I'm going to be taking my little blog to a place called Tumblr. The new url is hawlendrion.tumblr.com. See you there.
21st Century Breakdown
Today I just found out that Green Day has finally released details on when their next album will be coming out. Come May I'll be listening to their new album entitled 21st Century Breakdown. I'm sure alot of people will be trying to compare it American Idiot, but I, for one, will not be. I love AI but I also know that each of their albums have their own distinct sound to it and I'm looking forward to it being different. I've read comments from "fans" saying that they've waited so long for new music by them but true fans like myself know they have already released a new album under their side band Foxboro Hottubs. I'm totally stoked for it and cannot wait. Green Day never disappoints. And by the way, I've been a fan since before Dookie so step off... (not sure if I can pull that phrase off.)
Watchmen Wallpapers
As you can tell, I am very excited for the upcoming theatrical release of the Watchmen. Only two weeks away! I've created a few wallpaper backgrounds in Photoshop of Rorschach's mask, Doc Manhattan's hydrogen atom logo, and Nite Owl's crescent moon logo. Click the pictures for larger versions. Feel free to email me at ryan@noirgraphicdesign.com if you need a bigger size or uncompressed version since Blogger likes to limit the size of photos you can upload. On to other Watchmen news, I've read that the running time of the film is going to be just over 2 and half hours. That's good to hear since last I read, the studio wanted to cut it down closer to 2 hours. The first release of the director's cut DVD will be over 3 hours but that won't be until July. Once you think the waiting is over...it's not. 5 months and 2 weeks away. It will be worth it.
Watchmen Portrait Book
I went to Barnes & Noble on Tuesday to check out the new Watchmen book and in addition to the art book, two other books came out as well. I bought two of them- the Film Companion and the Portrait Book. I just started reading the film companion and so far so good. I'll let you know more when I get through it all. The portrait book is just amazing. Still photographer Clay Enos who was responsible for taking ALL still photography on the set, which included promo shots and even imagery used in props (such as newspapers and framed photos), released a book of black and white portraits of cast, crew and a few props. No text or copy- just oversized photos. It's not so much an insight into the movie's plot or structure like the film companion is but rather just a great collection of photographs. Clay is the guy who took the iconic Minutemen photo I posted a little while back. The photos are great although I assumed there would be more photos of the main ensemble. Check out these photos I took...of the photo book.
Nite Owl Winter Costume
I just found this image of Nite Owl in his winter costume when he and Rorschach head to Antarctica to confront Ozymandias. Friggin' sweeeeeeet. Less than a month away from the theatrical release on March 6th but coming up even sooner on Tuesday is the release of the book entitled Watchmen: The Art of the Film. I'll be swinging by Barnes & Noble to take a look see and decide if it's worth buying. I'm sure it will be.
Rock, Paper, Scissors, Lizard, Spock.
Scissors cuts paper. Paper covers rock. Rock crushes lizard. Lizard poisons Spock. Spock smashes scissors. Scissors decapitates lizard. Lizard eats paper. Paper disproves Spock. Spock vaporizes rock. Rock crushes scissors.
T-600 Terminator Image Released
A new photo has been released of the T-600 Terminator in the new Terminator: Salvation movie out this summer. The T-600 is the predecessor to the more familiar T-800 which Arnold has made so famous. The T-600 is more crude, bulky and is less believable as a human than the T-800. I believe a main plotline involves the discovery of the new T-800 models which poses a threat to the resistance since they would be almost impossible to detect. Below is the concept art of the T-600 and a screenshot from the movie of John Connor in the T-800 factory.
New Battlefield Game Announced
Well DICE and EA just announced that the next game in the Battlefield series is going to be... wait for it... Battlefield 1943... Wow... So this is what I've been waiting for? Come on guys (and gals)! You're going backward for Science's sake. What's even worse is that it's going to be released on all platforms including the Xbox 360, PS3 and the PC which means, of course, that is going to be dumbed down to accommodate all systems. No 64 player online multiplayer matches-- it caps off at 24 players. Really? I'm really curious to see how they are going to market this game. What fresh, new features are going to blow everyone away? New weapons in WWII? Doubt it. According to the press release, the game is going to consist of three reworked maps from BF 1942 including (without surprise) Wake Island which has been remade for BF2 and BF2142 already. The press release didn't offer many details, but it seems to me that this isn't a full blown sequel and I hope it's not. And if it's not, then why even bother? If it is, then what a shitty follow up. The official website can be found here with a trailer that doesn't show any gameplay footage. I love, LOVE the BF series but this just isn't doing it for me... Not yet at least.
Minutemen Had a Different Meaning Back Then
Over the past few months I have been collecting imagery online for the Watchmen movie. I came across this little beauty a while ago and it is quite exquisite. It's a group shot of the Minutemen circa 1940. Zach Snyder and his team has nailed it down to the smallest detail. I simply cannot wait for the movie to come out. Here are a few more pics that are worth looking at. Click for larger versions.
Artwork Origins: ReallyBoreen
Recently the new X-Men Origins: Wolverine poster was announced and I'd have to say that it is merely eh... Don't get me wrong, it's pretty cool but it's been done before. It's the X-Men 3 poster with Wolverine in the background. There is potential for so many cool ideas. For instance, a top down view of Wolverine in the water tank is the most obvious idea. You can somehow incorporate liquid adamantium. A portrait shot of Wolverine with the surgery "tats" on his face. Hopefully they will come out with more posters especially with all the new characters in the film, most notably Gambit and Deadpool. I've read one person online refer to the poster as "iconic" and while I will give it that it is also typical and boring. Marvel's entire business is based on artwork and Wolverine is their baby. They should be all over this. Let's hope it's just a teaser poster with greatness on the way. Click on the pic for the hi res version.
Underworld: Rise of the Lycans: Movie Review
When I first heard that they were making another Underworld movie without the leading lady, Mrs. Beckinsale, I was not so interested. After all, any sequels with different stars are usually indicators that it is destined for the straight to DVD graveyard and/or a huge disappointment. Then I found out that it was a prequel and that at least storywise it did not make sense to have her come back. When I heard that Rhona Mitra was taking the reigns, I was back on board. But all of this really means nothing in the end because the leading lady is not a lady at all. The character Lucian is the star here.
Underworld: Rise of the Lycans explains the story only told through flashbacks and storytelling in the first two movies. It puts a new perspective on who are the good guys and who are the bad guys and why the war started in the first place. Viktor, the vampire leader, enslaved the Lycans (wherewolves) to be their bodyguards while the sun was shining over their empire. He forced human slaves to be bitten by Lycans to turn them and use them as slaves and bodyguards. They were treated cruely, kept in cages and forced to wear reversed spiked collars that would puncture their throats if they should ever transform into their hairy alter egos. Lucian was in love with Viktor's daughter, Sonya, and after being forced to watch her die in front of him at the order of her father who thought that the blending of the species was an abomination, revolted and started a war that would last for centuries. I enjoyed the movie because it answered a lot of questions and flushed out the characters even more. Even though I got home around 1am, I was impelled to watch the first Underworld again for the whateverth time. It was like watching a completely different movie. Things made more sense and you were rooting for what was once the "bad guy." If you liked the first two movies, you'd enjoy this one. Time to watch Underworld 2...
Defiance: Movie Review
The other night I movie hopped and saw two films back to back, Defiance starring Daniel Craig and Underworld: Rise of the Lycans starring Rhona Mitra. Two polar opposites but both quite enjoyable in their own ways.
Defiance is set during the opening hours of WWII when Germany invaded Russia. Daniel Craig and his brothers come home to discover that their family have been murdered and so retreat in to the nearby forest where they build a camp and live in hiding. Over the years, they take in persecuted Jews and build a community in the forest under his leadership. Food is scarce, the winter is harsh and their camp is discovered multiple times, forcing them to defend themselves and build a new camp elsewhere. It's not really an action film and not as heavy as say Schindler's List. I will have to say that the final "battle" scene in the film was intense. Usually WWII films don't end on a good note and the main characters are never safe from death so when a Nazi tank rolls up with infantry along it's side, you don't know how it could end. Daniel Craig's performance was his best yet. I've seen him in generic roles in Tombraider and The Invasion (which I saw for the first time last night) and starring roles in the rebooted Bond flicks (which are fantastic) but as an actor, I bet he is most proud of this one. Great acting. Great story. Pacing was a little slow but enjoyable nonetheless. I'll review Underworld soon.
Who Photoshops the Photoshoppers?
Well it's been awhile since my last post and all of you (Dan) have been bugging me to update this thing more often, so I will try. A lot has happened in the past few months. I've played a few new games including Assassin's Creed, Far Cry 2, and Left 4 Dead and have watched numerous movies. For instance, last night I movie hopped and saw Defiance and Underworld: Rise of the Lycans. I've also switched jobs. Previously, I was working at an automotive company doing graphic design in the marketing department and now I'm working at an advertising agency doing design work for multiple clients. I've also upgraded to Adobe CS4. On the photography side, I've recently purchased a speedlight and new lens and have been having a blast playing with those. Perhaps I'll blog in more detail on these topics sometime soon.
In the meantime, today as I was keeping tabs on the most anticipated movie in my world these days, The Watchmen, it inspired me to do some Photoshop work on a photo I took of myself recently. So as an homage to the Watchmen, I introduce you to myself as Dr. Manhattan. The original photo can be found on my Flickr here.
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