New DETOX poster

Because I wasn't likin' the first one. This should convey more about what to expect from the script, since that's what it's selling. Comments? Thoughts? Click for a bigger image.

Geeking out

I get in these moods... I mentioned before my obsession with anamorphic lenses... well, yes, I am obsessing over it, so much so I have been learning about different kinds of anamorphic lenses and when is best to use them and all that.

Then there's my newfound eBay obsession. Yes, I did buy the Alien novelization (and 3 unopened Topps trading cards from Alien) - can't wait for the mail to come.

Then got all geeky on Kubricks (and how I'd kill for the 6-piece Star Wars bounty hunter set!!!) - though I did place a bid on a Saw Kubrick. I really gotta stop the eBay thing before my wife kills me.


This led to a previous obsession with Tokyoplastic - which brought two vinyl figures into my office after being enthralled by their animations ("Drum Machine" was... orgasmic). Love 'em. And then wandering (as I tend to do on the interwebs) to vinyl figures in general at My Plastic Heart. This led to We Make Stuff (and a new interest - Wilfrid Wood) and finally to The Submarine Channel which is all about the "Forget the film. Watch the titles."


And how could I leave out Twitch's ultra-awesome DVD thread with interesting and awesome packing (and having designed some decent pieces myself, including a gel pack invitation which took 11 vendors in 3 countries to produce and won some awards - ahem, I appreciate a good package - ahem).

There's also The Explosive Generation, a short-lived but fertile exploration of some awesome movie posters.

Just all around geeking out on film and design and the juxtaposition of the two. And the byproducts. Fuck, I can't wait to see a Kubrick of The Watchman from Detox. Can't wait to license a poster-size puzzle for "The Bet." Will put up on eBay myself a signed script of anything. Hell, I'm a geek and I love it. I gotta get money for those Kubricks somehow.

How an alien changed my life

When I was 8 years old a film came out that I was only aware of on the periphery of my sheltered existence.

At the summer recreation center at the school I went to I happened to pick up a book, a novelization of a popular film. I'd never heard of it, but the cover intrigued me. I don't know for sure, but I remember it having pictures in the center (they alway do, these movie tie-in books), but I remember being absolutely fascinated. The film was Alien.




Not too long after that I managed to convince my parents to buy me the Alien puzzle. I loved that puzzle. It was huge, 3 feet tall. Even now, watching the film, I recognize the patch on their sleeve as a huge element in the puzzle. I must have put that thing together fifty times on the dining room table. Why? I don't know. I just liked it.














And after one of my birthdays (maybe turning 9) I had $20 to spend from relatives who'd sent cards with some cash in them. I wanted to get the Millenium Falcon (which, way back when, was $20 - a huge amount at my tender age). But as I strolled the toy aisle at Grand Central (the way back version of Wal-Mart here in Vegas), I came across an 18" Alien action figure. I had to have it. My mom tried to explain (as I try to explain to my own kids), that if I got that alien, I couldn't get the Falcon. I didn't care. I wanted it. I didn't even are that none of my friends had it or even heard of it. I wanted it. I didn't give a crap it was out of scale to the Star Wars figs I had. It was... awesome.

All these are available on ebay and I SOOO want to buy them. Alas, I don't have the $180-ish to nab them all. damn.

All I can say is, the six or so years after my single-digit-age obsession with that movie, I actually got to see it and... well, I didn't really like it. Really. The same way I thought The Exorcist was shit. It only took about, oh, ten years later to actually appreciate being scard without blood and gore. All I can say is every time I watch Alien, I like it more (as opposed to a number of films which I like a little less each time).

But I can't ignore the fact that Alien is a seminal film for me, one that affected me in ways I never recognized and have never forgotten.

AWESOME!

Just got my limited edition (#143/210) poster for Alamo Drafthouse's screening of The Thing. It's just so cool. See picture and description below.

Click image for larger view.

Sci-Fi Series - John Carpenter's The Thing Poster by Tyler Stout!
Stout Strikes again! Tyler has crafted this beautiful poster commemorating the Alamo Drafthouse's screening of one of the best Sci-Fi/Horror movies ever made - John Carpenter's The Thing!
A 5-color sikscreen measuring 24x36, with the red glowing in the dark! (Note - every character infected by The Thing has RED EYES!)

Shooting a commercial

Off in Northnern California shooting a commercial. Yes, it is 1:50 in the morning. Yes, I just got uphttp://www.blogger.com/img/gl.link.gif for a 2:30am shoot. Yes, I'm going to be working until 4pm. No, I'm not happy.

Until I recover, enjoy the following links.

• The House Next Door
• "Soderberg Is a Wild Man" - a thread covering shooting anamorphic on Red digital cameras
• Genius Party Beyond
• LA Underground
• Explaining aspect rations
• Film sizes (actually pretty interesting if you're a film geek). Courtesy of the The Widescreen Museum.

More about my recent widescreen/anamorphic kick soon.

Reverend Michael Dunn

Yes, Reverend.

Mat Planet ("The Bet" fans know him as "Donnie") had said before that he was an ordained minister of the Universal Life Church. I thought this was awesome. So much so that I wanted him to officiate our 10-year vow renewal (which we opted to have dinner instead, meh). So much so that I, too, have now become an ordained minister of the ULC. Yes. Really.

As they (the ULC) say, and as I truly believe, "Do only that which is right."

Why? Am I that spiritual? Well, no, not really. Forgive me if I offend (it wouldn't be the first time), but here's my thinking. I think there's something bigger than us. God? Aliens? I don't know. But there's just too much cool shit in the world to leave it all up to evolution. Maybe I'm just playing it safe. But I am adamantly non-denominational because I refuse to believe one crazy story over another. Wine from water? Born from a white elephant? None of it makes any sense, really. I just think we should be good people. Why is that so hard? So, while part of me did the ULC thing as a sort of thumbing-of-the-nose to religion, there's also a huge part of me that does believe. Something. And there's a part of me that likes the symbols of the bible. The sevens and the crosses and crucifixes* and the horsemen and Genesis. I don't believe any of it, but it sounds good. I love the rhythm of the words from the bible. It's good literature. Little else.

*I've wanted, as long as I can remember, to own a crucifix that I could wear as a necklace. I think the only thing that stops me from doing it is feeling like other people won't get that I wear it as an appreciation for storytelling not that I believe in it. I appreciate marketing. I appreciate mascots. Buddy Christ? Why not. The real one sure hasn't solved anything.

Mad World

Anytime I get the chance, I love to plug my good pal Rachel Bellinsky (and here, too, her sister Justine) and this is as good a time as any. Here they are fooling with teh teknology. One of my favorite songs.

Mad World

One of those days

Today was one of those days I rarely get to experience. After a week and half of the most horrific neck and shoulder pain, last night was the first night I actually slept really good. At least until 2:30 this morning. I got up, partly cos I was hot, partly because I needed more Advil, but mostly because I wanted to watch the latest Netflix arrival, a film starring Gillian Anderson and a recent discovery (and my new favorite accent) Danny Dyer. The film was Closure and it didn't exactly suck, but it was certainly lacking... something. I was back in bed at about 4 and woke up again at 8:15.

I got up.

It's been threatening spring for a few weeks now and today, hanging in the low 70's, was certainly still not spring-like. But I had gotten up, made coffee, fixed the pool sweep and rearranged the patio furniture and couldn't help but take the coffee outside and just chill in the rocking seat, feet propped up on the fire pit while a too-cool breeze warmed slowly over the next hour as I drank my coffee.

Then I turned on the lap top. I decided that if I couldn't write, I'd head to the store and get a new pillow to hopefully help with overcoming the neck and shoulder issues that have plagued me. But I started tapping away and, over the next two hours, added about ten pages (of really good stuff) to the punishment cabinet.

Then the wife and I ran off (leaving the kids at home with Nana) and caught Run, Fatboy, Run before a dinner out. The film was predictable and a bit too bland, with (ironically) the British elements adding the only spice. Simon Pegg is great (duh), but Dylan Moran stole the film. It's the first comedy we've seen in the theatres since, heck, probably The Full Monty.

So it was a good day, just like those bits I added to start of the script. A good day. I just hope it doesn't need to balance out the way it does in the script.