| 09 Dec 2004 |
Occasionally I bring you the
completely off the wall reference to BR, so here we go: The
BMW Z4 is apparently as much superior to the Z3 as Roy Batty
is to a Ken Doll. So says ssonet... |
| 07 Dec 2004 |
A month ago, I mentioned the
five short films the Scott Brothers were producing for Amazon
- well the last one ("Careful
What You Wish For") is up. It has an appearance by
Daryl Hannah, but watch it for what the title refers to! |
| 06 Dec 2004 |
So what film was it that introduced
the idea of the action hero wearing a trench coat? Not just
the ordinary detective, but the sort of guy who might jump between
buildings... Well of course it was Blade Runner and MTV
has a rant about it. |
| 02 Dec 2004 |
I include this
as a few people have mentioned the BR DC DVD is currently on
sale cheap in the USA. It only mentions it in passing (though
flatteringly), but the article itself amused me. The madness
of obsessive shopping habits... |
| 30 Nov 2004 |
Happy birthday Sir Ridley!
To celebrate the never-likely-to-retire BR director's completion
of another year of filmmaking, The
Stax Report Salutes Ridley Scott by giving potted reviews
of all his films. |
| 30 Nov 2004 |
It is another poll, or rather
set of polls. The NZ
Stuff website got the voting in on 80s movies. In the SF
category, Blade Runner came top (beating the second two Star
Wars films, so obviously the voters have some taste), but when
the winners of each category were put into a final poll, it
was bloody E.T. that won out (having been classified as a family
movie in the first polls). Stuff is a general news website with
general readership, but E.T.? Ah well, stuff 'em. |
| 29 Nov 2004 |
There is a substantial portion
of BR fans who like the voiceover on the original release and
it is a point worthy of discussion. However there are very few
who think the tacked on happy ride-into-the-sunset ending is
anything but naff. I suspect that in "Hero" the ending
won't bring such stark criticism, but this TNR
review nevertheless tacks on a list of a few movies with
"unfortunate endings". You should definitely not be
discouraged from watching Hero because of that - as the rest
of the review says, this is a wonderful film. (Though I ponder
the need for the US audience to need Tarantino to introduce
it.) If you have not seen Hero yet, then please heed the author's
warning and don't read Page 2 of the article. |
| 28 Nov 2004 |
Back to design and architecture
now with a reference to the Hotel Rivington, opening next Spring,
being described as, "the kind of building Trump might erect
on Rivington Street if his tastes ran more toward 'Blade Runner'
than 'Dallas'". When a collection of designers started
work on it, it was to be called the Surface Hotel, named after
Surface magazine which is actually what this San
Francisco Chronicle article is about. |
| 26 Nov 2004 |
James Hong is as busy as ever.
Seems like only a few weeks ago I was talking about what he
was up to. The press
release reports on his visit to the O-Mei Kung Fu Academy
in Fremont and reports several interesting comments from him.
What next? Well "We can look forward
to seeing more of James Hong in the Bay Area as he plans his
first animation event, "Man of a Thousand Faces,"
on Dec. 4 at the Cupuchino High School Theatre in San Bruno."
|
| 26 Nov 2004 |
The film "Immortal" based by
Enki Bilal on his comic books is given widely differing reviews.
I suspect this one by Jeet Heer for the National
Post is perhaps the one BR fans should read. It is not just
in philosophical comparison to Blade Runner that Jeet writes,
but in that initial finding the audience who can take on the
SF - philosophy - theology questioning that sits within this
film. Future cult favourite or not? Only you can decide. |
| 25 Nov 2004 |
"Man and machine, part
1 - the quest for mechanical man" by Dheera Sujan for Radio
Nederland is a support article for the radio programme and
well worth a read, but I recommend you listen to the programme
itself (link provided within the article). It addresses much,
starting with the age-old questions, the first being, what exactly
do we want from a machine that simulates a human? |
| 25 Nov 2004 |
With Summer film "I, Robot"
out to buy in time for Christmas (of course), let us indulge
in one more lament for what could have been - from Empire. |
| 19 Nov 2004 |
If you are into computer games,
you may well have played Halo and be one of the thousands flocking
to play Halo 2. So how would it be if Ridley Scott directed
a movie based on the Halo world? He has certainly been approached,
but being Ridley, wants to create a world and is looking for
a script that reflects depth of world and good storyline before
committing to anything. But that is more than "No, I'm
not interested." Check out IGN
FilmForce and IGN
Xbox for more. |
| 12 Nov 2004 |
Nicholas Cage is the latest
big Hollywood star to take on PKD. He has signed up to do "The
Golden Man" although it will be called "Next".
This is the story of a man who can see the future. Check it
at FilmStew. |
| 09 Nov 2004 |
The Scott bros - they know
their commercial audience alright! Latest venture according
to USA
Today, is to create five short films for Amazon. The films
are free to watch, so why not check out Amazon.com
to see what the Scotts can do in internet original programming. |
| 08 Nov 2004 |
Shanghai has oft been mentioned
as typical example of BR L.A. 2019 come to the present. Question
is, will it still be there in 2019? According to The
Guardian, it is built on soft ground and is already sinking.
If it continues to sink, it will in 2019 make a terrific film
set for dystopian future films... |
| 03 Nov 2004 |
Icons
of Fright talks to Burton C. Bell, singer for Fear Factory.
Nice to know "'Blade Runner' had
a HUGE influence on me."
|
| 03 Nov 2004 |
James Hong has been in constant
demand as an actor in all the years since BR, and has a most
distinguished career. The "Career Seminar" in the
third annual Delta Film Festival will feature Mr Hing himself
and will focus on James Hong's work (480 film and television
productions) as well as some acting seminars. The
Manteca Bulleting talks about this and other matters. Read
also Modbee.com
|
| 02 Nov 2004 |
The future doesn't just belong
to L.A. ... Ever wondered what might be going on in New Zealand?
Well probably not unless you live there. But the future will
of course come there as everywhere else and "Progress"
is a comic that looks into one possible future set there but
of course good for anyone. It could easily be set in the same
universe as BR. Check out the review. |
| 01 Nov 2004 |
If you don't already have a
set of PKD books, but are interested in the author who created
the original story that underlies the film Blade Runner and
are wondering where to start, then perhaps you would be interested
in this collection of five of his best: Reviewed in Computer
Crows Nest, "Five Great Novels by Philip Dick"
is a volume that brings you 'The Three Stigmata Of Palmer Eldritch',
'Martian Time-Slip', 'Do Androids Dream Of Electric Sheep',
'Ubik' and 'A Scanner Darkly'. These really are the recommendations
many come up with for getting into PKD, so this book is a terrific
primer. |
| 29 Oct 2004 |
The Des
Moines Register has the sort of review of GitS 2 that both
makes you think the author, who includes appropriate references
to BR, knows what he is talking about, but is pandering to a
readership that doesn't. So are you the sort of person that
wants to engage their brain with films that posit fundamental
philosophical questions, or would you choose to fill your head
with cinematic pap? |
| 29 Oct 2004 |
If you want to tour the Frank
Lloyd Wright designed houses in Los Angeles in one day, then
here
is an itinerary for you. Of course this includes the Ennis-Brown house, used
for the exterior shots and inspiring the interior set for Deckard's
apartment. |
