A while back, I came across StarWarsUncut.com, a site that divided Star Wars (A New Hope) into 15-second segments and encouraged Star Wars fans to take one of the clips, shoot it however they deemed fit, and upload the sequence back to the site. The end result includes some pretty well-crafted shots and, well, some equally… interesting ones. Ultimately, the goal was to encourage people of all ages and cinematic aptitude to exercise their creative skills, recreate their favorite scene in the Star Wars, and show it off to the world.
Now the site has released “Star Wars Uncut: Director’s Cut,” an assembly of the wildly varying versions of each movie segment into a two-hour-long, full-length version of the original film. While this masterpiece of crowd-sourcing isn’t exactly screen-worthy, it’s a great display of the sheer volume and variety of creativity Internet crowd-sourcing taps. From live-action tinfoil renditions of C-3PO to action figures on the beach and even simple cardboard cutouts taped to straws these clips show just how much people love Star Wars. (My favorite so far is the purring cat-Jawa, by the way.)
I think it’s clear how much fun people had creating these clips, and it just goes to show how sites that encourage user-generated content are worth protecting. And hey, if you have time check out the full-length cut above.
When it comes to anime, I am more of a mech-style anime viewer. My favorite series is Robotech, followed closely by Starblazers, Voltron, and Transformers. Truth be told, I was not really a fan of the original Thundercats cartoon that aired in the 1980s — but the newly animated 2011 version of the Thundercats is simply some of the best cartoon storytelling I have ever been privileged to experience. The first nine episodes that aired earlier this year were riveting and wonderfully crafted, and they kept me acutely interested. This series has shown that in 2011 cartoons can indeed be for the entire family. The best part is, after a short hiatus, Thundercats resumes its Friday evening Cartoon Network run on November 4th. I highly suggest you “toon” in and catch this amazing series.
It’s been over a year since we’ve seen any significant developments regarding Slingers, the Firefly-meets-Ocean’s Eleven television show from UK writer Mike Sizemore. The last anyone heard, Slingers was in a developmental holding pattern, existing only as a “sizzle reel.” But now it seems that the show might be moving forward sooner than anyone realized. Jose Molina (fan-favorite writer of sci-fi gems Firefly and Dark Angel) revealed in a tweet that he was prepping to start writing Slingers with Sizemore. Follow the jump for all the details.
Continue reading »
GWCers are no strangers to tattoos. However, the strange tattoos in SyFy’s Haven are far from just a sign of camaraderie. The tattoos were first introduced near the end of Season One and have been prophesied to be the harbinger of death for Haven’s Duke Crocker. In this past Friday’s episode, “The Tides That Bind,” the tattoo re-emerged as an integral part of the plot, along with the seemingly sinister acts of Reverend Driscoll and the newly-introduced Mrs. Duke Crocker, “Evi” Ryan.
The blurry photo above is making the rounds today, proving that the promo photo (currently shown on the new movie’s IMDb page) isn’t a fluke: Superman is indeed losing his red briefs — or at least wearing them on the inside — just like he did a while back in the comics.
As you might imagine, this has created quite a buzz among aficionados. Change scares the hell out of fans, but it’s not all negative talk. Hell, it’s not even the first costume change for the Man of Steel in recent years. As RoboticJesus points out over on ComicVine, Supes wore jeans and boots once. And he’s a character that response well to change. What do you think?
(via @TheOperatorGWC)
This, folks, is just seriously awesome: OK GO takes on the Muppet Show theme. Yes, that’s every bit as cool as you’d imagine, complete with lots of Muppet references (“OK GO and the Muppets? That sounds pretty exciting. Let’s watch cat videos.”) and even a nice OK GO treadmill in-joke.
The vid promotes The Green Album, a set of twelve Muppet tunes performed by pop artists like Weezer, The Fray, and My Morning Jacket. Released yesterday, it’s available digitally and in CD form now. How cool is that?
The Green Album [Muppet Wiki]
Via Amazon
(via @TheOperatorGWC)
You need, physically need to check out NBC’s hit show Community. It’s awesome. Fans will recognize the Spanish motto as well as lots of other Greendale in-references. This shirt is full of win.
Greendale [TeeFury, link expires 8/23/2011]
Last year I wrote about this amazing SyFy show that debuted in July 2010 set in a quaint Northeastern coastal town called Haven. Based loosely on Stephen King’s The Colorado Kid, this show continues to amaze and captivate me. It’s a well put together story with great acting and, as Chuck often puts it, “a lot of heart.”
But Haven’s got troubles. No, not the kind that face Eureka (or any Fox show). Haven’s residents are somehow bestowed with special powers — powers that laid dormant but recently returned. Together these powers are called “the troubles.” But what are these troubles exactly? Who or what is causing them? And more importantly: what could ultimately quiet the troubles?
How was the universe created? What would an alien invasion be like? Why do people like sex? It almost sounds like any given GWC podcast. In fact, if you put GWC on TV with amazing special effects as well as international expert guest hosts like Stephen Hawking, NASA experts, and Hollywood stars like Michelle Rodriguez, you’d have the new Discovery Channel program called Curiosity: The Questions of Life.
Collider reported this week that MGM hired Noah Oppenheim to pen the forthcoming WarGames update, with Seth Gordon to direct. Oppenheim is a bit of a question mark as a screenwriter. His IMDb page lists producer credits (Losing It with Jillian, Today, Hardball with Chris Matthews), but no completed screenwriting gigs — though Collider reports he’s working with Spielberg and other big-name producers at present. Gordon recently directed Horrible Bosses, and offered Collider some insight into his WarGames take:
“I love the original. I’m a bit of a hacker fanatic, and know a fair bit about that industry and cyber crime and cyber warfare. I have a real point-of-view on the material and how things have changed. And also, I think the politics of the world have changed in really fascinating ways since 1983. There’s no longer a monolithic evil empire somewhere, spreading a different philosophy of life. That doesn’t exist. It’s a much more complicated, nuanced, political world we’re in, and I think that actually makes for a more interesting plot to tell. Frankly, cyber attack is a lot more real.”
If you’d asked me five years ago, I’d have wholeheartedly agreed with the idea that warfare has gone entirely unconventional: that we no longer live in a world of large empires battling as much as we do a world of large empires struggling to retain their stability among many smaller factions fighting to destroy it. And I’d say that’s still true when it comes to guns-and-bullets warfare. But cyber warfare seems like a different story.
Though the BluRays don’t release until September 16th, Twentieth Century Fox released an iPad app which they claim offers “a varied sampling of bonus materials featured in the collection including never-before-seen content sourced from the Lucasfilm archives.” Admittedly, it seems that all the cool stuff in the app will be available on the BluRays when they hit shelves. So if you’re planning to buy them maybe it makes sense to just wait. But if you’re not planning to spring for the new collection, this might give you a bit of fun — for a hell of a lot less cash. In fact, it’s free.
Fans at last week’s Las Vegas Star Trek convention got a bit of a shocker from Walter Koenig. His quote (via TrekMovie.com):
“[J. Michael Staczynski] told me that he is in negotiations to re-acquire the rights to Babylon 5 and it looks pretty good. Now what that portends I am not entirely sure. It could be a new series or it could be a feature film, but he was quite animated about it. He seemed very excited and Warner Brothers is dealing with him in good faith. So you might see another Babylon 5 in the not too distant future.”
So maybe there’s reason for B5 fans to get excited after all. Or maybe not. Straczynski is denying the rumors. “Walter misspoke,” he told Spinoff Online, “I am not in negotiations with WB to develop more Babylon 5.”
GWCers on Flickr
Recent Blog Comments
on #42: Juan Chooses a Tablet { Looking forward to the reasoning behind the Ipad, in a similar position but so far I can't justify the price + data contract despite a... } – May 09, 4:26 PM
on #321: Avengers Pt. 4, Thor { First off - it is great to be back. I have been away for a couple years. I was listening during the original run of... } – Apr 24, 7:23 PM
on #28: Nyan Nyan Nyan Nyan Nyan (Cat) { I would like at least one episode where Audra doesn't try to "beat" along with the intro. It gets old. Thanks. } – Apr 21, 12:50 PM
on #31: Sight Unseen { The episode commentaries seem to becoming less about the show and more about everything else. You guys get off track easy, and tend to stay... } – Apr 04, 11:19 PM
on #37: Draw Something/360 Cloud Sync Fail { I was sick too! You and I might be carrying around each others germs. } – Mar 29, 6:39 AM