen in the way of promotion for this particular Disney film. The few trailers that have come out don't really give you an idea of what it's about.

It finally took a fan-made trailer to make it look like something special instead of some ho-hum Avatar knock-off. Check it out:

The film hits theaters on March 9th.  If this trailer gets around a bit more, maybe someone other than me will actually go see it.

Ready to Drop

So the HALO short film I made all those props and costumes for last summer is finally going to be released online.  

Tomorrow!

Check it out at helljumper.com.

HALO: Helljumper Update

Those of you following along at home will remember that a while back I was asked to make some props and costumes for a fan-made HALO short film titled HALO: Helljumper.


The other day, they released a new poster:



More impressive, they've also finally released a full theatrical trailer:



I was pretty excited to see the finished product before. Now I'm on the edge of my seat. The pilot is scheduled to drop in January of next year. Meanwhile, I'm just tickled to see my name in the credits and on the poster. You can follow the production on their website or on facebook.

First Teaser for HALO: Helljumper

The whole entire short film is supposed to be finished in January. For now, they've released a brief teaser.

Very brief:

Enough said.

HALO: Helljumper

A while back I was contacted by an aspiring film maker in New York who was looking to start work on a HALO short film.  Here's a promo poster he's been posting around NYC for the casting call:

You can read more about the project in the blog: http://blog.helljumper.com/  He'd heard somewhere that I could make prop and costume items and contacted me about building a few things for the project.  So I'm mentioned as the guy that's making the Marine armor and helmets as well as some of the weapons.  

The other two guys mentioned as making props and costumes are the very talented Sean Bradley and the equally skilled Lee Calhoun. They're both great guys and I actually own some of their work as well.

What I'm really looking forward to is some of the test footage showing off people actually wearing my stuff.  For now I have to be satisfied with his pitch video:

While they're rounding up funding I'm doing all sorts of things, such as putting the finishing touches on this beauty:


I'm pretty proud of this particular sniper rifle.  I'll be sad to see it go.

Check out the Helljumper blog and stay tuned for more...


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Sucker Punch = Angel Wars

So last night I found myself with a bit of free time and decided to go and see a movie.  Since I missed Sucker Punch in theaters stateside, I figured I'd try my luck and see if I could catch it here in Japan.

For those of you who don't know what I'm talking about, here's the trailer on Youtube:

This movie was directed by Zach Snyder, the same guy who helmed 300 and Watchmen.  I loved both of those movies, so when I heard he was going to be doing a movie based entirely on original material instead of another graphic novel adaptation, I was thrilled.


It came out in theaters in the states just after I flew out to Okinawa to meet the USS BLUE RIDGE and apparently it didn't do well enough to stick around for very long in the box office.  On top of that, apparently all the critics hated it.  I don't know why.  Hated it.


When I made my way to the local theater, it turned out that the local release of this particular film wasn't called "Sucker Punch."  Instead, in Japan it was released as "Angel Wars." 


Okay.


It was also redubbed entirely in Japanese.  No subtitles.


Since I figured I was mostly going to see this particular film for the visual aspect of it anyway* I went ahead and watched it in Japanese.


Having seen the movie without being able to understand more than about a dozen words that were spoken, all I could say was "Wow!"  I'm not sure what it could've been in the dialogue that made the movie such a flop, but when it comes out on DVD, I'll definitely own this video.


If you're a film critic, I implore you to watch this movie again in a language you don't understand so you can focus on all of the eye candy and the amazing optical roller coaster ride it was supposed to be.  If you wanted something intellectual, resplendent with thematic elements and layered symbolism, go watch The Fountain instead.


In the meantime, I can't help thinking that the Japanese title "Angel Wars" reminds me for some reason of this great mash-up video by Youtube user Forensicator8.  He re-did the Sucker Punch trailer as if it starred only Disney princesses.  Check it out:





Fortunately, even in Japanese the music soundrack was still the same.  So that's good.


*The effects promised to be amazing, so I wasn't just talking about a bunch of scantily-clad girls in a women-in-prison movie like so many of the titles in my DVD collection.**


**They were pretty nice too though.

Tron Lightcycle by Parker Brothers Choppers

As I mentioned the other day, this outfit down in Florida is making seven of these. Here's the first one going though its initial road tests a couple of weeks ago.

You can see more videos of the lightcycle, including some in-progress footage on their Youtube channel.

I still want to see it lit up.

Thanksgiving Visit to Socal

Now that my sister is stationed in the San Diego area, the rest of the family has been taking advantage of the chance to go and hang out at her place.


This latest visit took me out of the shop for a full week, but after doing our part to support the traditional nationwide turkey massacre (with supplemental Twinkie frying) we did make a trip to Disney's California Adventure.  It's a much smaller theme park than Disneyland proper (right next door) but we still got to managed to ride a few roller coasters and net ourselves some winning photos like this one:

(that's my niece hiding in terror in the seat next to me)

The unexpected bonus was that they were doing a major promotional push for the upcoming Tron Legacy film.


Among other things, I spent a few minutes snapping pictures of the Lightcycle mockup they had parked outside the theater where they were showing the sneek peek clips (which only make me want to see the film even more).


Given the tricky lighting arrangement, it was a difficult subject to photograph.  Here's a few of the shots I got:











Looking at the lightcycle, it wouldn't be impossible to build one, but it would be seriously uncomfortable to ride.  What's more, there's an outfit down in Florida that's already making seven of them.  I'm starting to think I'd be better off making one in the original style from the old movie instead.

Back to the theme park promotion; after 6pm much of the park was dressed up with TRON-themed lighting and a DJ had set up shop complete with gogo dancers in costume.

Unfortunately, this was the only photo I got of any of them:


The lighting on the costume was achieved by the simple expedient of some retroreflective tape.  So in normal light the costume didn't light up at all, but with the use of a flash, everything came to life.

Neat.

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I Am No Longer Excited About the Ultramarines Movie

It was all going so well.  A top-notch animation studio.  Cutting-edge motion capture gear.  John Hurt narrating.  A rich universe of characters, races, and technologies to choose from.  Gorgeous set design concept art.  The Ultramarines movie was going to be just what I've been waiting to see since I was twelve years old.


Then the other day they posted this crap:



So now it looks like this movie will have some smoke, some marines shooting at...  something, I guess, and some really crappy rendering.


I'll still see it.  But I'm no longer on the edge of my seat waiting for updates.


Instead, I have to just go on hoping that they'll one day make a live-action HALO movie:

The Video Game-Based Movie Everyone's Been Waiting for is Here!

A Movie That Will Have EVERYTHING

Dragons and Trenchcoats and Nazi German stormtroopers and crazy hot chicks and explosions and Samurai swordfights and guns and airships and bombs and explosions and burlesque dancers and robots and gangsters explosions and ohmygodthistotallyrocks!

I've seen a lot of buzz lately about Zack Snyder's Suckerpunch.  This is the same guy that directed 300 and Watchmen a while back and this is his first film based on an original concept.

When I say original concept, it really looks like every doodle that I ever drew in junior high school has somehow been recovered, rendered in CGI, and wedged into one great big pile of awesome.   Here's the trailer:



Here's one of the half-dozen character posters that are going around online:

Each one of these posters is equally sexy, so I just picked one at random.

Here's a banner that came out a while ago:

There's a story behind all of this stuff, I'm sure, but I just want to sit and wow at the spectacle.  March 25th 2011 can't come soon enough.

Movies

The other day I had a bit of free time so I went out and saw The A-Team and The Karate Kid. I'll admit that I'm increasingly leery about movie remakes and 80s TV adaptations, but they did a pretty good job with these two.

I was a little surprised to find that I actually liked the new Karate Kid better than the original. In fact, what I liked about it the most was how boldly and completely it departed from the first version.

Like many other moviegoing fans, I've gotten into the habit of going to all of these recent remake or retread or sequel or reboot films with a little fan checklist. For Star Trek there was Kirk hooking up with a green chick and a guy in red who dies needlessly. For Terminator there was the "come with me if you want to live" line and "I'll be back." For Clash of the Titans there was even Bobo the mechanical owl.

But with The Karate Kid there were none of the fan-pleasing things you might look for going into it. There was no crane kick, no Cobra Kai, and no "sweep the leg." Instead there was a massively reimagined telling of a story you know and recognize from the original. Aside from the title and the inclusion of an enigmatic, reclusive Asian martial arts master, everything is changed. So much so that the troubled youth in the title role isn't even learning karate, he's training in kung fu.

So both films were entertaining as can be. If you're looking for lots of explosions and crowd-pleasing antics, see The A-Team. If you'd prefer a heartwarming story, an impressive showing by a promising child actor, and some trademark Jackie Chan comedy/action, check out The Karate Kid.

On the subject of 80's television series being turned into new feature films, today the trailer was released for the upcoming live-action adaptation of the Smurfs:


I'll admit I'm skeptical about this one, but there were a set of photos of Hank Azaria dressed as Gargamel where he pretty much nailed the look.

It's almost enough to make me think someone needs to hurry up and produce the live-action Care Bears movie with a modernized, grittier backstory:


Yay!

Les Grossman Rocks!

While I liked the movie Tropic Thunder, I can honestly say that the one thing that really made it for me was Tom Cruise as Les Grossman. This year he's apparently helping to promote the MTV Movie Awards as Les Grossman. I couldn't care less about the awards show, but if you liked this character in Tropic Thunder as much as I did, you'll agree that the promo spots are brilliant. Enjoy:

MTV Shows

MTV Shows

Tom Cruise yelling at himself. Awesome!

"When it Will Be Silent"

This is a short student film shot by Dan Sachar, at the demilitarized zone between Israel and Jordan, as a sophomore project for Sapir Academic College, Israel.


Impressive.

Military Vehicle of the Week

I tend to get pretty excited about tanks for sale. Sherman tanks especially. If I had to pick one thing that really made me think I wanted to have one when I grew up, one solitary influence that was more responsible than anything else for putting the idea in my head, it was the 1984 movie Tank with James Garner.

If you've never seen it, go rent a copy from Blockbuster, put it in your Netflix queue, or just plain order it from Amazon so you can kick back with a bowl of popcorn and watch a man and his tank terrorize a small town to defend the honor of some bar strumpet. Good clean fun.

But I'm about to go off track.

The reason I'm reminded of this wonderfully timeless motion picture is because the star of the film is up for auction on eBay. No, not James Garner, but rather the 1942 M4A3 Sherman Tank which played the title role. You can see the listing by clicking HERE.

It's rare enough to have an opportunity to buy a Sherman. Rarer still to find one that was in a movie. But so far this is the only one I know of that the movie was named after:


Here's a shot of it in the film:


If only I had half a million dollars to spend...

Bad Movie Trailers

I've been poking around online and stumbled across two foreign movie trailers that I absolutely had to share. The first is from Iron Sky, a film about Nazi astronauts returning from their 1945-vintage moonbase to build the Fourth Reich in 2018:

I don't know much about this movie, but even though it looks awful I really want a Nazi moon motorcycle.

Of course, that trailer was an older concept version designed to help pitch the film to investors. Here's a newer one:

The second one makes it look somehow not bad.

Then there's Quentin Dupieux's film Rubber:

This movie is about a sentient tire which falls in love with a beautiful woman, and kills everything that stands between it and its beloved.

Awesome!

Finally, and I think this may actually be an attempt at a serious film, we have Bleak Sea:

It's a movie about a British submarine versus a giant squid. I'd bet the whole crisis could've been averted if the conning officer knew proper rudder orders. I don't know what he expected the man at the wheel to do when he called out "Hard left to the starboard!"

Now back to our regularly scheduled wierdness.

Logorama

This short film picked up an Oscar this year. Enjoy:

Logorama from Marc Altshuler - Human Music on Vimeo.

Interesting Things From the Internets

I've been away from the internets for a while, so it's taken a few minutes to catch up on all of the coolness I've missed. Here's a few notables in no particular order...

First up, in case you've didn't know, there's a remake of Nightmare on Elm Street about to hit theaters. Here's a shot of the teaser poster:

In a reboot-happy hollywood, it's not a huge surprise that this is being made. The huge surprise is that somehow they've managed to make Freddy Kruger uglier than ever and actually frightening. I grew up with Robert Englund as Freddy, but this time around they've cast Jackie Earle Haley for the reboot. If you saw his performance as Rorschach in "the Watchmen," or the pedophile in "Little Children" you know he can do creepy better than anyone else.

Click here to watch the trailer on Myspace

There's also an upcoming sequel to TRON.

While I've been poking around looking for project ideas, I stumbled across Flickr user DROP HPC-ANC who does some really impressive street art. My favorite is his LEGO Grim Reaper:


Whenever I move ashore again, I want this guy to paint my house.

Elsewhere online, I've found yet another reason to finish my tank project:

Cool.

On the subject of random videos, I've also stumbled across this really great music video by OK Go, starring an impressive Rube Goldberg machine:

Suddenly I'd really like to set one of these things up.

Finally, I stumbled across some really amazing iPhone cases made out of billet aluminum or brass. The aluminum ones come in a variety of anodized finishes, but the brass ones really impressed me quite a bit more. The best of the best was brass with a wooden insert and an elaborate engraved design. I ordered one for Ana and she's been getting nothing but compliments on it wherever she goes:

If you want one for yourself, go to www.exovault.com.

There's plenty of other amazing stuff I've stumbled across. These are the ones I most felt like sharing.