On my travels through the mediocrity of the internet it was a pleasant surprise to come across the work of Tyler Stout. I’d give my right arm for one of his exquisite Blade Runner posters but Mr. Stout doesn’t do reprints. I did, however, manage to nab a print of his excellent 80′s action movie pastiche ‘Nakatomi Nuclear Option’:
Blade Runner:
Created by Satoshi Sagagami, owner of Tokyo retro games shop Super Meteor, the Famicase exhibition tasks designers with cooking up imaginary Nintendo Famicom (NES) games and creating art for the original cartridges.
Now in its second year, Famicase features over 50 artists with their own take on the 8-bit era. Here’s some personal favourites:
I’ve come across this sort of thing before but never on such an impressive scale. Cool.
Filed under: Film | Tags: 9, animation, CGI, entertainment, movies, Shane Acker, Tim Burton, Timur Bekmambetov, trailer
An extended clip of cool looking CGI movie 9 has just shown up over at Twitch.
Based on Shane Acker’s 2005 Academy Award nominated short film, the feature length version is written and directed by Acker with production duties falling to Tim Burton and Timur Bekmambetov. You can view the trailer in high-res here.
Clip (via Twitch):
Filed under: Comics | Tags: anime, BLAME!, Comics, entertainment, illustration, manga, nihei, Tsutomu Nihei
Akira and Lone Wolf & Cub aside, I’ve very little experience of manga. I’ve always been left cold by the overt sexual imagery and preponderance of school girls and ‘tentacles’ in many of the titles. Recently however, I came across some of the stunning art-work in Tsutomu Nihei‘s BLAME! series and decided to give it a go.
In BLAME!, protagonist Killy travels ever upwards through the gargantuan floors of The City, a chaotic mix of maze-like corridors and vertiginous caverns reminiscent of H.R. Geiger. It’s implied that The City started on earth but, ever-expanding, has now encompassed the orbit of the moon (in fact, Nihei has since suggested that The City is the approximate size of a Dyson Sphere). Killy is in search of Net Terminal Genes, a genetic marker which allows the user access to The Netsphere. Through this Killy aims to regain control of The City from the Safeguard, a horde of bio-mechanical horrors whose sole function is to kill those who access The Netsphere without authorization.
First things first though. If you’re after a detailed narrative and complex characters then BLAME! is not for you. The plot is impenetrable at times and it’s not uncommon for an entire issue to contain no dialogue as the panels follow Killy on his forlorn journey through this nightmarish landscape. In many ways BLAME! is not a conventional story at all but more of a mood piece. Nihei lets his art do the talking, the incredibly detailed environments implying so much yet forcing the reader to draw their own conclusions.
With BLAME!, Nihei has created a world that is frightening, ugly and beautifully realised. It’s not for everyone but, for those who get it, BLAME! is a compelling and unique piece of work.
Filed under: Film | Tags: Cormac McCarthy, entertainment, John Hillcoat, literature, movies, The Road, Vigo Mortensen
I can’t believe I’ve only just noticed this but, according to imdb a film adaptation of Cormac McCarthy’s pulitzer winning novel The Road is in post-production and slated for release later this year. This excites me.
The Road is an unremittingly bleak tale that follows a man and his young son as they trudge through the ruins of a post-apocalyptic America, ravaged a few years since by an unnamed cataclysm. As they struggle on, under constant threat of starvation, disease, or worse, the man’s unflinching devotion to his son is starkly contrasted by the absolute despair that permeates everything around them. McCarthy has said that he penned the novel as a love-letter to his son and indeed, at its core the story is one of love in a world without hope.
I was initially sceptical that The Road, with its infrequent, terse dialogue and minimal character numbers would translate well to film however these screens have really nailed the feel of the book. The casting of Vigo Mortensen seems like a good choice and director John Hillcoat’s treatment of The Proposition (another McCarthy adaptation) has left me hopefull that this will do justice to the source material.
Filed under: Games | Tags: Amanita, Games, indie games, Jakub Dvorský, Machinarium, point'n'click, Samorost
Samorost, created by Jakub Dvorský of Czech indie developer Amanita Design, is a flash based point’n'click adventure in the vein of games like Monkey Island and Beneath a Steel Sky. Featuring stunning visuals and a quirky, ambient soundtrack, Samorost creates a wonderfully surreal atmosphere to puzzle your way through.
You can play Samorost and its sequel here. Also, don’t forget to keep an eye out for Amanita’s upcoming game Machinarium.
‘The dead shall rise…one at a time.’
That’s because Rob Sacchetto’s drawing a new one every day, over at Zombie Daily.
Filed under: Comics | Tags: Blade Runner, Comics, Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?, Philip K. Dick
I was pleased to find out today that BOOM! Studios have announced a 24 issue comic of Philip K. Dick’s Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?, the seminal novel which inspired the film Blade Runner.
The first issue will have 4 covers and backmatter by Warren Ellis.
Interestingly, this is not an adaptation but, in BOOM!’s words: ‘the complete novel transplanted into the comic book medium, mixing all new panel-to-panel continuity with the actual text from the novel’. It certainly sounds like an intriguing concept and, if the artists hold up their side of the bargain, will be an essential purchase for me.
