| 20 Mar 2007 |
It seems that
Izzy Camilleri's latest fashion collection is blade-runneresque.
So says the Edmonton Journal. |
| 20 Mar 2007 |
"300" is
a wonderful spectacle. It doesn't matter what you think of
the story or the acting or the critics' views, go see it for
the spectacle - on as big a screen as you can. The L.A.
Times has a view on why you should just
go see it. BTW, when I went to see it, the cinema wasn't full
of "scruffy guys", it was actually mainly filled with young
couples. So take your girlfriend (or boyfriend) ... you'll
have a wonderful evening. |
| 19 Mar 2007 |
While I want
to try to avoid stupid US politics on this page, I can't ignore
the reuse of Ridley's 1984 "Big Brother" ad to parody Hilary
Clinton. The Independent has an article about it and here is
the YouTube
video. |
| 15 Mar 2007 |
This is another
tangential connection to Blade Runner, but when I ask you to
read "ALEVIATING YOUR TOXIC BODY BURDEN:
THE CALIFORNIA LEGISLATURE EXPERIMENTS WITH "GREEN CHEMISTRY"." in
the California
Progress Report, I do so because this is exactly the sort
of thing that Philip K Dick was worried about. |
| 13 Mar 2007 |
Even people who
have no interest in fashion should still know who Dame Vivienne
Westwood is. The connection to BR is tenuous in this
story,
but I include it because I want to. |
| 11 Mar 2007 |
Jean Baudrillard
has died. At least I think he has. For those not familiar with
him, he theorized about us perceiving the depiction of reality
being more real than what it depicted. The simulacrum - a copy
- being preferred to real life. Or to put it another way, the
Replicant being "more human than human". Or perhaps
even more, the idea of living in The Matrix. I love the game
(or non-game) he played. If you have no idea what I'm on about,
please at least read this LA
Times article on the man. |
| 10 Mar 2007 |
The
Guardian has a quick review of novel "Being". "On going in for a routine endoscopy at his local hospital, he
discovers that what he feels and appears to be is not what
he actually is on the inside."
Similarities to BR are obvious. |
| 09 Mar 2007 |
What of the inspiration
of BR? No small thing to many people. Inspiration enough to
write in the same vein? Perhaps. The NY
Daily News highlights
where we might look for such inspiration. |
| 08 Mar 2007 |
Interesting
thought - what light fixtures do you think would work in
your apartment? Would you ever think about Blade Runner before
installing anything? How do these
lights work in your apartment/house? |
| 08 Mar 2007 |
The
Hollywood Reporter reports on the 25th annual Brussels
International Festival of Fantastic Film - 25 years after
the death of Philip K Dick, the festival's guest of honor
will be Syd Mead, the
industrial designer who influenced the look of sci-fi classics "Blade
Runner," "Aliens" and "Tron."
Official festival site. |
| 07 Mar 2007 |
"Robotic
age poses ethical dilemma - An ethical code to prevent humans
abusing robots, and vice versa, is being drawn up by South
Korea." Reported by the BBC,
South Korea is drawing up The Robot
Ethics Charter to cover
standards for users and manufactuers of robots. And so it
begins...
Follow-up analysis.
|
| 03 Mar 2007 |
The festival's guest of honor will be Syd Mead, the industrial designer who influenced the look of sci-fi classics "Blade Runner," "Aliens" and "Tron". |
| 27 Apr 2007 |
Joanna
Cassidy's website has an interesting piece of news -
I quote, "Joanna
has just finished re-shooting her scenes from the original
BLADE RUNNER movie. Joanna is wearing her original outfit
(which she kept over from the first production). These
new scenes will be part of the upcoming special BLADE RUNNER
DVD re-release." "Her scenes" should be read as
reshooting elements of certain shots to improve quality and
get better continuity, not changing any storyline. filmick has even more detail. |
| 01 Mar 2007 |
OC
Weekly review of
PKD's 'new' non-SF novel, Voices from
the Street. |
| 26 Feb 2007 |
At the Home
Theater Forum Live Chat with Warner Home Video, Warner had these comments
on the big Blade Runner SE release this year:
- "The Tyrell Corporation is furiously working away on a release to knock your socks off before the holiday season. The contents
are still being formulated. All the different iterations of
the film will be available, including the new FINAL CUT. We
think you'll be very pleased, and it will have been worth the
wait!"
- "Given all our activity around BLADE RUNNER, which is one
of our biggest, if not the biggest event of this year for our
group, we have discussed various ideas to maximize the large
catalog of Mr. Ford's films which we control."
- "There will be a lot more HD product announced (HD-DVD and
Blu Ray Disc) by us in the next few weeks. We hope you'll be
pleased. It is our intention to have the BLADE RUNNER releases
all contain the same content, regardless of format." |
| 25 Feb 2007 |
Even more obscure
reference of the week: "When I am finally done, Suzie, the
very nice make-up lady asks for my card and promises she'll
watch her boyfriend's DVD of Blade Runner so she can
learn to do Japanese robot eyes for me." "LAist Does Some Pre-Oscars
Schwag Haging". Okay... |
| 21 Feb 2007 |
Obscure reference
of the week is in this FiringSquad entry
on the current state of PC cooling and we're not talking just
fans: "Considering
thermal output has more than quadrupled, I am not surprised
so many current coolers resemble the cityscape of Blade Runner."
|
| 20 Feb 2007 |
Is this The Future?
It was a quarter of a century ago that I first played on the
Internet, watched Blade Runner at the cinema, got my first
computer (to play games...). So this is certainly retrospectively
'a' future. When I created my first website back in 1995, I
excitedly subtitled it, "The
Future Is Now" - a statement which is ironically
very old. But it seemed like the future to me. Cynicism set
in and I switched to, "The Future
isn't what it used to be",
eventually (as cynicism was proved correct) to be replaced
by, "The Future
never was what it used to be." I could be positive
and say,
"The Future is what we make it" -
dream a good dream, plan how to make it come true and then
work hard *now* to create it. But my cynicism has hardened,
so my current observation is, "The
Future will be the same old shit, but with cooler toys." "I am George Jetson" is
an article in the NY
Observer looking at whatever happened
to The Future. |
| 15 Feb 2007 |
If one reviews
a noodle restaurant, then why not mention Blade Runner? However,
I include this Orange
County Weekly review not simply for the BR reference
- I just found it somewhat surreal. |
| 14 Feb 2007 |
Ever been interested
in owning the costumes made for your favourite movies? How
about then making a business out of them? That is what Stephen
Lane did with The Prop Store Of London. The
Sun reports on
what is both a hobby and a business. He has owned such outfits
as the red T-X suit (from T3) and Rachael's fur coat from
BR. |
| 11 Feb 2007 |
"True
global cities make you dream about the future" - headline on an LA
Times article about what differentiates the true global city
from the wannabes. Los Angeles has long since staked its claim
and Shanghai is well on the way. So how does one define which
city has made it? Interesting addition to perceptions is the
SF near-future view - like Blade Runner and Snow Crash set
in L.A. of course. And Neal Stephenson's sequel (The Diamond
Age) is set in and near Shanghai. (Since these, Neal has disappeared
into the present and the past, rather than future novels.)
More to the point, what cities do you think will be the global
centres of business and culture in ten years time? |
| 08 Feb 2007 |
GamePro
has an interview with Phil Wilson, producer for Real Time Worlds'
upcoming Xbox 360 game Crackdown. Asked about the "graphic-novel
style", Phil listed big influences of Matrix and
Blade Runner, with visual art style influenced by Blood: The
Last Vampire. |
| 29 Jan 2007 |
"While
pedestrians ambled to the lake above, dramatic openings would
bring shafts of natural light to cars racing below, "Blade
Runner"-style, in a noir vision that seems right out
of L.A." - yes it is another proposed cityscape
change as described in the Chicago Tribune. |
| 26 Jan 2007 |
Apart from the
assault of noise I mentioned some posts back, there is also
the increasing visual assault. The big BR-type screens in cities,
the big screen billboards along highways, the TV screens everywhere
we go. The
Huffington Post voices an opinion on this subject. |
| 26 Jan 2007 |
At IGN,
Casey Hudson, Project Director at BioWare talks about new future
combat game "Mass
Effect". 200 years in the future Commander Shepard fights the
ancient, intelligent machines. Interesting is that he wants
to capture the atmosphere we see in films like Alien, ST II
and Blade Runner, not just visually, but with the full orchestral
sound of such as Jerry Goldsmith and Vangelis. |
| 26 Jan 2007 |
In Blade Runner
there is Cityspeak. In Star Trek we have Klingon, etc. In LotR,
Tolkien created a whole set of languages, some of which make
it into the films. Tonight looks
at some other invented languages in films. |
| 26 Jan 2007 |
The
Ranger college
paper reports on a talk by Edward James Olmos at McAllister
Fine Arts Center. Sharing the message he has long promoted
(which I wholeheartedly share) - "We are all one race". (Would
that include Replicants, I wonder...) |
| 22 Jan 2007 |
The
New York Daily News extends a tentative hope that
we are finally getting more intelligent SF films being made,
not just the rare occurrence they've been for years. |
| 22 Jan 2007 |
CGI - sometimes
adding neatly to a creation and sometimes totally undermining
it. BR was made with great sets, models and mattes to create
the world of the future. James Cameron's next project will
use extensive "photo-realistic" CGI to create his future and
alien worlds. Will it be "seamless" or just artificial? PopMatters takes a look at CGI (or not). |
| 21 Jan 2007 |
The newest tallest
building - is it going up in Dubai or is it going up in Shanghai?
The
Observer checks out "Blade Runner:
The Cocktail Party" in an examination
of the super-rich in modern China. In stark contrast (in best
Cyberpunk way), the ground level BR-city comparison is made
by the L.A.
Times in a look at Tepito - the "barrio
bravo" of Mexico City. |
| 20 Jan 2007 |
Is the world
becoming too loud? Movies, city entertainment district,
bars, etc. Is the busy street scene in BR the sound of the
future, or indeed, the sound of now? The
Paramus Post turns up the volume. |
| 18 Jan 2007 |
Newest tallest
building going up? The latest review of what is happening in
21st Century Dubai in USA
Today. |
| 12 Jan 2007 |
Many hold up
the BR L.A. 2019 as dystopian vision and talk of avoiding letting
our own cities become like that, even though (or perhaps because)
many are already well on their way. In the BR OV, the much
maligned "Happy Ending" has Deckard and Rachael driving into
a Shining land of forests and fresh air. And yet... are they
really driving to a happier place? Does closer inspection of
the city actually show lots of busy people out and about enjoying
life? Taffey's Snakepit Bar is certainly a happening place.
Would Tyrell or JF really want to leave the city? Is it really
dystopia at all or simply a not-utopia? It is easy to find
the negative in any big city, but not everyone would be happier
elsewhere. Seattlepi has an article that warns of the perils
of moving away from the city - think twice about that dystopian
vision. |
| 11 Jan 2007 |
You are probably
aware of Children of Men - the
Science Fiction film directed by Alfonso Cuarón and
starring Clive Owen, Julianne Moore and Michael Caine. The
Nashville Scene has an interview with Alfonso wherein he
expresses views on the film, filmmaking and migration, particularly
in the USA. Also mentions (again) that Blade Runner is a great
film, but Children of Men is very much not about the big city,
futuristic cars and hi-tech. That is not to say the influence
of BR isn't there in more subtle ways. |
| 08 Jan 2007 |
No surprise to
hear lots of HD DVD talk at the Consumer Electronics Show in
Las Vegas, including announcements of hundreds of films being
released in this format in 2007. It was confirmed that Blade
Runner would be one of them, but no specific release date
was given. |
