Zodiac

I heard mention a long time ago that a directors cut 2 Disc version of Zodiac was on the way so I made a very deliberate mental note that this was one movie that I had to pick up.

I guess I wasn't actively searching as apparently it came out Jan 08. What brought it to my attention was a recent advertisement in a British film mag-so I went down to HMV and there it was-a bit bloody expensive-but I had to have it.

So I just re-watched the movie with it's almost unnoticeable extra 6 minutes and then listened to the commentary with Fincher which was excellent-really engaging guy.

I also watched the two documentaries directed by David Prior -This is the Zodiac Speaking and - His Name Was Arthur Leigh Allen. The later being the better doc.

Still have to listen to the commentary with Jake Gyllenhall, Robert Downey Jr., Brad Fischer, James Vanderbilt and James Ellroy. Downey is always entertaining and Ellroy should be of interest.

There a bunch of other stuff also: a making of, visual effects and a previs doc -with split screen comparisons between the animatics and finished film.

This in my opinion is one of the best films of the last ten years. Fincher really outdid himself on this one.

Love this:



Lifted from whokilledBambi (yet again)



This one from boingboing.net/

Two sites I visit on a rather regular basis. Douglas Rushkoff is now a guestblogger on boingboing-so yet another reason to check it out.

I'm quite busy at present, with my head in a few different things-so I can see this blog taking a bit of a backseat(not that it takes me much time to steal a few images from the web or upload a video from Youtube -but you know what I mean...) Aw! sure we'll see.

You see I've never been much of a doodler as I have a tendency to take my drawings to a final stage and then some. My doodles are my initial sketches for whatever illustration I may be working on and they are literally scratches on a page so I don't know whether they are truly worth sharing. On top of that a lot of the stuff I'm working on is creator owned comic book stuff and I'm a little reticent to put it on the blog for copyright reasons.In saying that one of my latest will be on the alarmclock website pretty soon -just a few things to iron out before I finally put it up.

Same goes with work related stuff-Can't post due to the non-disclosure agreement. Although for the next gig, I will be supervising so I would have little to put up anyway.

So yeah, hence the rather eclectic posts covering everything from Chuck Norris to Jesse Helms.

Later-

Filler

Strong possibility that you have already seen it-but c'mon it's worth watching again.
That -chicken walk- at 0:27 is in itself worth the price of admission



Not a big fan of Weird Al, but this one always makes me laugh...

The Mighty B

Having a young son gives me an excuse to watch the latest Saturday morning cartoon offerings: Ben 10, The Batman, SpongeBob, Spiderman, Kim Possible et al. Usually the shows are a minor distraction and nothing really ever jumps out at me- OK except for SpongeBob, I always get a kick out of that show.

I have to say Nickelodeon's The Mighty B made me sit up and pay attention. Funny as hell and brilliantly voiced(and produced)by Amy Poehler of SNL. In fact it's a little reminiscent in style of John K's Ren and Stimpy.

If only all cartoons could aspire to this level.

Don't miss it.

Alarmclockproductions...

...website is finally up-link on the right.

Most of the gallery work is stuff from my old website with a little bit of new stuff-namely the animatics and a few other pieces.

The site at this point is mainly concerned with promoting and gaining some service work, but I hope further down the line to split the site in two-whereby this one will be more concerned with my own original IP and the likes. At the moment it is a bit of a strange hybrid.

I will update the properties section -possibly before Xmas(Don't hold me to that!).In the meantime If you click -blog- it will take you to any updates in regards to the company and I will also be putting up some of the new comic art there also.

Any comments about the functionality of the site or any problems any one encounters when skipping through it would be greatly appreciated.

Cheers-

Soapbox

Went to the Red Bull Soapbox race yesterday.










Seemed funny watching a race promoting Red Bull as it is banned in a couple of European countries due to its high caffeine content-and if I recall correctly they were trying to get it banned in Ireland at one stage.

It certainly didn't give any of the Soapbox racers "wings" as most of them crashed and burned.

Just to tie on on a my previous Steve Coogan blather, here's a great clip from Coogan's Alan Partridge. The two Irish guys he's talking to are Graham Linehan and Arthur Mathews-the creators of Father Ted.

"Won't bind your legs"

The highest my legs get is when I swing them out of the bed in the morning- I need me some :



These jeans were actually -developed- by Chuck so that will give you some idea of their quality.

Tristram Shandy

I usually have music playing in the background while I am working but sometimes I will stick on a movie-which isn't the greatest idea as I am an easily distracted fool- so I have found a bit of a compromise and have started to listen to movie commentaries. Most of the movies have been sitting on my shelves gathering dust, so it is a nice way to reacquaint myself with some of my favourite movies and get to view them in a different light and hopefully be entertained into the matter.

Tonight I listened to Steve Coogan and Rob Brydon giving their thoughts on a great little movie entitled Tristram Shandy directed by Michael Winterbottom. It is based on the book The Life and Opinions of Tristram Shandy, Gentleman by Laurence Sterne.

Have to say I really enjoyed listening to them both. Brydon, bar this movie -I was not too familiar with, however he came across an an incredibly likeable and very witty guy and I loved the fact that they both did not take themselves too seriously.
Coogan was refreshingly open and quite candid, passing comment on his personal life and touching on some of his past indiscretions. They joked about what directors they would like to work with, almost to the point of doing a shout-out trying to drum up some prospective employment. The Andersons, both Wes and PT seemed top of their list although they did mention the Farrelly Brothers and rather deridingly: Michael Bay. Brydon was quite self-effacing whilst constantly trying to wind up Coogan with quite infantile-but really funny comments. Coogan also had a quite a funny almost painful Woody Allen casting call story to tell.

Well worth checking out.

I have been an avid fan of Steve Coogan for many years,from Paul Calf's video diary, through Alan Partridge right up to his latest creation Saxondale. He also starred some years back as the late Tony Wilson in another great British movie-24hr Party People. Lately he has started to make his mark in the States with Hamlet 2 and Tropic Thunder after a bit of a misfire with the the apparently dreadful -Around the world in 80 days. I for one, hope we don't lose him to American movies-Brit TV would be a poorer place without him.

And that's it for BBC Radio 4 this evening. Thankyou for listening.

One Two Three PULL!

Need I say anything about the cover of this children's book?
I'm still giggling like a little girl...

Grabbed from www.panopticist.com

Available here:amazon

Jeremy Geddes

Great stuff. The work reminds me of Phil Hale somewhat.

Lifted from:whokilledbambi

For God's sake, I should be in bed it's 3:03 in the bloody morning! Why then am I up eating a chicken,stuffing and cranberry sandwich all washed down with a lovely cup'a tea at this time...

I'm back boarding again: not that that is any reason in particular to be doing such late nighters. I personally always tend to lean towards working into the wee hours when I'm freelancing-less distractions.

To pass the time and to feel less alone(Yes-freelancing is a lonely life-)I have been listening to a slew of commentaries from various movies, which is something I never really do. I must admit I'm finding it quite enjoyable.

Over the past few days I have listened to:

The French Connection 2
Commentary by Robert L. Rosen and Gene Hackman.

IF
Malcolm McDowell and film critic David Robinson.

Doomsday
Neil Marshall and some of the cast.

Lifeboat
Film Professor Drew Casper.

Shaun of the Dead
Edgar Wright and Simon Pegg.

Just finishing listening to the Pegg/Wright commentary-very funny.

Titbit from Lifeboat: Apparently Tallulah Bankhead didn't wear any underwear during the shoot and when the crew complained of her exhibitionism on set(her climbing into the mock-up of the lifeboat to be exact)Hitchcock never one for confrontation, picked up a crew megaphone and said that the problem lay with either wardrobe or hairdressing.

With all the pearls of wisdom I could have imparted -I give you that. Under the definition of Sophomoric you'll see my little smiling face.

I had hoped to listen to The French Connection commentary with William Friedkin-but I cannot seem to access the bloody thing. It is there in the menu, but when I go to the commentary -on- nothing happens.

Bastards.

Quatermass

Finally got a hold of Quatermass 2 the TV Series by Nigel Kneale and the movie The Quatermas Xperiment -both produced in 1955.

Still looking for the first tv series- The Quatermass Experiment and the third series- Quatermass and the Pit.


The movie below was my introduction to Quatermass. Still stands up -fantastic story. Another plus point is that it also stars the beautiful Barbara Shelly. Just look at that poster!


Brit Science fiction at its best.