Ray Harryhausen passed away last week. This has been noted by people more qualified than I to discuss the master of stop-motion magic—Rick Baker, Adam Savage, Todd Masters, George Lucas, Peter Jackson, and more. The superhuman talent and perseverance evident in a Harryhausen effects sequence can easily be seen in countless visual effects artists since he first brought his creations to frame-by-frame life on the big screen. That makes sense. So how can I really say anything of worth when I say that I was also profoundly influenced by the artistry of Ray Harryhausen? With modesty, and a story about Clash of the Titans. Continue reading…
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Recent Features
Ray Harryhausen and Me: A Life of High Adventure and Escapism
Things That Change You Forever
I have a ghost story of my own. At least, I have a ghost-cat story.
My final year as an undergraduate was spent in relative splendor. My friends and I lucked into tenancy in the house of a professor on sabbatical. Twelve foot ceilings! Built in bookshelves! Three cats! Real, grown-up furniture! Wait… let’s get back to the cats. The professorial family had three cats and a dog, though the dog was sent to a friend with a farm (later, they told us later that we clinched the lease when they told us that cat care was part of the deal and our response was, “Aw, we don’t get the dog?”).
So. Three housemates, three cats. One morning around the (solid oak!) table, we were chatting about the cats’ sleeping habits. Two of the cats routinely slept in my room, the third with one of the others. Feeling a little left out, the third roommate said, “That’s okay, because Ghost Cat slept on my bed last night.” Continue reading…
Secret Agent, Detective, Genius, Jerk: Modernizing Sherlock Holmes
A man with dark wavy hair wakes up in an iron-framed bed in the middle of a windowless room. He leaps out from under the white sheets and stares intently at a corner of the white ceiling. Suddenly, gracefully, he spins to defeat an invisible opponent in four swift motions, finally falling to his knees in front of an empty chair, hands outstretched.
There’s something about the way Benedict Cumberbatch plays the lead role in the BBC series Sherlock that seems like it could be Holmes’ fantasy version of how a brilliant detective behaves. Continue reading…
My New Weapon of Choice
In April, the Guttersnipes like to mix it up a little. This month, Comics Editor Carol Borden writes about romance.
“You hit him with a frying pan,” he said to her. “How come you didn’t grab a knife?”
“The frying pan was closer.” Her eyes slid away. “It’s not like I had time to pick a weapon. It’s not like the frying pan is my weapon of choice.” –Agnes And The Hitman (27)
Growing up in a town where Elvis was sighted post mortem, I despised and mocked The King. Now, I have held wakes in his honor. I used to only like punk. Then I used to say I liked everything but country. Now I don’t even bother arguing that I’m listening to “Americana,” not country. It is a truth universally acknowledged that something I once despised I will come to appreciate and, often, love. So when both Chris and alex recommended Jennifer Crusie, the author of many romance novels, and in particular her collaboration with Bob Mayer, Agnes And The Hitman, I knew I needed to read it. Continue reading…
Chromatophores + “Insane In The Membrane”
Scientists hooked a squid up to an iPod. This is what happened.
Cthulhu on CNN
It’s not quite the way many cultists had hoped to see Cthulhu on CNN, but it’s still pretty good. Cthulhu and the Lovecraft profiled on CNN. (via Bonnie Burton)
“Deep Intellect: Inside the Mind of the Octopus”
Sy Montgomery has a lovely piece up about octopi, intelligence, consciousness and, maybe, friendship. (via @hudsonette)
Welcome To Hoxford
Ben Templesmith’s luminously tentacular comic, Welcome to Hoxford, is now a luminously tentacular short feature film by Julien Mokrani and Samuel Bodin.
Minoru Kawasaki: Look Back in Fun Fur
Every April at the Gutter, the editors write about something outside their usual domains. This month Comics Editor Carol Borden writes about movies. This is not even close to a full retrospective, because while Minoru Kawasaki doesn’t have a huge number of films, many of them are not available with English subtitles and I don’t [...]
Tentacular, Tentacular
“Spectacular, spectacularNo words in the vernacularCan describe this great event.” –Moulin Rouge! (2001) That song went through my head while reading both volumes of Wormwood: Gentleman Corpse. Actually, the song went “Tentacular, tentacular.” Ben Templesmith can draw some tentacles and Wormwood: Gentleman Corpse is either a showcase for his spectacular tentacular ability or he’s damn [...]
Sharktopus Trailer
Sharktopus is now a film, but my heart is still with Bearsharktopus.
Spooky Squid Games
Check out Night of the Cephalopods, Guerilla Gardening: Seeds of Revolution, Balloonists and more fun by Spooky Squid Games.
Kraken, released.
Kraken rum has some nice little videos about Krakens. Is it a new age of artsy-fartsy corporate patronage? Is it just us or does the narrator sound like the guy from Deadliest Warrior? The videos are fun.
The Temptation of the Unspeakable
We are enjoying the unspeakable today. Gentry with tentacles. A deck of forbidden knowledge.
More Utagawa Kuniyoshi
A Doppelganger. A Giant Carp. A Tengu. The Curated Object has more images from “Graphic Heroes, Magic Monsters: Japanese Prints by Utagawa Kuniyoshi.”
There’s a cephalopod with a naginata.
The Japan City in New York City has posted a gallery of images from their current exhibition, “Graphic Heroes, Magic Monsters: prints by Utagawa Kuniyoshi.” There’s a cephalopod with what looks like a naginata. There are samurai and a giant skeleton. If you can’t make it to the exhibit, see some of it here. (via [...]
Secret Eating Habits of Sperm Whales, Revealed!
National Geographic reveals the secret eating habits of sperm whales in a series of 5 photos by Tony Wu. Okay, it’s no secret they eat giant squid, but National Geographic has pictures!
Tentacles! Jane Austen!
Jane Austen, co-author of the popular, Pride and Prejudice and Zombies, has a new novel that details more than love or manners in the Regency Era. Sense and Sensibility and Sea Monsters reveals shocking and tentacled attacks on respectable society. Click through to the book trailer.
Mega Shark vs. Giant Octopus
Giant animals square off in Mega Shark vs. Giant Octopus. You might think Minoru Kawasaki is behind it. But you’d be wrong–Deborah “Debbie” Gibson’s behind it all. (Thanks, Steven!)
Who Wants to Play Velociraptor Offroad Safari?
Who wants to play Velociraptor Offroad Safari or Minotaur China Shop or Blush, where players are neon attack squids? I do. Gamasutra interviews indie game designers, Flashbang. (via Make It Big)
Of Note Elsewhere
At Sequart, Julian Darius makes the case that Star Trek: Into Darkness damages the Star Trek franchise and that “Starfleet must be destroyed.” (via Mike White)
“It’s easier to tell the same stories everyone else does. There’s no particular shame in it.
It’s just that it’s lazy, which is just about the worst possible thing a spec fic writer can be.
Oh, and it’s not true.”
Kameron Hurley writes about lazy writing, cannibal llamas, female soldiers, and women here. (Thanks, James!)
Patton Oswalt’s multi-franchise super-movie described in his Star Wars filibuster from Parks and Recreation, animated.
Corrigan Vaughan writes an open letter to “Fans of Geek Things“: “I appreciate that you think I have a nice rack and that some of you even find my friends and I to be pretty. That’s very kind. I’m not, however, super in love with the fact that having a rack at all seems to preclude me from being considered a ‘real’ fan.”
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