The best movie of 2008...

This trailer made me laugh really hard.

It looks like a cinematic experience on the level with Crossroads, Glitter and Baby Geniuses. All of which I saw in the theatre. Don't judge me.

Philip K. Droid

Now this project is dead and gone, but I keep meaning to blog about it anyways.

Philip K. Dick (1928 -1982), as many of you know, wrote dark, paranoid science fiction that's been the source for many of your favourite sci-fi movies [Blade Runner, Minority Report, Total Recall, A Scanner Darkly], and possibly some of your favourite sci-fi literature as well [The Three Stigmata of Palmer Elddrich, Ubik, The Man in the High Castle, Flow my Tears the Policeman Said, Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?].

One thing I love about his work is its handling of robots and computers. Deeply concerned with the nature of consciousness, PKD's world is one where manipulation of memories, moods and personalities, and androids exhibiting emotion, inspiration and free will, blur the lines between man and machine.

So what better tribute to Philip K. than an android in his likeness?


Aw, don't you just want to go cuddle up and discuss the nature of reality?


Android head with stoned-looking kid.

From the FedEx Institute of Technology, Hanson Robotics, and the Automation and Robotics Research Institute, the project seems to have been pretty active back in 2005, but now has died out. No news as to why.

Here is the PKD android interacting with someone at 2005 NextFest in Chicago:



And here are some more links if you want to learn more about Philip K. Dick. Hey! Check out my major blogger journalistic diligence!

The Relationship Between Humans and Machines: Through the Eyes of Philip K. Dick - An analysis by Eli Eisenberger.

Official Site - if for no other reason alone, visit to see the cover art gallery, including the Japanese 'Do Androids Dream...' cover on the right.

The Most Brilliant Sci-Fi Mind on Any Planet - a Rolling Stone article from 1975, this was the first major article about the author.

Doodling with Light

Photograph: Gjon Mili

So Picasso did it. Beautifully, as you'd expect.

Now this crew - Tochka - out of Japan does animation, graphics and comics. Their Pikapika project is a hypnotic little abstract animation piece, using the same technique Pablo did: flashlights on long exposures. They stitch the photos into this film, which was nominated in the Ottawa International Animation Festival. [Psssst, I know that's a pretty pathetic honour, but don't tell Tochka okay? They were led to believe it was the Canadian Cannes.]

Fear the nerd revolution...

I love, love, love nerdcore rap, and nerd culture in general. Who doesn't?

So how excited was I when I found this trailer for a documentary about nerdcore rappers?

Most of the people featured in this video are also on the Rhyme Torrents website, where of course they have their music available for free download, as diligent nerds would. Awwww!

On a side note, if you've got an hour and half to kill, be sure to watch one of the greatest films in the history of mankind - Revenge of the Nerds, here in full on Google Video.

Betty: Are all nerds as good as you?
Louis: Uh-huh.
Betty: How come?
Louis: Because all jocks think about is sports. All we think about is sex.

Classic!

It rubs the lotion...

So yeah, I've been a bit remiss on the ol' blogging this week. Why you ask? Partly because I've been buried neck-deep in work, and have been forced to use my nightly laptop hour for job-related tasking. Partly because we bought a wii on Tuesday, and it's sucking our lives away in a glorious flurry of Nintendo magic.

Or... could it be that I am stuck down a hole, rubbing lotion on my skin?


...or else it gets the hose again.

Fright Night!

So I have some mixed feelings about Halloween costumes, as will be detailed in my upcoming post re: costumes.

One thing I have no mixed feelings about however, is the excellence of Halloween horror films. When they're done well they scare the crap out of me. When they're not... they amuse me greatly. So, as a service to you, my oh so hapless readers, I present:

Beckstar's Top Three Craptastic Halloween Horror Flicks

3. Robo-Vampire

My pop culture genius brother introduced me to this exemplary piece of horror madness. Robocop versus Asian vampire gang? Hells yeah. Two completely different, abandoned, beyond-b horror movies hastily slapped together into a beautiful tapestry of budget special effects? Nonsensical. Hilarious. Perfection.


George Lucas, welcome to your worst nightmare.

2. The Stuff

My uncle Mike is a complete cinemaphile, and his massive collection focuses mainly on Godzilla, sci-fi, horror and b-movie. My brother and I found this gem in one of his many crates, and it blew our fucking teenage minds so hard I've barely recovered. We're talking about killer dessert product here people. Plus, it stars Danny fucking Aiello, and Vancouver washup Michael Moriarty as a character called 'Mo', who jokes about a hundred times that 'it's cause people always want mo'. So awesome I can't sum it up in one clip.


If you're plugging a product, I'd say go with overly medicated aging whore for spokesperson. They're cheap, plus so alarming you can't look away. Win - win!


Hey asshole dad! Have some more killer yogurt why don't you?

1. Halloween III - Season of the Witch

How this movie got made is truly beyond me. Although it is the third in the groundbreaking and genuinely scary Halloween/Michael Myers series, he doesn't appear at all. Instead, it features about the stupidest idea for a plot imaginable, wherein every kid in the world is convinced to buy the same three stupid-looking Halloween masks, which are triggered by a television commercial to kill them.

The theme song is inane, the movie is unbelievably budget, and the 'surprise' revelation, wherein it's tiny pieces of Stonehenge planted in the masks that cause the whole thing is so stupid you can't even handle it. It's so good that it has collected some tribute sites, including Watch the Magic Pumpkin, and the excellent Halloween Flash site. I highly recommend the 'Keltic Legend' sound clip, where a random angry guy lectures about how Halloween really began. Anything that ends with "this hills ran red with the blood of animals and children" is obviously awesome.


It's always good to stand there frozen in your best 80's attire while your child's head is leaking insects.


Yeah, watching this commercial would probably make my head explode too. Or is that just my epilepsy acting up again?

The Fountain: Let's Get Metaphysical!

So evidently I missed the best film at the film fest by far - The Lives of Others or Das Leben der Anderen, the first film by German Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck which won the people's choice award this year and which everybody wouldn't stop talking about. Whatever.

I did see The Fountain though, Darren Aronofsky's (Requiem for a Dream and Pi) latest film, about the Tree of Life, metaphysics and mortality.

Isobel/Izzy and Tomas/Tommy (Rachel Weisz and Hugh Jackman - both great) are lovers in three different time periods stretching over a millenia. From the 16th century (where she is Queen Isobel of spain and he a conquistador) to the present (where she has terminal brain cancer and he's an experimental cancer researcher) to the 26th century (where he's... basically floating through outer space in a bubble), the story is the same - he's fighting to make her immortal.

The ideas are pretty cool, but more than anything the art direction and cinematography were incredible.


16th Century - Conquistadors gone wild.


Present Day - Hey what's that? Oh, if only we had a flying tree bubble...


26th Century - Stop this ride, I want to get off.

The story is presented in a non-linear way, and it's not totally clear how much of what we see is actually happening. Overall, a lovely little poem about trying to hold on to things you love. There just aren't enough metaphysical fantasy films these days, really.

Sellevision by Augusten Burroughs

Maybe it's because it was so rainy. Maybe it's because I was mildly hungover and in the mood for laying about. In any case, I guzzled this book down in a voracious fit this weekend.

Sellevision is Augusten Burrough's first book, supposedly written mainly over a single week. It's not perfect writing, but it's dark, fast and funny.

The story revolves around the team of hosts at Sellevision, America's premier shopping network, as the much-loved and handsome host of Slumber Party Sundown, accidentally exposes himself in front of 60 million kids and their parents during a "Toys for Tots" segment. The characters quickly lose control as each hurls towards his own twisted and subversive climax - finding redemption in porno, valium and other public humiliations. Quick, mean-spirited good fun.

Augusten Burroughs is pretty big right now, due to his bizarre and disturbing memoir Running with Scissors being made into an indy 'it' movie with a-list first namers like Gwenyth and Alec.


Joseph Cross and Evan Rachel Wood in the 'we made a skylight' scene.

Sellevision is supposedly going to be made into a film with Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Kristin Davis and Carrie Fischer, but it seems pretty sketchy right now. In any case, a rather good excerpt from Sellevision if you're interested in reading more.

Un film pour des révolutionnaires

So I've been going to see some good stuff at the Vancouver International Film Fest this season.

First, a disappointment. I had such high hopes for the Miike Takashi film - Big Bang Love, Juvenile A. The last Miike film I saw, Gozu, was my favourite film that year. One of the strangest and most surreal films I've ever seen, actually. This new one is more art-house, much slower, and more than anything just not exploring themes that matter to me (what kind of man do you want to be?). Not a huge surprise, as it was billed as a homo-erotic prison flick. Meh.

But we went to see a film Saturday that was excellent. Renaissance (or visit le site officiel in French) is an animated film noir set in 2054 Paris. It explores themes of mortality, corporate ownership, politics, individual freedom etc. But the visuals... sigh. Mmmmmm.





It was graphically gorgeous. All black and white in really high contrast. Done using rotoscoping/motion capture (a la Waking Life), it is so architectural, moody and noir. Beautiful. It almost gave Fei a seizure it was so high contrast, but hey, she took one for the team.

Not only that, but how many films highlight design in such a prominent way? Even the website walks you through the design process for the elements/logos/graphics used. This attention to detail (they even had Citroen invent a new car for the film) really creates an integrated and believable future reality. Well played, Christian Volckman, well played.


Studies for the Avalon Logo


Further studies for the Avalon Logo


Avalon Logo as seen in film


Studies for alcohol bottles in film

My Cinematic Debut!!!!

Okay, could this be any more awesome? This is the video project from the apple photos you may have seen earlier.

See me dance like a robot! See me throw myself out of a small fruit stand! See me get shoved into a truck in a scene viewers find vaguely pornographic! See it all today!

And, of course, once you're done watching it (60 or 70 times), make sure you vote for Quest.

They really deserve that million dollars, yo!

And I really deserve a million dollars for my stellar performance. And an entourage. And a professional hair and makeup team. And an assistant. And hot celebrity arm candy... I'm thinking a Timberlake or a Grenier. Hey - I'll even take a Lovitz. I ain't mad at the D-List.