Saul Bass, the visionary designer behind the opening credits of many a Sixties cinema classic, is deliberately aped to produce the swingingest version of Star Wars you’ve ever seen.
At a record-shattering hour and a half, this episode of Radio Free Skaro delves into the recent Invasion 2008 convention held over the weekend in the UK, and attended by our very own Third Guy. Thanks to him, we also have audio of the one, the only Tom Baker holding court with many fans on matters great and trivial. There’s also some nonsense about Torchwood and dribbles of news, but it’s mostly recountings of madcap adventure amongst the Whovians.
Narrowly avoiding the technical snafus of last week, the RFS crew rose to the occasion and produced an hour of witty banter, insults and of course the eagerly awaited pub rumours that were so cruelly stolen from our audience last week by the vagaries of Skype. Besides covering the latest Torchwood (which aired last week on BBC 2 and this week on BBC 3 and two years previous on stone tablets and oh I give up already…) we talked about the latest news, along with the usual digressions and nonsense we’ve become so very famous for.Â
I don’t often put work related stuff on the blog, but I figured it’s probably a good idea to show what I’ve been up to for the last little while. First, here’s a promo I cut together for Chow Restaurant (through Industryblender.com):
Second, I’m continuing to do video work for Urban Mixer TV:
And third, I just started Monday at a new full-time gig as the Tech Content Producer at “The Lab with Leo“, a technology show that airs on CityTV and Tech TV here in Canada. I’ll be finding guests, creating segments, reviewing gadgets, and appearing alongside Leo Laporte as one of his co-hosts. The shooting schedule is structured in such a way that you won’t see any on-air appearances from me for a couple of months yet, but stay on the lookout for your favorite bald, Doctor Who loving nerd.
update: Here’s an excerpt from the show, also starring Kris Krug, Vancouver tech renaissance man.
Blasphemy? Perhaps. Obviously Stanley Kubrick is a far better director than hack-for-hire Peter Hyams, and the original film’s imagery and effects are visionary (if tinged by the 60’s and not anywhere near where we actually ended up in 2001). But check out io9‘s list, inspired by the passing of Roy “Heywood Floyd” Scheider, of why 2010 is actually more enjoyable and comprehensible than 2001. Clarke has since gone on to write a bunch of crappy novels focused on the 2001 universe, so if you’re going to level criticism, be sure to spread it around to the creotr of the whole shebang.
Yep, to the surprise of no-one, injecting yourself with botulism toxin to fight wrinkles turns out to be a bad idea. Scientists have discovered that the beauty cocktail, much favored by aging cougars and Hollywood royalty, can even result in death. Ah, vanity, thou art a treacherous harpy.
The BBC threw us a nice softball by releasing a “cinema-exclusive” season 4 trailer on February 1st, which someone promptly uploaded to Youtube. The RFS crew took much delight in analyzing and dissecting this tasty morsel, speculating wildly on what are likely innocuous shots of no real relevance. We also discussed the newest episode of Torchwood, hashed over Russell T Davies declaration that he keeps fans at arm’s length, and of course went our trademark off-topic ramblings as per usual. (feed, web, direct download)
The BBC released a trailer for Series 4 of Doctor Who today in England…but only in movie theatres. Presumably this thing will hit the net in a day or two and look much better than this version shot on someone’s camcorder (or even their phone)…but me wantee now! And so do you, so watch it.
According to a recent article in Slate, movies appearing at the Sundance film festival by and large don’t get pirated, and instead wallow in obscurity. The author’s contention is that pirates only pay attention to big releases, but I think it may have more to do with the fact that the average Sundance filmmaker probably isn’t tech-savvy enough to get their film onto torrent sites in the first place. After all, 90 percent of the films at Sundance and other film festivals go on to virtually no distribution, so why not at least try to get some eyeballs on all that hard work?