I came across this today and it reminded me of the beautiful simplicity of functional design…
The mechanism of an 19th century automaton, now repaired and once again a small marvel. It depicts an entire series of small movements designed to imitate the mannerisms of a sophisticate fanning herself, breathing, and lifting her glasses.
Link to the Automata/ Automaton Blog
“I’ve lived my whole life on the stage and screen before you. I’ve found purpose and meaning in your response. For an actor there’s no greater loss than the loss of his audience. I can part the Red Sea, but I can’t part with you.” -Charlton Heston
Born John Charlton Carter was born in Evanston, Ill., on Oct. 4, 1924. The Academy Award-winning actor passed away on April 5, 2008. His film career spanned move than five decades and included more than 85 roles, including Moses in “The Ten Commandments” and the title role in “Ben Hur,” in which we best know him as. He is also remembered by many for his political activism and tenure as president of the National Rifle Association.
I think that this is how most of us would and will always remember him as:
Critic Pauline Kael wrote in her “Planet of the Apes” review: “With his perfect, lean-hipped, powerful body, Heston is a godlike hero; built for strength, he’s an archetype of what makes Americans win. He doesn’t play nice guy; he’s harsh and hostile, self-centered and hot-tempered. Yet we don’t hate him because he’s so magnetically strong; he represents American power — and he has the profile of an eagle.”
Seriously, can’t you just hear her laughing and shrieking “braaaaaaaaaains!”? I do, or perhaps that’s the massive amount of red bull and caffeine it takes to wrest me from my morning slumber and keep me appropriately twitching and paranoid throughout the day. Try it, please. Tell me I’m not alone in this…
Link via Laughing Squid
Not since Michael Jackson’s Thriller has the undead and music gone together so well. Zombie Prom has everything you would ever need in a retro 50’s undead musical: a greaser social outcast turned nuclear zombie heart throb, a sweet and innocent Doris Day-esque girl with a confused heart, a drag-queen totalitarian principal that threatens to cancel the prom, a sleazy TV announcer looking to exploit the next social cause, and school placed in a close vicinity to a nuclear power plant. What more do you need? How about a musical score that puts High School Musical to shame. If you don’t believe me find out for yourself.
Okay, so I’m back in the swing of things after starting my new job, so here we go, time to die a little inside from what our pretentious Hollywood decides what they think we want to see on the silver screen…Lots of stuff out this weekend, mostly on limited, which is my cup-o-tea!
On the Big Screen:
Leatherhead – Romantic comedy – Starring: George Clooney, Renee Zellweger,and John Krasinski . This one is set in the 1920’s and follows an aging football player that rivals a newly hired team mate for the heart of a journalist. (I will give Clooney the benefit of the doubt because I don’t think this one has been done before. Honestly, it seems to be missing something though, say a plot…it does have the guy from The Office!)
Shine a Light – Starring: The Rolling Stones (the band.) This is a documentary on the Stones through the years and follows them up until the year 2006. (Another Stones documentary, do we really need another one? How boring, ugh.)
Nim’s Island – Starring: Jodie Foster, Gerard Butler, and Abigail Breslin. The author of a popular adventure series decides to help her number one fan (a young girl) who lives on an exotic island find her father. Alex Rover, the main character in the series comes to life to join the two on the secret island for great adventures. (This sounds a bit like Peter Pan or a girls’ version of Indiana Jones. This could be one for the kiddies!)
The Ruins – Starring: Shawn Ashmore, Jena Malone, and Jonathan Tucker. A Mexican vacation takes a turn for the worse for a group of Americans when they head into the jungle to look for the missing brother of a fellow traveler. A foreboding encounter with a couple locals is only a hint of the evil that awaits them on a patch of secluded hillside. (If there were a few zombies thrown in I’d say, “See ya at the theater!” This looks to be a netflixer…Although, Jena Malone has become quite the looker these days, huh, boys? hehe!)
Limited Theater Release:
My Blueberry Nights
Naissance Des Pieuvres
The Flight of the Red Balloon
Courtesy of Hollywood.com
