Tuesday, June 12, 2007
Jacek Yerka, Artist
Another one of my favorite artists is a Polish painter by the name of Jacek Yerka. He works in both acrylics and pastels, and creates surrealistic fantasy images that are heavily influenced by the Flemish school of painting. I discovered a book of his work ("Mind Fields") back in college and have been a fan ever since.
Visit his website at www.yerkaland.com.
Labels: film/tv/books/arts
Monday, June 11, 2007
Brandon Bird, Artist
One of my new favorite artists is a fellow by the name of Brandon Bird, who paints with oil to create rather stunning images incorporating random pop culture figures. I mean, the guy has a painting called "No One Wants to Play Sega with Harrison Ford", for crying out loud. What's not to love? My personal favorite is "The Death of Jennifer Sisko" - it's quite moving.
Visit his website at www.brandonbird.com, and be sure to check out both his paintings and his drawings. His "Law & Order" Valentine cards are pretty cool, too.
Labels: film/tv/books/arts
Tuesday, April 24, 2007
Trailer for 'The Trail of the Screaming Forehead'
Now available at www.screamingforehead.com
Good times. :)
Labels: film/tv/books/arts, geek stuff
Tuesday, March 20, 2007
Ever wonder...
...What ever happened to these guys? Yeah, well, me too. But Joss Whedon has returned (albeit to the world of comics instead of television), and the canonical Season 8 has begun, courtesy of Dark Horse Comics. Unfortunately, it sold out a lot quicker than anyone expected. I still don't have a copy yet. Grr, argh. But what about...
...their friends? Well, apparently, IDW Comics has announced that Whedon will be working with them to publish the canonical Season 6. I'll try to preorder that one.
But enough of that. I must move on to chapter 2 of my forthcoming epic. :)
Labels: film/tv/books/arts, geek stuff
Monday, January 29, 2007
"My favorite Bible story is the one where Noah's Ark gets attacked by Pirates!"
I enjoy watching poorly-made movies, and whenever a Bible epic movie is universally derided by both christians and nonchristians, well, I have to watch it.
Enter Noah's Ark, the 1999 NBC miniseries starring Jon Voight as Noah. Voight, the actor who I will always remember as the guy in Anaconda that gets eaten by the big snake, brings his own unique style to our common ancestor. Mary Steenburgen plays Noah's wife, Alexis Denisof (Wesley on Buffy/Angel) as Noah's son Ham, and F. Murray Abraham plays Lot. That's right, Lot. Apparently, they thought that it would be more interesting if, before the Flood, Noah first had to escape the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah with his family and his best friend Lot. Incidentally, Carol Kane plays Lot's bickering wife who is thankfully turned into a pillar of salt during the escape (Lot keeps one of her salt fingers as a souvenir). Noah later suggests that a scribe should write down what happened at Sodom, but Mrs. Noah tells him that scribes aren't to be trusted - by the time they're done, they'll probably say that Noah's family wasn't even at Sodom. (!!!)
So, time goes by and the wickedness of the people becomes apparent when they have to rescue Ham's bride-to-be from being sacrificed to Molech ("Well, she was the only virgin we could find on short notice.") So, Noah is instructed by the Lord to build an Ark ("What's an Ark?"), and he does so, but he gets behind schedule, so the Lord arranges for Lowes' to miraculously deliver several truckloads of 1"x12"s during the night. The animals began to arrive, courtesy of stock footage, and are poorly composited onto the shot of the boarding ramp, along with a pair of CGI dodo birds. Ham notes that they didn't build a rudder on the Ark ("The Lord will guide us," says Noah), and this becomes a point of dispute later on.
The rains comes and go, and Noah's clan then spends weeks and weeks onboard the Ark. In order to ration their stockpile of food, no procreation is allowed, and therefore, no sex. Needless to say, this causes quite a bit of tension amongst the four couples cooped up at sea with nothing else to do, but fortunately, the gorillas act as chaperones and quickly intercede in any scenes that involve kissing. (Incidentally, a film goof: there's one scene with Shem and his wife where his wife is holding a koala bear, and apparently, unnoticed by the editors, the koala bear poops all over Mrs. Shem.)
Then they get attacked by pirates, led by the now-corrupt Lot, who starts the fine tradition of sea pirate captains having only one eye and having to wear a patch. They almost prove a match for our heroes until a divinely-sent tornado sweeps away the pirate ships. Later, Ham decides to build a rudder for the Ark, but Noah stops him, leading to a fist-fight that is interrupted by Noah's wife. Noah tries to defend his actions: "He tried to build a rudder against the Lord!"
In the meantime, the Lord is having trouble deciding whether or not he should just finish the job and wipe out the remnants of mankind, so he goes away to think for a while on the subject. His absence drives the passengers of the Ark mad. Like, looney-tunes mad. Our first clue is Japheth and wife strolling along the promenade deck on improvised stilts. Next, Shem begins to have indepth conversations with a puppet he made out of a grapefruit. The rest of the family goes mad in their own unique ways as well for a while (Noah: "There's monsters under the bed. I'm leaving.")
Anyway, they finally hit land, where they immediately release the animals and then they go forth to multiply.
Where do I even begin? I'm not even going to touch the theological problems with this film. Aside from combining two Bible events that are separated by several hundred years, this has to be one of the goofiest adaptations I have seen ever. This movie makes Jackie Chan's Around the World in 80 Days seem like a faithful literary adaptation. Every time I started to turn it off, it would just get more and more bizarre. Rarely do I get the chance to see something so gloriously awful. Rent it today.
Labels: film/tv/books/arts, religion/theology/philosophy
Tuesday, December 19, 2006
Ultimate Special Remastered Colorized Extended Edition for Families with Children and Pets
Random thoughts not quite worked out in my head:
It probably started in the 1980s, and there were movies like Blade Runner or Aliens that suddenly were realized in altered form as "Director's Cuts" or whatever, either to "present the director's original vision", make money, or some of both.
Then came the Star Wars Special Editions in 1997, where suddenly Lucas took his old films and added scenes, redid visual effect shots, etc. to produce what was hailed as the definitive version of the films. Of course, he changed them again seven years later. But, it's not it's the first time he did this - the original Star Wars film was actually altered a bit for its 1980 theatrical re-release - and frankly, I like the new versions better (with the exception of the new dance number in Jabba's palace - ack). I think this is also a case of where we have to use Francis Schaeffer's method of judging art, where we don't look at the individual work per se, but at the artist's sum total of work. Besides, who are we to say when a work of art (or film) is done? When it is released to the public or when the artist says it's finished?
Anyway, what I find interesting is the new "Star Trek Remastered", because here is something that appears similiar, but I think is actually quite different. "Star Trek Remastered" is the new high-definition re-release of the old-school "Star Trek" from the 1960s, except with updated visual effects shots. From the previews I've seen, it looks great, actually. But what is weird about it is that it's not the original filmmakers that are doing this project - rather, it's being commissioned by the corporation that owns the "Star Trek" franchise, so it's like "Wait, whose art is this? Who is this third party making these changes?"
At first, it's a bit disturbing, but then again, I guess people have been doing this for years, anyway. I mean, without even mentioning the "Bowdlerized Shakespeare", one might argue that having a third party translating an ancient text into a modern language might be similar thing, but I think maybe the key thing here is that there is basically a fine line between changing the original and simply making an adaptation of the original: an artist can change his/her original, a third party cannot; but a third party can make an adaptation of the original. I think simply having a knowledge of the history of a work, along with any adaptations, helps to satiate any worries about the integrity of a work, but I think when this knowledge is lost is when it becomes a problem.
Anyway, random thoughts.
Labels: film/tv/books/arts, geek stuff, religion/theology/philosophy
Monday, December 18, 2006
"Thus Saith the Lord!"
First of all, I refuse to make any jokes around the phrase "I want these $*&%#! snakes out of my $*&%#! garden!!!" Why would I do that in the first place, you ask? Well, because Samuel L. Jackson has been hired to play God. (I mean, who else would they get, right?)
Inspired by... The Bible Experience is a rather ambitious project to create a fully-dramatized audio recording of the entire Bible, complete with sound effects and over 300 voice actors, including but not limited to Samuel L. Jackson, Denzel Washington, Angela Bassett, Cuba Gooding Jr. and lots more. Granted, they used the TNIV, but still, this should be a pretty nice recording. The New Testament is currently available from Zondervan, and the Old Testament should be out sometime next year.
Link: www.inspiredby.com
Labels: film/tv/books/arts, religion/theology/philosophy
Friday, September 15, 2006
2007 Movie Preview
Transformers. Directed by Michael Bay and produced by Spielberg. They even got the guy who did the voice of Optimus Prime in the cartoon to reprise his role. But honestly, this movie doesn't even have to have a plot — it could simply be two hours of robots transforming and things blowing up, and every man of my generation would pay money to see it. Click here to view the teaser trailer.
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. Click here to view the teaser tralier.
Labels: film/tv/books/arts, geek stuff
Tuesday, June 27, 2006
Wednesday, June 21, 2006
The best news I've heard all month.
"Trail of the Screaming Forehead"
Oh man, I can't wait for this one. It's from the director of "Lost Skeleton of Cadavra" and features the same cast:
"Terror strikes Longhead Bay when Creeping Alien Foreheads begin attaching themselves to local townspeople and seizing their very souls - launching a vast invasion from Space!
"By remarkable coincidence, sexy, arrogant scientist, Sheila Baxter begins testing her theory that the forehead - not the brain - is the seat of all human knowledge. She formulates a human extract - Foreheadazine - and convinces gullible collegue, Dr. Phillip Latham that - with enough Foreheadazine - he can become the most brilliant scientist in the world!
"Catastrophe reigns when the ill-fated experiment goes horribly, horribly wrong - meanwhile, the entire town of Longhead Bay is being taken over by sinister, crawling browlike nightmares in a terrifying cataclysm of Corpses and Chaos!"
Forget Pirates, X-Men, and Snakes on a Plane - my money's on this one. It releases soon.
Official site: www.screamingforehead.com
(And by the way, if you haven't seen "The Lost Skeleton of Cadavra" yet, well, you're missing out.)
Labels: film/tv/books/arts, geek stuff
Thursday, June 01, 2006
I want to believe (that they'll actually film it)
From WENN via Yahoo! UK & Ireland News (link):
David Duchovny and Gillian Anderson have both signed on to star in the second X-Files feature film. The movie will pick up four years after the 2002 finale that left agents Mulder and Scully on the run from the FBI. Executive producer Frank Spotnitz claims the script is nearly finished, saying, "We've worked out most of the plot." He claims the sequel will be light on mythology, adding, "It's very liberating to be freed of that." The film will begin shooting after X-Files creator Chris Carter and 20th Century Fox settle a lawsuit over syndication profits.Lawsuit? Great, we'll never see this thing.
Labels: film/tv/books/arts, geek stuff
To Boldly Go Where No Horse Has Gone Before...
From AP (link): Shatner believes he can contribute to Middle East peace by helping Israeli and Palestinian kids with disabilities through horseback riding.
Wow, I don't even know where to start. But hey, I guess he did bring peace between the Federation and the Klingons, and as Spock would say, "Only Nixon could go to China."
Labels: film/tv/books/arts, geek stuff
Thursday, May 25, 2006
Some Bizarre Random Things.
Cate Blanchett is one of several actors (including Heath Ledger and Richard Gere) who will portray Bob Dylan during different stages of his life in a new biopic by director Todd Haynes. Yes, you read that correctly. This is just wrong on so many levels, especially since I like both Bob Dylan and Cate Blanchett. (Although, it does introduce the possibility for a Bob Dylan vs. Galadriel match in this year's upcoming Super Archetype Slapdown Tournament...)
This is Elvis Presley's cell phone. For real.
I had no idea that this existed, but apparently in 1999, Ben Stiller directed a tv pilot called "Heat Vision and Jack", a show about astronaut Jack Austin (played by Jack Black), whom sunlight gives incredible intellect, and his talking motorcycle Heat Vision (voiced by Owen Wilson), on the run from NASA hitman/actor Ron Silver (played by Ron Silver), and also featured appearances by both Stiller and his wife and the late character actor Vincent Schiavelli. It never aired. Here's the whole 30-minute episode:
Enjoy: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6lWgXDOAJ5s
Labels: film/tv/books/arts, geek stuff
Saturday, May 06, 2006
Some Brief Reviews.
Grendel by John Gardner. This 1971 novel is sort-of a retelling of the epic poem Beowolf (well, sort of a pastiche), told in first-person from Grendel's perspective. Told in very modern English, it recounts how Grendel went from being simply a wild beast to a man-hating monster that ravaged the countryside, and the nihilism that grew in his heart.
Kung Fu High School by Ryan Gattis. I expected this novel to be more of a parody, but found it to be a rather violent account of life in a school completely overrun by gangs and drug-dealers. Actually, one of the most violent books I've read in a long time. At The Good Reverend Doctor Martin Luther King High School (more commonly known as Kung Fu High School), everybody ends up in one of a half-dozen gangs just to survive. Everybody gets beat up on their first day, and everybody learns some form of martial art in order to protect themselves, in addition to wearing pieces of make-shift homemade body armor under their clothes along with various bladed weapons. All is status quo until the kung fu champion Jimmy gets transferred there.
Firefly and Serenity by Josh Whedon. This short-lived tv series and its follow-up movie explore the concept of the Space Western. Created by the same guy that wrote Buffy the Vampire-Slayer and Alien Resurrection, the show centers around the cargo-ship Serenity and its small crew. On the losing side of an interplanetary civil war, former solier Malcolm Reynolds and his crew take whatever legal or slightly illegal job that they get in order to survive, and avoid Alliance trouble along the way. The show had several good things going for it: good actors, memorable characters, and very clever writing. Unfortunately, it was stuck on a tv network that hated it and made sure it was cancelled as soon as possible.
Confessions of a Reformission Rev. by Mark Driscoll. Mark Driscoll recounts his adventures in planting Mars Hill Church in Seattle back in the 90s, and all the mistakes he made and the heartaches they went through as it went from a church of a few dozen people to over 5,000. Both humble and sarcastic, it's sure to offend someone within all of the traditional, contemporary, and emerging camps. Very interesting is his account of how he discovered reformed theology, and had to distance himself from what has now become the Emergent movement, because of their drift from orthodox truths (when trying to explain the movement, many of the footnotes will say something like "for an example, see page X of Brian McLaren's book So-and-So. For a biblical perspective, see page X of John Piper's book So-and-So", haha.) Very funny is his self-aware lack of tact (which he admits is a problem) when trying to counsel people who wake up him at 3am - "You need to stop watching porno and crying like a baby afterward and grow up man. I don't have time to be your accountability partner, so you need to be a man and nut up and take care of this yourself. A naked lady is good to look at, so get a job, get a wife, ask her to get naked, and look at her instead. Alright?" (and apparently the guy did). Anyway, it's both a refreshing look at a humble man's heart for ministry, love for the truth of the Gospel, conviction to stand against heresy, and willingness to admit all the stupid mistakes he made, and a convicting book about what christians' roles in the local church should be.
Labels: film/tv/books/arts
Geek Update.
So, what's new in Star Wars Land? Well, for one, Lucas has finally broken down and decided to release the original trilogy in it's original form, much to the joy of those fanboys who feel that the special editions and the prequels have somehow stolen their childhood or something. I, for one, actually like the special editions. (Although it's cool to see Han shoot first.)
Some other news from Rick McCallum:
New Star Wars Animated Television Series
-Animated series will be released first, before live action show.
-Not the same style as past Clone Wars Cartoon
Live Action Television Series
-Shooting in Australia
-To be more dramatic, intense, darker, heavy duty
-May not go to television, mentions iPod, future "home" unknown
-Writing to start end of this year
-Starts shooting end of next year
Star Wars 3D
-The entire Star Wars saga re-released on the big screen in 3D.
Woohoo.
Sources:
• http://www.starwars.com/...
• http://www.theforce.net/...
Labels: film/tv/books/arts, geek stuff
Wednesday, April 19, 2006
It's almost summer, and that means movies. yay!
X-Men: The Last Stand - May 26, 2006
Cars - June 9, 2006
Nacho Libre - June 16, 2006
Superman Returns - June 30, 2006
Pirates Of The Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest - July 7, 2006
A Scanner Darkly - July 7, 2006
Lady In The Water - July 21, 2006
Snakes On A Plane - August 18, 2006
For Your Consideration - September 22, 2006
Labels: film/tv/books/arts, geek stuff
Wednesday, April 12, 2006
Redshirts and the Stormtrooper Effect
From Wikipedia.com: “A Redshirt is a stock character, used frequently in science fiction but also other genres, whose sole purpose is to violently die soon after being introduced. Redshirts are a plot device used to indicate the dangerous circumstances faced by the main characters at the start of a narrative, akin to the 'canary in the mine shaft.'” The term originated from the original Star Trek series, where “typically, a landing party would consist of Kirk, Spock, McCoy (all main characters who stood zero chance of dying) and one never-before-seen red-shirted ensign, who would be dead by the end of the mission, usually within minutes.”
“The Stormtrooper effect, also called Stormtrooper syndrome, is a cliché phenomenon in works of fiction where minor characters are unrealistically ineffective in combat against more important characters. The name originated with the armed Imperial Stormtroopers in the original Star Wars trilogy, who, despite their considerable advantages of close range, overwhelming numbers, professional military training, full armour, military-grade firepower, and noticeable combat effectiveness against non-speaking characters, were incapable of seriously harming the protagonists. The effect is generally employed either to increase the dramatic tension of a chase scene or to accentuate the heroes' fighting prowess...” It has been expressed in an equation,
“where n is the number of "bad guys", x is the number of "good guys", and J is the number of Jedi present (if any). The equation reads, "The probability of a bad guy hitting his target is equal to the inverse of: all bad guys present plus the cube of the number of good guys present (plus one) plus the number of Jedi present (plus one) to the tenth power." From this, one can infer that the presence of a good guy has a detrimental effect on the bad guys' accuracy, while having even one Jedi present is a veritable death sentence, as well as being more inaccurate in larger numbers.”
It should also be noted that this only seems to be in effect when the troopers are opposed to the protagonists, as Episodes II and III show the troopers to be quite an effective fighting force, up to the point where they no longer ally themselves with the good guys (ie., Order 66), and their ineffectiveness extends to the end of Episode VI.
The Stormtrooper Effect can oftern be seen in other movies such as The Lord of the Rings or the Indiana Jones movies, and scores of movies that both proceeded and followed Star Wars. Another classic example can be seen in The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou, where the pirates not only never kill Steve, but Steve seems to never run out of bullets on a single load.
(A related rule is The Inverse Ninja Law, which states that the skill level of any particular ninja in a group is inversely proportional to the number of ninja in that group. In other words, one ninja in a group of thirty ninja is no threat, while a single lone ninja is a great threat.)
These phenomena are often parodied in other works of fiction, such as Galaxy Quest, Family Guy, or Stargate SG-1 (where one minor character in peril (not coincidentally played by a Star Trek regular) exclaimed "We're dead! We might as well be wearing red shirts!")
Read more:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stormtrooper_effect
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Redshirt_%28science_fiction%29
Labels: film/tv/books/arts, geek stuff
Sunday, April 09, 2006
Narnia and Kong vs. Plankeye and Fanmail
After Peter Jackson finished his films of Tolkien's Lord of the Rings, he went on to do a remake of King Kong, while others (with the help of Jackson's Weta Workshop) made Lewis's (Tolkien's fellow Inkling) The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe. I ended seeing both of the movies around the same time and bought both dvds on the same day, and I can't help but notice how each of them seems to have Lord of the Rings as a starting point from which they branch out in different directions.
What this really reminds me of is when Scott Siletta and Adam Ferry left the band Plankeye after their fourth album. While Eric Balmer and Luis Garcia continued on with Plankeye, it was definitely different without Scott's vocals. Scott, meanwhile, goes on with his new band Fanmail, which seemed to take the powerpop elements of Plankeye and push them to the extreme. Both new Plankeye and Fanmail were quality, and had the elements of old Plankeye, but neither were quite the same.
I'm not sure if I had a point to all this.
Labels: film/tv/books/arts, music
Tleilaxu Face Dancers and the Righteousness of Christ
"In his life and death Jesus Christ fulfilled all the righteousness that God’s law requires. When we come to God in Christ, we are clothed in the righteousness that Christ fulfilled. Our works merit no favor from God. Only Christ, and his righteousness credited to us, merits God’s favor. And this we receive by faith, and faith alone." (John Piper) (See Galatians 3:27 and Romans 13:14)
Analogies always break down, but I found an interesting parallel:
In the Dune novels by Frank Herbert, a secretive organization known as the Bene Tleilax used genetic manipulation to create human shapeshifters called face dancers, who could pretend to be other people, which of course caused much political intrigue. As their technology became more advanced, the face dancers could not only change their face, but the size and shape of their entire body, and eventually even their minds. The problem came when they became such perfect copies of other people, that they forgot that they were face dancers and actually believed that they really were the people they were copying (which of course rendered them ineffective to the purposes of the Tleilaxu). For all practical purposes, they became who they were supposed to be.
When Christ enters our lives, we 'legally' become children of God and are instantly declared righteous (justification), then His Spirit works in our lives to make us righteous (sanctification) through a gradual process that takes the rest of our mortal lives (which is why we still sin in this life), until we are made perfectly righteous in the Resurrection (glorification). We are declared children of God, then He works in our lives to make us more like Him. We become who we are.
Labels: film/tv/books/arts, religion/theology/philosophy
Friday, March 24, 2006
Turn to Hymn Number What?
When peace, like a river,
attendeth my way,
when sorrows like sea billows roll;
whatever my lot, thou hast taught me to say,
It is well, it is well with my soul.
Though Satan should buffet,
though trials should come,
let this blest assurance control,
that Christ has regarded my helpless estate,
and hath shed his own blood for my soul.
It is well with my soul,
it is well, it is well with my soul...
Labels: film/tv/books/arts, music, religion/theology/philosophy
Tuesday, March 14, 2006
"Childe Roland to the Dark Tower Came."
"The man in black fled across the desert, and the gunslinger followed." Thus begins Stephen King's magnum opus, The Dark Tower series, which tells of Roland Deschain, Gunslinger of Gilead, and his quest for the Dark Tower, which spans many years and many worlds (and seven books), incorporating elements of fantasy, science fiction, western, and horror all into one.
Inspired by Robert Browning's poem "Childe Roland to the Dark Tower Came", T.S. Eliot's poem "The Waste Lands", and of course, Tolkien, King wanted to write an epic fantasy on the same scale as The Lord of the Rings, but in a different setting, and begins his tale in a world something like that of Sergio Leone's The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly, with his gunslinger character seemingly (at first) not too different than that of Clint Eastwood's Man With No Name.
Roland of Gilead is the last of the knightly order of Gunslingers in a "world that has moved on", and is more or less falling apart, with things such as time, distance, and direction increasingly having little-to-no meaning. He finds doorways to other worlds, where he meets his twentieth-century companions Eddie, Susannah, and Jake, who learn the way of the Gunslinger as they journey toward the Dark Tower, encountering nuclear mutants, vampires, demons, beast-men, robots, and suicidal bullet trains along the way. But who is the Man in Black, and why is Roland chasing him? Will Roland ever reach the top room of the Dark Tower and discover what secrets it holds? Well, I'm not telling.
Labels: film/tv/books/arts
Thursday, March 09, 2006
The Amazing Pavement Art of Julian Beever.
Julian Beever is a British artist who, among other things, creates chalk drawings on sidewalks, that when seen from a specific viewpoint, appear 3-D.
Visit his website: http://users.skynet.be/J.Beever/index.html
Labels: film/tv/books/arts
Saturday, February 18, 2006
How did I miss this?
My hometown in a prime-time drama? Yep.
Back in February of 1994, according the mythos of The X-Files, UFOs are spotted in where else but the non-incorporated community of Reagan*, Tennessee, on Highway 100, approximately 5-10 miles away from the house I grew up in.
What?
C.B. FEMALE CALLER: I seen three of them flying over Chester County.And why does Reagan look suspiciously like British Columbia?
C.B. MALE CALLER #2: Right, right, and six troopers were chasing them down 22! Whoa, I see one now! And he’s over the watertower!
Where was I when this happened? Probably playing Super Nintendo or watching TV (apparently not FOX, though). And then the next thing we know, Special Agents Mulder and Scully are questioning the truck driver at the police station of my very own hometown, Lexington, Tennessee, where we meet Lexington Police Chief Rivers, whoever that was (portrayed by Canadian actor Allan Lysell, who does a wonderful Georgian accent, unfortunately). I'm pretty sure I've never seen Chief Rivers' picture in the paper, and I've been in it at least twice. (And shouldn't the Sheriff, not the Police, have jurisdiction over Reagan?)
Anyway, this was from the first-season episode "E.B.E.", which incidentally was the first episode to feature The Lone Gunmen (who did not visit Lexington). You can read the transcript of the actual script at The X-Files Scripts Archive (scenes 3-5).
____________________
* pronounced RIG-un
Labels: film/tv/books/arts, geek stuff
Friday, December 16, 2005
At some point in church history...
The cheesy church sign saying was born.
Now, from the comfort of your own internet connection, you can make your own, just like I did above. www.churchsigngenerator.com supplies you with two different designs - just enter your saying, and voilà! Your own church sign. The site also has actual unaltered photos of church signs (honestly, no one could make those up) for your viewing pleasure.
Labels: film/tv/books/arts, religion/theology/philosophy
Wednesday, December 07, 2005
WARNING!!! MAJOR GEEK CONTENT FOLLOWS!!!
From Wired Magazine:
James Cawley, who plays Kirk, and director Jack Marshall are the cocreators of Star Trek: New Voyages. They are repairing a rift in the space-time continuum, fixing the most glaring flaw in the history of science fiction. As every geek in the galaxy knows, Captain Kirk and the crew of the USS Enterprise set out on a five-year mission to explore strange new worlds. To seek out new life and civilizations. To boldly go where no man has gone before. But NBC canceled the show in 1969 after only three seasons. New Voyages aims to fill fans in on what they missed. . . . At their current pace of one episode a year, they'll finish the five-year mission in 2054.Yes, that's right. A bunch of Star Trek geeks have banded together to shoot new episodes of the old-skool adventures of Kirk and crew with an all-new cast. Apparently, one of the script-writers of the original show is writing the new scripts, a few random production people who actually work for the official show are pitching in, plus the guy that played Chekov is even reprising his role when Chekov gets affected by an aging-virus. Director Jack Marshall, incidentally, is the guy responsible for "The Phantom Edit", a re-cut of Star Wars Ep.1 that floated about the internet, which cut out most of Jar-Jar's scenes and Anakin's "yippee!" lines, so it can't be all that bad, huh? The episodes can be downloaded for free from www.newvoyages.com
Now, on a certain level, I'll admit that what they're doing is pretty cool. It has indie written all over it, but man, I can think of lots of other things I'd rather pour my time and creativity into.
Labels: film/tv/books/arts, geek stuff
Tuesday, December 06, 2005
"Stuck here in the middle with you."
(or "How to Tick Off Everyone")
No, this is not a discussion about severing ears; Tarentino, Da Vinci, or otherwise. Instead, it is a rant about things that frustrate me:
The Arts. I'm about to make some generalizations. Many nonchristian artists effectively deify the medium (whatever its message) and many christian artists try to justify their artistic endeavors to other christians by either 1) making sure it has some weak message in it that somehow might pass as a gospel presentation or 2) using it as a way to build 'authentic relationships' (whatever that is) with nonchristians to spread the gospel (which is a good thing, of course). But where else do you see christians making these rationalizations to justify their professions? It's just art! It's just a movie! It's just a song! Make art and enjoy art because you have the freedom to do so! The Arts are just communication; languages; another amoral thing to be used for either good or for evil. It's not that big of a deal as people make it out to be. Besides, it's all going to burn one day, so don't stress out about it.
Politics. It is God who brings the rise and fall of kings and empires, not Man. Personally, I have no real interest in politics, though I usually will vote, and vote conservatively. But politics are not going to save the world - you can't change people's hearts by changing their behaviors, through legislation or otherwise. I don't buy the argument of turning America "back into the Christian nation its forefathers meant for it to be" - just because Enlightenment-era deists use the same language as christians, that does not make them christians too. Most of the religious refugees had arrived generations earlier - far back enough for that current generation to not to know the faith of their forebears. Somehow I don't think when Peter wrote "be subject for the Lord's sake to every human institution, whether it be to the emperor as supreme, or to governors as sent by him to punish those who do evil and to praise those who do good", that included revolution (and note that 'every human institution' included Caesar, whose religious persecution of christians was somewhat more intense than George III's tea taxations). Is it a sin for Christians to not be involved in politics? No. Is it a sin for Christians to be involved in politics? Also no. Jesus said "My kingdom is not of this world. If my kingdom were of this world, my servants would have been fighting... But my kingdom is not from the world." I am proud to be an American, and when asked will gladly take up arms to defend it, but my first citizenship is in Christ's kingdom - we are but exiles sojourning in this world until His return. It's just politics! If you enjoy politicing, then do so! If not, then don't. Besides, it's all going to burn one day, so don't stress out about it. EDIT: If it's the Gospel of Christ that will change people's hearts, and therefore their behavior, should we concentrate our efforts on, say, trying to get the 10 commandments back in classrooms, or on proclaiming the Gospel?
MacArthur vs. MacLaren fistfights. (Well, not just them, but a subtitle with two extreme scots in it was fun to write - yet essentially another generalization.) This is really one of my biggest frustrations. I don't know what's going to happen to the church (I mean, of course it will survive - maybe not in the West, but somewhere). On one hand, I worry about poor doctrine spilling from the pulpits, yet, on the other, I worry that kneejerk reactions from those with good doctrine will put off the others before there is a chance for them to actually talk about it. "You're a bunch of legalists!" "Well, you're a bunch of antinomians!" [sigh] It's like learning to roast your own coffee beans - once your palette acquires the taste for freshly-roasted coffee (which is great), it's hard to go back to Starbucks, and your coffee-drinking options shrink considerably, but then suddenly you're the jerk that won't go out for coffee anymore [an analogy; not directed toward you, Jon, haha]. I don't know - how are we supposed to increase spiritual discernment in a loving manner? Especially when any challenge of religious thinking (both without and within christianity) is seen as "intolerant", "unloving", and "legalist"? Good grief. We need more of God's grace - not a blind eye, but loving grace - to be "wise as serpents and innocent as doves." I need more of God's grace. And a cup of coffee (freshly-roasted, I hope).
Labels: film/tv/books/arts, religion/theology/philosophy
Tuesday, November 29, 2005
Wednesday, November 09, 2005
Murky Buckup!
While, um, standing in the men's room today, I could hear the garbled words of women from the ladies' room next door from through the ceiling tiles. This reminded me of a similar situation many years ago in a men's part of a changing/shower/restroom at the Ocoee River rafting place, where we could clearly hear the girls talking about whatever from over the wall. I mentioned to Scott, "Do you think the girls realized that we could hear them talking?", to which he laughed. I mentioned this to Andrea later, to which she replied, "Really? We didn't hear any of you guys..." So I explained to her that guys usually don't talk in the men's room, especially if there are strangers present.
This reminded me a television commercial for a short-lived sitcom back in the late 90s. I forget its name, and I never actually saw the show, but it starred some blonde comedienne (not Tea Leone). Anyway, this lady and her friends got fed up with waiting outside the ladies' room, so they went to the men's room. So, they're awkwardly standing in the men's room with the guys, and the lady tries to make conversation:
Lady: "Nice day, isn't it?"
Man: "WE DON'T TALK IN THE MEN'S ROOM!!!"
Another commercial featured said comedienne dressed as a french maid who delivered the entire promo to the camera in french, with subtitles below. But the genius part came at the end, when right after the ABC-announcer-man stated the time slot of the show, he phonetically pronounced merci beaucoup "murky buckup" with no furthur explanation. Brilliant.
Labels: film/tv/books/arts, life
Wednesday, July 20, 2005
Thanks a lot Lucas... I'd almost gotten over my stormtrooper action figure addiction. Good thing you put like, I dunno, 582 new variations in Episode III. Last chance at the take a major swipe at the collectors, huh?
Oh well. The following picture is funny:
Labels: film/tv/books/arts, geek stuff
Wednesday, July 13, 2005
New trivial things to obsess over.
My Netflix Queue. I'm on the 3-at-a-time plan, which, with shipping times, averages out to be 3 discs per week. I get dvds of tv series, and I try to stagger them so that I get one dvd from a series per week, so that every week I get an disc of X-Files, a disc of Stargate, etc. Naturally, it takes forever to get the Queue arranged properly, but I don't want to risk getting too many of any one show all at once. So, I'm almost done with Babylon 5, and Stargate will run out soon after that. I've added The Lone Gunmen (an X-Files spin-off) to take the place of Stargate, and I've added a dozen actual movies to come in later. Still, I'm staggering these so that every week I'll get "series #1", "series #2", "movie". Months down the Queue, Millenium replaces X-Files, I finally catch up where I quit watching Star Trek years ago, and I see what the big deal is about Alias. But! what if I don't like Alias? What if Jennifer Garner gets on my nerves after I've gone to all the trouble to stagger it against Millenium and Deep Space Nine? What if I get two discs of the same show in a row? Oh! the risks we take! Ah, yeah, so anyway... oh nevermind.
Labels: film/tv/books/arts, geek stuff
Tuesday, June 07, 2005
Whatever happened to...
George Lucas ties up a few loose ends that keep fanboys up at night:
____________
One bit of conjecture Lucas finally laid to rest was the question of how close the link between clone troopers and stormtroopers was. He told MTV in an interview that the Empire's stormtroopers in the original series were in fact more of the same clones that form the Republican army in Attack of the Clones and Revenge of the Sith – though by the time of A New Hope, stormtrooper ranks had swelled to include regular recruits as well.
"The idea is that over time, there were new clone strains introduced, and then they even conscripted guys to be Storm Troopers. So it's not just purely clones: It started out as clones, but then it got diluted over the years as they found out they could shanghai guys [more cheaply] than they could build clones."
When pressed for details about the fates of favorite and not-so-favorite characters, Lucas had this to say – first about Han Solo and Leia: "Han and Leia probably did get married. They settled down. She became a senator, and they got a nice little house with a white picket fence. Han Solo is out there cooking burgers on the grill."
And about Jar-Jar Binks: "He goes back to Naboo and he's a representative. He probably stays on the council, he's probably in the senate, because it becomes completely worthless. Senators are just for show, which they talk about in Episode IV. Actually, in Episode IV they get disbanded, so Jar Jar probably goes home to his wife and kids."
Source: http://filmforce.ign.com/starwars/articles/613/613366p1.html
Labels: film/tv/books/arts, geek stuff
Wednesday, May 25, 2005
Star Wars: Episode III - Revenge of the Sith
A response.
"Do you think he has any idea we're about to arrest him?"
"Not a clue."
After months of lurking about spoiler-filled boards, listening to people invent wacky theories about Palpatine being a clone and make jokes about Obi-Wan trying to scam Padme out of her apartment or Anakin stinking up Palpatine's place in a failed attempt to prepare cod for dinner, Revenge of the Sith finally arrives in theaters, much to the displeasure of those people who think Star Wars was better before they got rid of the vasoline blob underneath Luke's landspeeder. For those of us who actually like the prequel trilogy and don't really care if Lucas screws up mythological archetypes or not,
Revenge of the Sith is a lot of fun, and dovetails nicely into the original trilogy.
"I really like this apartment. I wonder if they'd
consider signing the lease over to me..."
It is definitely the darkest movie of the entire saga and has the least worst acting of the prequels, and feels more like the original trilogy than the others. But if at anything, it feels a bit rushed, especially near the end. I would have liked it better if this movie were split up over Episodes II and III, and Attack of the Clones combined with The Phantom Menace into Episode I. Not a perfect movie by any means, but still a good way for the Star Wars movies to end - or at least meet in the middle, as it were.
"Smells like fish, this carpet does."
Labels: film/tv/books/arts, geek stuff
Monday, May 16, 2005
Star Wars Matching Game
Test your mad skillz! Match the character on the left with the real-life actor on the right. One is a give-away (that's right, 1=C). Have fun!
 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. | A.  B.  C.  D.  E.  F.  |
Labels: film/tv/books/arts, geek stuff
Wednesday, May 11, 2005
Summertime's almost here...
...and that means it's almost time for Revenge of the Sith. One week, actually. Unfortunately, none of the following things will be in it:
Fortunately, none of the following things will be in it:
And fortunately, this will be in it:
And it wouldn't be Star Wars without star-destroyers and hair-buns:
The circle is now complete...
...well, except that they're going to make TV shows.
Labels: film/tv/books/arts, geek stuff
Tuesday, May 03, 2005
Behind the scenes at Cartoon Network...
I have no idea where this came from, but it really made me laugh.
Labels: film/tv/books/arts, geek stuff
Friday, April 29, 2005
"...and I'd like to give a shout-out to all the contributing editors..."
Sweet! Preaching Magazine (of which I am the art director) won the big award at the Evangelical Press Association 2005 convention! Woohoo! Click here to see for yourself our "Award of Excellence in Christian Ministries".
Labels: film/tv/books/arts, religion/theology/philosophy
Wednesday, April 27, 2005
Floyd's 2005 Movie Previews.
Hey kids, it looks like this is going to be a fun rest-of-the-year for movies.
Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith - May 19.
I mean, it's got Chewbacca in it and more stormtroopers than you can shake a stick at.
Batman Begins - June 17.
Directed by the guy that did Memento. It doesn't look cheesy, and it should be fun.
War Of The Worlds - June 19.
H.G. Wells. Spielberg. Cruise. 'nuff said.
Fantastic Four - July 1.
Not the Roger Corman version. The Commish is Thing.
Charlie And The Chocolate Factory - July 15.
Tim Burton and Johnny Depp and Danny Elfman, together again! Woohoo!
The Brothers Grimm - November 23.
Terry Gilliam directs, so it should be weird. I mean, really.
King Kong - December 14.
Peter Jackson's new movie! Jack Black! Gollum plays King Kong!
The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe - Decemeber 25.
YES!!!
Labels: film/tv/books/arts
Tuesday, March 22, 2005
Some Thoughts on Art, Part 2
My further-developing views on art. (Click here for Part 1)
I've gotten to the point where I just yawn whenever I hear Christians talk about the arts. Why can't we just make art and enjoy it, instead of coming up with all these idealistic reasons that Christians should come up with 'culture-transforming art' or whatever, as if we have to justify our enjoyment of it or something? Yes, a work of art can have a great impact on someone's life. Yes, that impact can even be what God uses to bring them to salvation. God can use The Passion just as much as he can MacArthur or Eldridge.
But this seems to be the motto of most Christian artists I talk to nowadays. They almost all quote C.S. Lewis and they almost all have their copy of Francis Schaeffer's Art and the Bible. Not that there's anything too terribly wrong with either of those, but how often do you hear plumbers and engineers work up some philosophical apologetic to support their vocation? More often than not, when asked why they chose their professional occupation, it's usually something to the effect of "It pays the bills, I'm good at it, and I enjoy it", or some combination of the three. No trying to 'christianize' it or whatever, even though these same people may take advantage of many opportunities during the day to share the Gospel. When Christian artists approach their work in a similar way and enter into the secular marketplace, they get accused of 'selling-out', unless of course, they go with the declaration of their intention of transforming culture.
Other Christian artists who don't necessarily buy into the cultural transformation camp may declare their intention of simply building one-on-one relationships with people in the secular art-world in order to share the Gospel with them. Now this is what should happen anyway (and does happen in other occupations), and this is how the Gospel is spread. Building relationships and allowing God to transform individuals through the power of the Gospel. But still, even this can be used a rationalization for a Christian's involvement in the arts.
But we don't need a rationalization for this. Art is just communication, a morally-neutral medium, not a 'worldly' thing that has to be redeemed. Like any other tool, it can be used for good or evil. It's not that big of a deal. It doesn't have to be capitalized (ie., 'Art'). Enjoy making and experiencing it because you have the freedom to so, and give glory to God that he has given the arts to you to enjoy.
Some additional observations to think about:
• Most of the time, the best and most innovative art is made by non-Christians. I have yet to find any biblical support that says this should be otherwise, or that it should be so. The Bible doesn't really have anything to say on who should produce better art, Christians or non-Christians. As a matter of fact, Paul says that "not many of you were wise according to worldly standards, not many were powerful, not many were of noble birth. But God chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise; God chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong; God chose what is low and despised in the world, even things that are not, to bring to nothing things that are, so that no human being might boast in the presence of God." (1 Cor. 1:26-29)
• Really good Christian art usually has a greater impact on Christians than non-Christians.
• When was the last time that you heard of a genuine revival occurring as the result of movement in the world of music or painting?
• Art is not a concept like Wisdom, Faith, Hope, Love, Freedom, or Knowledge. It is, however, a medium for conveying such concepts.
Thoughts and comments?
Labels: film/tv/books/arts, religion/theology/philosophy