The New York Times interviews Mr. R, mastermind behind the China Daily Show, “a ‘fake news’ Web site in a country that is crying out for satire, where reality is so skewed by propaganda and inadvertent humor that it can be hard to tell the difference[.]“
Production Designer Ray Cusick has died. Cusick is most famous for creating Doctor Who’s nemeses, The Daleks, but he also worked on Agatha Christie’s Miss Marple (1985 & 1987), Cold Comfort Farm (1968) and The Tenant of Wildfell Hall (1975). The BBC reports on his death and the creation of the Daleks here and here.
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)
Character actor Hideji Otaki has died. Otaki worked with directors including Akira Kurosawa, Juzo Itami, Masahiro Shinoda and Koreyoshi Kurahara in films such as Kagemusha; Minbo: The Gentle Art of Japanese Extortion; A Taxing Woman; Gonza the Spearman and Black Sun. The Japan Times and The Kyodo News have brief English-language obituaries.
“PSY does something in his video that few other artists, Korean or otherwise, do: He parodies the wealthiest, most powerful neighborhood in South Korea. Sure, he uses physical humor to make it seemingly about him, a man who wants to project glamour but keeps falling short…But ultimately, by declaring ‘Oppa is Gangnam Style,’ he turns [...]
“Yelp’s content — the technical genre of which is “review,” but which also, often, takes the guise of novel, treatise, elegy, and haiku — has at this point adopted a recognizable editorial sensibility. One that is guided by its authors’ unique ability to blend, in almost equal measure, selfless generosity and ruthless indignation.” Chris Kipiniak [...]
I am Ape. Nothing Ape is strange to me.–Publius Terentius Afer (sort of) For what is there beautiful in man,-what, I pray you, worthy of admiration, or comely–unless that which, some poet has maintained, he possesses in common with the ape? –Arnobius I’m surrounded by a stack of comics and one illustrated novel all set [...]
The FantAsia site is up and running with many, many trailers to get you ready for the festival. (Or at least, what films to keep an eye out for).
Lonely serial killer and film smarty Harry S. Plinkett reviews the Star Wars prequels: The Phantom Menace, Attack of the Clones, and Revenge of the Sith. Trenchant analysis aside, current favorite segments are his love advice to Anakin and “Citizen Vader”–starts here and continues. (Trigger warning for those sensitive to ladies held captive in basements [...]
Fantagraphics has a video, a gallery of images and a 22 page preview of their book, Jack Davis: Drawing American Pop Culture. The Gutter’s Editor Emeritus Ian Driscoll has more to say about Davis here.
The Monkey See blog celebrates Nigel Tufnel Day with a serious consideration of “the greatest rock and roll record ever made: 1984′s soundtrack for the movie This Is Spinal Tap.”
Rohrshach has discovered a new conspiracy, a plan to ensure that no one watches The Watchmen. (Via Forbidden Planet International)
Imprisoned in one room for 20 years, George Lucas wants revenge. (Thanks, John!)
Jiang Wen’s latest film is a comedy short and you can watch it here. It’s in Mandarin. (via @TheGoldenRock )
The line-up for the Midnight Madness Programme at the Toronto International Film Festival has been announced and the Gutter has some trailers and images for the films! Smuggler (directed by Funky Forest‘s Katsushito Ishii); The Day; Livid (from the directors of A L’Interieur/Inside); Kill List; The Incident; God Bless America (directed by Bobcat Goldthwait); Lovely [...]
A couple of looks at the art and history of film title sequences.
Variety has a piece on how Hasbro allows fans to use footage from My Pretty Pony: Friendship is Magic, while other media copyright holders continue to try and squash fan use of media properties. “Really it all comes down to a question of control for big media companies….They can either attempt to clamp down on [...]
It’s summer time and instead of beer bottles exploding out of coolers in a shower of refreshing ice, bikini-clad hotties and fireworks as we know it should be, everything is wilting and perhaps even melting. As far as I can tell there are only two possible explanations—Hot Lava Monsters have readjusted the earth’s thermostat to [...]
“It’s the end of an era. The entertainment which has stretched across books, movies, and countless marketing tie-ins, which has captivated children and adults for well over a decade and which has, for better or worse, managed to become the defining myth for an entire generation, is winding to its close. I speak, of course, [...]
Here at the Gutter we like our podcasts. We especially like Infernal Brains and The Projection Booth. At Infernal Brains, Todd and Tars discuss Thai pulp hero, Insee Daeng and Wisit Sasanatieng’s recent screen adaptation, Red Eagle. Meanwhile, at The Projection Booth, Mike and Mondo Justin report on Robocop (including news on Detroit’s statue) and [...]
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