ThingsAmongMany

No idea how I could possibly have missed this up till now, but it looks amazing:

A new era in animated storytelling begins on 9.9.09. Visionary filmmakers Tim Burton (The Corpse Bride, Charlie and The Chocolate Factory) and Timur Bekmambetov (Wanted, Nightwatch) join forces to produce wunderkind director Shane Acker’s distinctively original and thrilling tale. 9 stars Elijah Wood, John C. Reilly, Jennifer Connelly, Martin Landau, Christopher Plummer and Crispin Glover and features the music of Danny Elfman. When 9 (The Lord of the Ring’s Elijah Wood) first comes to life, he finds himself in a post-apocalyptic world. All humans are gone, and it is only by chance that he discovers a small community of others like him taking refuge from fearsome machines that roam the earth intent on their extinction. Despite being the neophyte of the group, 9 convinces the others that hiding will do them no good. They must take the offensive if they are to survive, and they must discover why the machines want to destroy them in the first place. As they’ll soon come to learn, the very future of civilization may depend on them.

As you’ve no doubt heard by now, Spike Jonze’s highly anticipated rendition of the ever-popular children’s book, Where the Wild Things Are is set to release in October (see the trailer here). And, as with any movie release based on something that’s already wildly popular, it has spurred a ton of discussion as well as a few other inspired and artistic moments. One such inspired moment takes shape at TerribleYellowEyes.com, a collection of original artworks by a variety of artists created by illustrator Corey Godbey.

In his own words, Terrible Yellow Eyes is:

a collection of works inspired by the beloved classic, Where the Wild Things Are by Maurice Sendak. Over the coming weeks and months I’ll display a growing collection of works created by invited contributing artists and myself. We share a love and admiration for Sendak’s work and the pieces we present here are done as a tribute to his life and legacy.

The site already features work from over 90 different artists, and with the upcoming movie release, it’s sure to grow heading into October. Where the Wild Things Are is a book that holds a place in the hearts of many children, and the sentiment will only strengthen interest in both the site and the movie release.

Thanks to @JeffSoo for the heads-up on this one!

Let’s face it. Video sites are a royal pain to sift through. When was the last time you went to the YouTube homepage and actually found a worthwhile video by simply searching? And then, of course, if you factor in all of the other places you can find video - other sharing sites or social bookmarking sites - it’s pretty clear that the world of online video can become messy pretty fast. But now there’s a new site that aims to sort it all out for you.

Mag.ma collects video content from all of the major sources and allows you to rate it, share it, etc. in a dashboard that makes it easy to see what’s on top. And it doesn’t just pull from the biggies, but from the New York Times and TED as well (to name a couple). Throw in a bookmarklet for good measure and you’ve got a solid video collection point that’s clean and easy to use. Have a look here.

What can I say, even I get caught by the obivous sometimes. This is an untitled “short film” in the form of an animated gif. I realize she’s a little mainstream, but I love the grainy silence and the behind-the-scenes feel of this one.

via iconology

Despite being a little (5 years?) late on the uptake on these, we have to share them! Created in 2003 (part I) and 2005 (part II) by Woodpecker Film, a Helsinki-based production company, the Rare Exports short films were originally intended as a holiday greeting for clients. However, the films took off in popularity and have since been included in a variety of the world’s most renowned film festivals.

The production value is top-notch, making Rare Exports the perfect piece for those slightly cynical holiday goers (like yours truly). The first explains where all of those “Father Christmases” (mall Santas) come from, and the second reveals the birth of the Christmas tree.

Part I:

Part II:

While revealing this may put my Bond fandom in question, I have to admit I just got around to seeing Quantum of Solace (in my defense, in NYC it’s a lot more comfortable to see a movie a couple weeks late once the crowds have diminished - but I digress). In brief, I really like Daniel Craig as Bond - he won me over in Layer Cake - and while I think it was missing a hit of something that was present in Casino Royale, Quantum of Solace didn’t disappoint. Overall, still a winner.

But I didn’t start this post to write a review. I want to talk…sunglasses - among other things. Yup, I was curious about the sunglasses that Bond sported in this latest film. A quick search for Quantum of Solace Sunglasses revealed that I wasn’t the only one who was interested; there’s a LOT of discussion about these specs flying around the interwebs. The long and short of it is that Craig seems to be wearing the Tom Ford TF108 19. This model was based on a discontinued pair of Oliver Peoples Airman frames that Craig recommended for the film. Of course, there’s still quite a bit of controversy over which he was actually wearing in the film.

Of further interest is another site that I landed on in my search: JamesBondLifestyle.com. This shouldn’t come as much of a surprise, but yes, there’s an entire site (and probably more) dedicated to discussions of the clothes, cars, gadgets, and what-nots featured in Bond movies. Of course, who can watch a Bond flick without feeling some moment of reflection on their own personal wardrobe? You just can’t help but wonder…if the clothes make the man, what could they make me?

Yup, most of us are fans on some level or another of Sofia Coppola’s 2003 hit Lost in Translation. Of course, as much as I enjoyed the movie (which I admittedly haven’t seen in a few years), I’m not sure that I could sit down and explain the plot too easily. I can, however, explain the plot of the new mashup by Charles Gallant (fellow POKEr and co-creator of RD4T) that he recently posted on Vimeo.

To demonstrate the reality of those “lost in translation” moments, Charles took the lyrics of NIN’s Closer and translated them from English to Japanese using Babelfish. He then retranslated the resulting Japanese rendition back into English (also via Babelfish) and set the newly interpreted translation in time to the original song.

The result is a humorous, intriguing look at why we don’t always understand one another, no matter how simply we believe we’re speaking. Give it a watch:

NIN & Babelfish from Charles Gallant on Vimeo.

Since the Apple TV came out - under much scrutiny to say the least - the idea of streaming media from a “computer” source to a TV has become much more mainstream (and let’s not discount the impact of iTunes in that process as well). Netflix has followed up with a variety of streaming services as well, including the recent launch of it’s beta program for streaming content to Macs (check this link if you’re interested in joining that program) and the relatively new Roku set-top box for Netflix.

Well, now that the public is starting to understand what these offerings can do for their entertainment purposes, some newcomers are cropping up in the field with products that cater to this type of viewing. Perfect example is the new Archos TV+. Combine a DVR with a media player for video and audio content and you’ve got the gist of it. But, in my mind, what sets the Archos player apart is the ability to browse the web (though it does require a “plug-in” that they charge for). Suddenly your living room entertainment center has the potential to replace a second computer for those emergency situations when you need to book an appointment at the genius bar but can’t…because your computer is broken.

I’ve dug through the info on the Archos site, but can’t seem to determine what the potential is for moving media around (for example, what if I purchase something from iTunes?). But it does allow access to the major video hosting sites. It would be killer if they built streaming Netflix capabilities into the box as well!

If anyone’s had face-time with one of these bad boys, give us the run-down!

Sure, you know all about graffiti. Spray painted forms illicitly painted on walls in the middle of the night with the hopes of avoiding capture in the process. But how about reverse graffiti? Not so familiar?

Invented by Paul “Moose” Curtis, a then kitchen-hand in Leeds, reverse graffiti is the process of creating artwork on a surface by cleaning it. Not quite clear? Have a look at Moose’s recent work in San Francisco’s Broadway tunnel, a grime-coated subterranean thoroughfare in the heart of downtown:

Beneficial to all, and completely legal, Moose’s variation on the standard “graffiti” artwork is a huge step beyond the “environmentally friendly” wheatpaste that most artists use when they’re concerned about environmental impacts. Moose’s tools are simply water and Green Works products, a brand of environmentally minded, plant-based cleaning products.

Interested in learning more or seeing more videos about the creative process for the San Francisco project? Stop by ReverseGraffitiProject.com for a full run-down.

It never ceases to amaze me what people can do these days with a little time and determination - and, of course, a whole lotta know-how. Case in point is the Cannes-recognized short ARK, directed by Grzegorz Jonkajtys. Inspired by the old catacombs found in Italy, ARK is the story of a fight for survival:

An unknown virus has destroyed almost the entire human population. Oblivious to the true nature of the disease, the only remaining survivors escape to the sea. In great ships, they set off in search of uninhabited land. So begins the exodus, led by one man…

The short was created by shooting hand-made models and then inserting the characters and coloring on the computer. There’s a slideshow of the models and the shooting process here that’s well worth a look. It’s incredible that much of this story was shot on a standard Nikon D70!

You can watch ARK below, but for the full effect you should really take a few minutes to download the HD version here. Also have a look at the ARK website. Without further ado…