Monday, September 19, 2011

LIT: Isaac Asimov - [1956] The Last Question [Sci-Fi Short Story]


Initially conceptualized for the November 1956 issue of Science Fiction Quarterly, Asimov's "The Last Question" was written with few edits in a short amount of time. It is arguably his most famous and most acclaimed short story; in addition, Asimov himself considers it his personal favorite short story of his own authorship.

Sunday, September 18, 2011

FILM: Masaaki Yuasa - [2004] Mind Game [2D/3D Animated Film]


Mind Game (マインド・ゲーム), originally conceived as a Japanese comic by Robin Nishi, was adapted into a feature length film by director Masaaki Yuasa. Funded and animated by Studio 4°C, the film was initially a flop in Japan, but has since found success abroad, winning numerous animation awards worldwide, earning praise from renown animation directors Bill Plympton and Satoshi Kon, as well as gaining a cult following.

Sunday, September 11, 2011

LIT: Vy Vincent Ngo - [1996] Tonight, He Comes [Speculative Film Script]


Tonight, He Comes is an original script written by Vietnamese American Vy Vincent Ngo in 1996. The script was praised for its brilliance and was picked up by multitudes of directors, producers, and studios alike; however, it was consequently dropped each time as it was considered "impossible to produce" due in part to the mature nature of the story. Nearly a decade after being conceptualized, Tonight, He Comes was purchased, rewritten, and reworked as it passed from director to director due to scheduling conflicts and creative differences. The script was eventually brought out of development hell, retitled to Hancock, and, unfortunately, sanitized for a more marketable PG-13 audience. Since the film's release, Ngo has stated that he will use the proceeds to build a school in his home country of Vietnam.

Saturday, September 10, 2011

MUSIC: Villagers - [2010] Becoming A Jackal [CD/LP]


Villagers, a project headed and fronted by Irishman Conor O'Brien, culminated following the disintegration of his previous band The Immediate. O'Brien's sharp, definitive voice coupled with his uncommon playing style and eerie, heartfelt lyrics make their Debut album a hit, enough to earning them multiple awards and a nominations for the Mercury Prize. Hard to label as just alternative indie folk, as the terms tend to be generic. Dark and heavy lyrics throughout make this album beautifully depressing.

Friday, September 09, 2011

GAME: Paolo Pedercini - [2009] Every Day The Same Dream [Short 2D Flash Art Game]

Every Day The Same Dream
Every Day The Same Dream was developed by Paolo Perdercini under his concept game company, Molleindustria (meaning "soft industry"). Perdercini created the piece in just six days as an entry into Experimental Gameplay Project's 2009 "art game" themed game competition and has since been released under a Creative Commons license.

Saturday, September 03, 2011

FILM: Shane Carruth - [2004] Primer [Sci-Fi Drama Feature Film]


The culmination of Primer is a feat of in and of itself. Shane Carruth not only single handed operated as writer, director, producer, cinematographer, editor, music composer, and co-lead actor, but also managed to accomplished it all with a five person crew, a five week filming window, and a budget of $7,000. Carruth, a mathematics major turned engineer turned filmmaker, taught himself film production and physics, resulting in a complex cinematic experience that contains an experimental plot structure, philosophical implications, complex technical dialogue, and a distinctive flat, overexposed look.

Thursday, September 01, 2011

TV: Augenblick Studios - [2007-Present] Superjail! [2D Animated Series]


Superjail!, a US television series first created and initially produced by Augenblick Studios, is one of those rare shows that not only harks back to traditional animation but continues to push the envelope of the classic techniques. Extremely fluid motion, frantic artistic styles, bright psychedelic color schemes, stream-of-consciousness plot/setting shifts, and layers upon layers of (often times outlandish and gratuitous) cartoon violence fill each shot to ADHD-inducing amount places less stress on the dialog and more emphasis on the animation.