I stumbled onto these videos by Keith Loutit sometime last year and thought I’d blogged about them back then. But apparently not. I should’ve done though, because they’re great. Then I saw them mentioned again last week and I’m captivated again.

I’m assuming that they’re made from video footage which has been split into frames which have then digitally edited to look like tilt-shift photography, and then put back together again as a complete film. Regardless, they look brilliant and every one is worth a watch.

Go and take a look at the series on vimeo. Superb stuff.

I really wish I could draw. Like really. If I could, I’d spend all day everyday drawing things like this. Except it probably wouldn’t be my job, and no-one does illustrated posters anymore so I’d have to make up the films. Stuff like “Revenge Of The Badger Lord – He Came From The Undergrowth To Take You To HELL!!!” or “The Creature With Poor Eyesight But An Insatiable Hunger For Blood. And Death! Lots Of Death!!” and they’d be awesome. But as it is, drawing things by hand is not my strong point, so I’ll just admire these from afar.

They’re taken from a couple of posts simply entitled 100 Illustrated Horror Film Posters Part 1 and Part 2 (you might be able to see where I stole this post title from) and as a whole suite, they’re a fairly impressive collection. Some of the films are well known (Jaws, Dawn of the Dead), others sound mental and make me want to see them (The Giant Leeches, Fiend Without a Face) but all of them are worth a look.

So you already know what Pixar are about. They’re the animation studio with major skillage who used mess with Lucasfilms, Steve Jobs and Disney but now roll dolo. Their catalogue is pretty much the most solid collection of films from one studio ever. I still haven’t seen Wall-E yet but everything else gets a two thumbs up from me. Even Cars.

There’s tonnes of images and whatnot covering their work out there but I bumped into this site and particularly like the stuff they’ve collated. It’s not extensive by any means but there’s something to be said for being selective. Just a wee collection of artwork from the films, and links to other sources. It’s a nice selection, worth a look.

You’d have to have been living under a rock at the bottom of a particularly large and intriguing cliff on Mars for the past year or so to not know that there’s a new Batman film out. And if that were the case, you’d be a fool. Some sort of alien fool in fact. I’ll presume that’s not the case and therefore urge you to go to see The Dark Knight as soon as you possibly can. It’s batfreaking awesome.

I don’t really do reviews – just ‘mentionings’ really – so when I say that the film pretty much lived up to the expectations I had (and more), that the Joker is unfuckwitable, that Batman kicks ass, and that I haven’t enjoyed a film so much in a long time – take that as a 5 popcorn boxes, two thumbs up and a certified fresh tomato rating.

I didn’t see it on IMAX due to the general retardedness that seems to surround our local eyesore in Bournemouth but still, thanks to a comfy seat quite close to the screen, I got a fairly decent experience anyway Really, there’s little I could say that wouldn’t ruin it if you haven’t seen it yet, so I wont. Just go and see it. Tis amazing.

Oh, and the pencil trick = mental. Wow.

It’s been a while since the 1-18-08 shizzle sparked my curiosity, so it was only right to go and see it in the cinema. Aside from the pricks in front of us eating nachos with salsa dips (seriously, why fucking eat in the cinema?! Is an hour and a half too long to cope without food? The shit stinks to high heaven, and then they go and drop it all over the floor. Pricks.), – apart from that – it was an enjoyable experience

The film is good. I liked it. Not sure what the reports of people being sick because of motion sickness are about because it really wasn’t that bad (to me. But then, I don’t suffer from motion sickness so who am I to judge?). It was like a better, more monsterific, more enjoyable Blair Witch. I don’t want to spoil anything for anyone that’s not seen it but you do see the monster fairly clearly. It’s big.

Good stuff all ’round.. If you go and see it, keep an eye on the sea by Coney Island at the end.. and also, stay til the end of the credits… Oooh yeah.. Extra goodness (well, kinda)..

You ought to know by now that there’s a new Batman film on it’s way. Next summer apparently. I cant wait. It looks the bees knees. There’s a 6 minute ish preview taken from the IMAX showings of ‘I Am Legend’ that you can watch here if you’re quick. The Joker looks sooo sick (both in the mental sense, and in the ‘whoa dude, that’s sick!’ sense).

What I’m really liking though, is the teaser stuff viral build-up they’re doing online with the various sites tied into the film. I’ve mentioned the Dark Knight and the Harvey Dent ones before but they’re increasing by the week it seems.. There was We Are The Answer for Harvey Dent, and then there’s been whysoserious (and it’s sub-sites) and Rent A Clown and rory’s death kiss which rather splendidly get people to engage with the Joker in ‘real life’ (if I wasn’t afraid of looking like a prick, I’d don the face paint and send a photo in). And then more recently, there’s A Taste For The Theatrical with its links to the high quality preview for the film, and the Gotham Times. Then there’s The Ha Ha Ha Times which is an alternative version of the Gotham paper.

Not to mention the other promo stuff, like this Joker cake or the Gotham Novelties box..

Super stuff! I love it. How cool would it be to be working on this project(?!) Note: WB, if you’re looking for some extra Photoshop work or CSS type of stuff, get in touch. I’ll do it for free. Fact.

I’m sure there’ll be more to come before the film gets released. It’s doing a superb job of building up anticipation (for me anyway) and I’ve no doubt the film will meet all my expectations . My spidey-sense says so. (Oh wait, wrong film…)

To be honest, I wasn’t particularly interested in seeing the film, but these credits are very nicely done and have slightly changed my mind. I have no idea how historically accurate the ‘facts’ are and I’m not really fussed.. They’re put together superbly. Good work.

Go and watch the massive HD version here: http://movies.yahoo.com/feature/thekingdom.html?showVideo=1

The latest filum from Michael Moore is rather good and worth watching.. full of worrying, yet entertaining facts and stories. Worrying if you’re American, entertaining if you’re not. (I jest!) Either way, it’s required viewing. When I read things like 50 percent of personal bankruptcies in the U.S. are due to medical expenses, it makes me glad to have the NHS. Good good good.

Edit:
I’m not sure that the above wordage really conveyed how this film made me feel.. and probably came off a bit jokey. I was thinking about it a bit more last night and really, how can a country like America not have a social healthcare system. It baffles me. Also baffles me when people complain about our NHS for waiting times etc, but when you think about what they actually do, it’s amazing. (And there’s always BUPA if you want to try it the American way.) Blah. I’m not sure I have any point; just watch the documentary when it comes out. The bit at the end in Cuba: awesome.

Despite the title of this post, batman & rambo aren’t in the same film. That’d be mental. This is just a couple of links to some upcoming (at some date, sometime in the future, possibly) films which are shaping up nicely.

Firstly, The Dark Knight. I’ve always loved me a bit of batman. Quite possibly my favourite superhero. He’s the shizzle. I used to call myself ‘batmatt’ as a child. Really. But anyway, no trailer for this as yet, but I do like the approach taken thus far with these sites. I always like it when marketing takes this approach and I’m hoping that there’ll be more in this vein. It’s only a wee taster but it’s enough to get me anticipating the film.

Official site: http://thedarkknight.warnerbros.com/
Harvey Dent’s campaign site: http://ibelieveinharveydent.warnerbros.com/
Harvey Dent ’support’ site: http://www.ibelieveinharveydenttoo.com/

The ’support’ site started off as just the defaced poster, with a form which generated an email to you, with some coordinates that revealed a pixel of the poster. And if you replied to the email, you got a reply like: “People always ask me about my charming boyish smile. Jessica used to love it. She was the loneliest girl in high school, and my first big kiss…” or “I always say, you never know what a man is truly made of until you peel the skin off his face one piece at a time. Here is your chance to help:“. Very cool. If you go to the site now, you can see the full ‘reveal’. It’s cool. (In case you’re wondering, Harvey Dent is Two-Face.. and my first cat is called Two-Face. That’s largely irrelevant but still cool).

Secondly, there’s a new kinda of trailer floating around for John Rambo (Rambo IV) which is ridiculously gory and stupidly violent. It’s delicious! Watch it here.. http://www.firstshowing.net/2007/05/19/john-rambo-iv-feature-trailer/. Killing’s as easy as breathing..