I was literally standing next to her when she took these…

Pictures of Iceland by Kathryn Gritt.

Immortel (ad vitam)

An interesting-looking live action sci-fi film called Immortel (ad vitam) is coming soon to the Gene Siskel Film Center. Yugoslavian director Enki Bilal combines ancient Egyptian myth with a cold, pale vision of the end of this century in this French, Italian and British production. Between this and MirrorMask, it’s nice to see some people besides Spielberg, Lucas and their acolytes taking a stab at sci-fi.

Japanese QuickTime Trailers: Shinobi, Shining Boy and Little Randy, and Nana

I just learned that Japan has their very own Apple QuickTime Movie Trailer page, and here’s what I found on it:

An interesting looking period film about some people with supernatural fighting abilities hashing it out in feudal times, called Shinobi. No subtitles though. Hope it gets translated and makes it across the pond eventually. Maybe my buddy Noel will be so kind as to translate what’s going on in the trailer…Noel? See also its official site and blog.

From what I can tell, Shining Boy and Little Randy is a Romeo-and-Juliet-style tale of forbidden love between a boy and an elephant….but I could be wrong. Nana is about 2 girls named Nana with opposite personalities, but this time melodrama ensues instead of hilarity.

Sogo Ishii has a new one coming out. In 1994, he directed one of my favorite films called Angel Dust in English, Engeru Dasuto in Japanese (one of the many phonetically translated foreign phrases that looks hilarious spelled out). Kyoshin means “mirrored mind” and looks to be a slow-paced existential film about a depressed young woman. Watch the trailer.

Mirror Mask

British hottie Gina McKee is coming out soon in The Jim Henson Company’s MirrorMask. The movie is the latest collaboration between graphic novel geniuses Dave McKean and Neil Gaiman. MirrorMask takes place mostly within the surreal dream world of a teen girl’s troubled mind. The trailer looks pretty sweet.

Ed Green must be stopped…

For over 25 years, voice over artist (WARNING: the following site has loud audio) Ed Green has delighted us with his soothing baritone, and I’ve just heard all I can take. As much as those big white letters on the hill spell out Hollywood, so does Ed Green’s voice. Whether he’s announcing the Summer arrival of aliens hell-bent on destroying Earth or a troubled family’s Christmas-time hatchet burial, Green’s voice is ubiquitous among movie trailers. And he’s not just Hollywood’s mouthpiece: Corporate America has paid him to do over 25,000 commercials for every product and service imaginable. That’s why he must be stopped. Ed, Hollywood isn’t about “one man…” or “in a world…” or “now more than ever…” or any of that. It’s about embracing the diversity of our dreams and sharing our voices. There IS NO single voice of Hollywood, Ed!!!!! Please. Stop. Now.

I do give him props for poking fun at himself in the trailer for Jerry Seinfeld’s Comedian, though.

artbots 2005

Control and Communication in the Animal and the Machine brings us one step closer to controlling giant robots with our bodies and minds. This prototype is designed for a Madagascan hissing cockroach, whose slightest motion drives the movements of the relatively giant mechanism to which it is physically attached. C.C.A.M. was but one of the entries at ArtBots: The Robot Talent Show, “an international art exhibition for robotic art and art-making robots.” However, according to Keith Malley, founder of Humans United Against Robots (H.U.A.R.), combining cockroaches with robots is a double nail in humanity’s coffin.

Eerie Underwater Recording of Deadly Indonesian Earthquake

LivScience.com hosts a recording of last December’s underwater earthquake that created the devastating tsunami. Underwater microphones deployed to detect nuclear blasts picked up the sound of the 9.3 magnitude quake.

Numark iDJ for iPod…bye, bye turntables…

Numark has come out with a DJ mixer for two iPods. It’s a nice idea, but there really ought to be a way to do it with ONE fucking iPod!!!!!

Stubbs the Zombie video game

Stubbs the Zombie in “Rebel without a Pulse” (Xbox) Movies. Pretty funny.

Optimus keyboard

Optimus keyboard. ‘Nuff said!