Happy Birthday Ray Harryhausen

87 today !!! A true cinema god ! http://www.rayharryhausen.com/

Spielberg still cashing in on Star Wars bet

Steven Spielberg still makes money from Star Wars thirty years after coming out on top in a bet with movie mogul pal George Lucas. Lucas was so convinced his first Star Wars film would be a flop in 1977, he bet Spielberg a percentage of the take his sci-fi epic, Close Encounters Of The Third Kind would be a bigger film. Spielberg recalls, "George came back from Star Wars a nervous wreck. He didn't feel Star Wars came up to the vision he initially had. He felt he had just made this little kids' movie. "He came to Mobile, Alabama where I was shooting Close Encounters on this humongous set and hung out with me for a couple of days. "He said, 'Oh my God, your movie is going to be so much more successful than Star Wars. This is gonna be the biggest hit of all time.' "He said, 'You want to trade some points? I'll give you two and a half per cent of Star Wars if you give me two and a half per cent of Close Encounters.' "I said, 'Sure, I'll gamble with that, great.' And I think I came out on top of that bet. "Close Encounters made so much money and rescued Columbia from bankruptcy. It was the most money I ever made, but it was a meagre success story. Star Wars was a phenomenon and I was the happy beneficiary of a couple of points from that movie which I am still seeing money on today."

Indy Production Diary

http://www.indianajones.com/community/news/mov/firstday.mov

George Lucas on a real location, I bet he tried to talk Spielberg around to shooting the whole film against a greenscreen. :)

Blair talks with Schwarzenegger

Blair talks with Schwarzenegger


Arnie: Hey Tony, give me a way out of this hole. Aerial says we are cut off.

Tony: The only way outta here is that valley that leads to the east. But I wouldn't wish that on a broke-dick dog.

Arnie: Not much choice.

A music question

Check out the clip I posted the other day here Dramatic Chipmunk
Does anyone know the origins of that piece of dramatic music ? I've heard it for years on TV shows, plays, Radio etc... but who wrote that simple piece of music, I've tried Googling it but it's hard to search for when you don't know what it's called and typing in dramatic music brings up all sorts of other finds.

Disney abandons direct-to-DVD sequels

Pity, I was looking forward to Lady and the Tramp 8 :)



Walt Disney Studios has announced that it will no longer release direct-to-DVD sequels to its animated features.

The company has previously released sequels to such classics as The Lion King and Bambi, as well as more recent features Chicken Little and Meet The Robinsons. Such ventures have proven lucrative but have not been as critically acclaimed as their predecessors.

The policy change is seen to be indicative of the influence of new Chief Creative Officer John Lasseter, director of Cars and A Bug's Life, who has never been a fan of sequels.

As a part of the move, DisneyToon Studios will become part of Walt Disney Feature Animation and its president, Sharon Morrill will stand down from the position before being reassigned to another post..

The Little Mermaid 3, released later this year, will be the last direct-to-DVD sequel.

Happy Birthday Bruce Campbell

49 Today !! Hail to the king, baby.

First Indy 4 Picture

The hat is back! First images of new Indiana Jones film released

Dramatic Chipmunk

My mate Kinnon sent me the link to this Dramatic Chipmunk.

Gottfried Helnwein

The first time I seen Helnwein's work was on the cover of The Scorpions Album 'Blackout' His work is amazing, his paintings often look like Photo's and are painted on a huge scale, he really does some bizarre Photographic work too.
All the pics above that he's working on or are finished are paintings, that close up of the face (middle pic of the 5) is actually Oil and Acrylic on canvas.

Check out his site.
http://www.helnwein.com/

Eccleston Quits - Dead Ringers Sketch

2 THOR classics

Keep The Dogs Away



Sleeping Giant


They just don't make them like this anymore, the law has something to do with it I suppose. A mate had some of his albums on Vinyl in the 80's, a pretty rare find as a lot never got put on CD, that may be a good thing though.
Jon Mikl Thor rules !

Tractor Fight

This has got to be the best Tractor Fight I've seen... actually this has got to be the only Tractor Fight I've seen.

Star Wars references

Recently watching Looney Tunes - Back in Action and Flushed Away on DVD with the Family I started to wonder just how many Movies, TV Shows, Adverts etc... had spoofed or made some reference to Star Wars, I mean even shows like Friends have had Star Wars jokes, and they're a staple of Family Guy. There's a list on the IMDB which lists 'Referenced in' it's a pretty big list but I'm sure it's far from complete. Since 1977 I'm sure no other Film or TV Show has quite infiltrated the public consciousness like Star Wars.

IMDB List http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0076759/movieconnections

The Invasion - Trailer

Here's the trailer for the fourth film version based on Jack Finney's story Invasion of the Body Snatchers

The first version was filmed in 1956 and starred Kevin McCarthy, famous for "They're here already! You're next! You're next, You're next... "
A scene which McCarthy played again in a cameo in the 1978 version starring Donald Sutherland, Jeff Goldblum, Leonard Nimoy, Brooke Adams and Veronica Cartwright.

Abel Ferrara filmed his version under the title of Body Snatchers in 1993. This new version is simply called The Invasion.
A similar tale was written a few years before Invasion of the Body Snatchers by Robert A Heinlein called The Puppet Masters (1951) this was also turned into a film starring Donald Sutherland in 1994

V and V - The Final Battle

I watched these again on DVD recently, aired originally in 1983 and 1984 this was a great show at the time, but now as it was then it really goes down hill at the scene pictured above, it always seemed like a huge cop out. For weeks after me and my mates would piss each other off by saying 'Pretanoma' to each other.
Anyway there's still talk of V coming back, here's the link to the IMDB info http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0366112/

I am Legend : Trailer

Looks like the film has little to do with the story of the superb novel by Richard Matheson. Already filmed twice as 1964's The Last Man on Earth and The Omega Man in 1971. Ridley Scott was going to film a new version in the late 90's but fell through due to the size of the budget, not too sure why though if anyone has read the book, it's a very low budget tale.


http://www.apple.com/trailers/wb/iamlegend/

The Dark Crystal: 25th Anniversary Edition

The Dark Crystal: 25th Anniversary Edition DVD will be available on DVD from Sony Pictures Home Entertainment on August 14, 2007.

New documentary's feature on this new DVD, and I'd assume it's a remastered print.

London unveils logo of 2012 Games

Personally I hate it. Thoughts ?
Click the link below for story.
London unveils logo of 2012 Games

Bill Bailey - Magic Roundabout

Niel's Great North Run Madness!

My mate Niel Bushnell, animator & illustrator from Hartlepool, and the boss of Qurios Entertainment has entered the Great North Run this September and is looking for sponsors. If you'd like to donate to help Niel's charity raising fund then please visit the link below.

http://www.justgiving.com/niel

Konnie Huq leaving 'Blue Peter'

The only reason I watch Blue Peter on Kids TV these days, and the reason my wife keeps threatening to hit me over the head with a rolling pin.


Konnie Huq will leave Blue Peter early next year, she has told viewers.

Huq, who will become the show's longest serving female presenter in December, revealed the news on Thursday's show.

"When the time comes for my last show I'll be really sad," she explained. "But I will have been here for over 10 years which is a Blue Peter record."

The news comes after the BBC confirmed it was cutting the number of episodes per week and the resignation of editor Richard Marson.

Happy Birthday John Dykstra - 60 today .

Without doubt one of the single most important FX crew members on Star Wars, his Dykstraflex Motion Control System revolutionized movie FX work. George Lucas and John Dykstra were said to have had a falling out over the cost of the system that did not deliver all of the shots Lucas had wanted, even so he won an Academy Award for best Visual FX and Special Technical Achievement.