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…
Greil Marcus SVA Commencement Speech
At the School of Visual Art, Greil Marcus delivers a commencement speech discussing “high art” vs. “low art,” art, and influence. (Thanks, Andrew!)
Hunting the Hell Portal with L. Ron Hubbard
“It was the dawn of World War II when [Jack] Parsons, who’d also co-founded the missile manufacturing firm Aerojet around the same time as [the Jet Propulsion Laboratory]’s inception, took to the Ordo Templi Orientis….But soon enough the young explosives guru was running with another OTO buck, a young writer named L. Ron. Hubbard. ” [...]
“This Land Is Mine”
Animator of Sita Sings The Blues, Nina Paley, has a new short, “This Land Is Mine,” concerning, “a brief history of the land called Israel/Palestine/Canaan/the Levant” set to, “This Land Is Mine” sung by Andy Williams. (Via Cartoon Brew)
Diabolus in Musica
“I used a descending chromatic scale throughout the score,” explains Marc Wilkinson, who was director of music at the National Theatre when Haggard approached him to write the score for Blood On Satan’s Claw. “To make it scary, I omitted the perfect fifth, which is the one true consonant in the chromatic scale, and highlighted [...]
NYAFF 2012!
Who will dare face the New York Asian Film Festival?! Who will dare not to after seeing the festival trailer and reading, “Grady’s Guide to NYAFF 2012?!” The full festival schedule and ticket information are here.
How Does Your Garden Grow?
I make a conscious attempt to not repeat myself with this column. It would be easy to do: my favourite writers are my favourites for a reason, and yay, they keep writing great books. But I figure that wouldn’t be terribly interesting for anyone but me. Besides, there are so many Romances published every year. [...]
The Religions of Westeros
George R.R. Martin talks about the religions in Game of Thrones.
Haitian Zombis: Clinical Findings
In 1997, the prestigious British medical journal The Lancet published an article, “Clinical findings in three cases of zombification” by Roland Littlewood and Chavannes Douyon. Mo Costandi at NeuroPhilosophy provides cultural context and discusses anthropologist Wade Davis’ work on the ethnobiology of the Haitian zombie. And Patrick D. Hahn writes about a Clairvius Narcisse, provides [...]
“10 Movies You Didn’t See in 2011″
At Slate, Grady Hendrix offers his list of “Ten Movies You Didn’t See But Should Have,” two of which premiered at Toronto’s Midnight Madness (Stake Land and Super).
A Cathedral Carved from Salt
A 360 degree view of an underground cathedral in the Wieliczka Salt Mines.
Slate’s 25 Best Horror Films of the 2000s
Slate has a nicely ecletic and thoughtful list of the best horror films of the ’00s, including many Midnight Madness favorites and films by Rob Zombie, David Lynch, Takashi Miike, Sam Raimi, Tomas Alfredson, David Cronenberg, William Friedkin, Alexandre Bustillo and Julien Maury.
Red Skies: Soviet Science Fiction
A thorough and well-illustrated look at Soviet science fiction, from the 1920s through the 1980s. (via SF Signal)
Jia Zhangke Speaks Out Against Cenorship in China
“The only reason that we cannot make genre movies is the barrier that censorship sets.” Jia Zhangke says more here. Meanwhile a leaked diplomatic document gives some insight as to whose taste is being served in recent Chinese historical epics. Xi Jinping admires American World War II dramas: “Some Chinese moviemakers neglect values they should promote…America [...]
Jim Munroe’s Rapture
The Gutter will help you get ready for the Rapture in Chicago with Gutter Founding Editor Jim Munroe’s Therefore, Repent! (free here) and the sequel set in Post-Rapture Detroit, Sword of My Mouth, featuring excellent art Shannon Gerrard. The Rapture isn’t what we think it is. (Full disclosure: Carol was an editor on both and [...]
“Darkseid IS”
Have you accepted that Darkseid will eventually discover the Anti-Life Equation and render the entire universe in to a desolate hellscape of firepits and despair? This Darkseid Chick Tract could help you realize the inevitability of his triumph. (Thanks, houseinrlyeh!)
The Lord Inglip
Inglip has been summoned and his wishes divined.
Holiday Spirit!
Are you in the mood for some holiday spirit? Good! Make your own cute little paper Krampus! Then, together, you can watch this nice animated adaptation of a Neil Gaiman poem about Santa and this very special Anti-Xmas Special with Henry Rollins, Glenn Danzig and Krampus! (thanks, flusty and the dissolution!)
More Krampusse
Nice gallery of Krampus pictures as well as a little history about Krampus.
80 Years of Genre Snubs
Horror movies are celebrating their hundredth year in 2010, with the anniversary of the 1910 Edison Lab’s production of Frankenstein. Bloody Disgusting catalogs “some of the biggest…genre snubs in Oscar history, in Part Four of B-D’s ’100 Years in Horror’ series.”
The Second Most Incredible Biblical Game
Crap Shoot reviews “the second most incredible Biblical game ever created, ever”: The You Testament. Ricard Cobbett writes: “[You] can’t get away from the fact that this is a religious game which lets you mind control Jesus Christ and make him punch people in the face.” Also, follow through on the other game reviews linked. [...]
keep looking »Of Note Elsewhere
“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.”
The Hollywood Reporter interviews director Takashi Miike about his new film, Shield of Straw: ” In Japan now, films are very safe. When I was young and went to old cinemas, they had a distinctive feel, an adult smell about them. As you got in your seat and the lights went down, there was a feeling of excitement: What if the film is scarier than I thought it’s going to be? You’re taken into that world. Nowadays, you can sit in the theater and know it’s going to be safe. That’s good for business, but not for filmmaking.”
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