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 Wallpapers
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.
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.
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.
The X-Files: I Want To Believe In This Movie
Since I am captivated in the X-Files world at the moment, watching disc after disc of Mulder and Scully sexual tension and alien chasing, the new movie didn't entirely disappoint me but I can see how fans who have been away from the series the past 7 or 8 years could be. SPOILER ALERT: The story is a stand alone case involving a psychic pedophile Catholic preacher who is the only link to find a series of missing women, one of whom is an FBI agent. At this point in time, Mulder and Scully are no longer working for the FBI but are called in to assist finding the missing women because of their successful history with the X-Files and pyschic phenomenon. The movie is a long monster of the week episode but Mulder and Scully don't even have their FBI credentials or guns to get things done. The second story arch involves Mulder and Scully's personal relationship and whether they should call it off or not because Mulder's heart and time is still very much into exposing the truth and Scully is over the whole thing. I enjoyed the movie because it's just more X-Files to watch but I believe they could have and should have focused on the mythology storyline and given some closure and pay off to long time fans of the series.
Why So Serious? Because That's What It Takes.
It's been awhile since my last post but I've been eerily occupied watching the highly addictive X-Files. See previous post. So I must apologize to myself and my fiance (the only people who read this blog) for not giving us gripping journalistic endeavors to embark on. So let's see if I can catch us up shall we? I've heard something about some movie called The Dark Knight that has been doing reasonably well at the box office. I guess I should check that one out sometime... Obviously I am being a douchebag because I have seen it twice already with a third time on my schedule of things to do. I was there for the midnight screening with 500 other people playing board games and ordering pizza in the lobby waiting to be let in. The movie was unbelievable. I'm hesitant to call it a movie- The film was unbelievable. I don't even want to call it a comic book movie. It's really just a film making masterpiece. The storyline moved along like a freight train fleshing out these characters that make you believe in a world where a man dressed as a bat and a psycho dressed as a clown really exist. Heath's performance was spectacular as everyone already knows. I can't wait to watch it again, but next time it will be in IMAX. I'm sure I will be scared shitless to see Harvey Dent's grotesque face revealed on a 6 story screen.
The joker poster above now graces the wall of my room framed behind glass. It's quite creepy because it looks as though he is writing on the frame. Below are some shots from that studio shoot. I love seeing how graphic artists turn raw studio/photography into awesome works of art. I hope to be doing projects like this someday.
Currently Watching: The X-Files
About a week or so ago I picked up The X-Files the complete series on DVD. As of now I am about to start disc 6 of season 1 to watch the last 4 episodes. I watched the series when it was on TV but I was something like 11 years old. It kicked ass back then because it had aliens, monsters, and guns but now that I'm older I can watch it and appreciate the complex stories and of course the aliens, monsters, and guns. I remember things here and there but for the most part it's like watching it for the first time all over again which is incredibly exciting. The box set came with all 9 seasons, the theatrical movie, a comic book, episode guide, collectible cards, and a full sized poster of the movie. Not too shabby. I got a pretty sweet deal at CostCo for only $120 as opposed to $180 regularly. Each season on its own is at least about $40 plus the movie which is probably $10 so I think I got my money's worth. I know for a fact I won't be done watching everything before the movie, The X-Files: I Want To Believe, comes out in theatres July 25th. Looks like I'll be living and breathing government conspiracies for the next few months.
WANTED: More Comic Movies Like This
I am not a professional movie reviewer. I don't sit in my seat and bring a pen and paper or try to take mental notes of significant scenes to remember later. I am an average movie lover (maybe not average) with way too many DVDs who loves the summer, not for the beach, but for movie season. Typical quick movie reviews from someone like you or me goes something like this when the credits start rolling: you look to the person next to you and say "So did you like it?" and the response is "It sucked" "It was alright" or "Bad ass." I go in to movies with expectations, like Wanted for example, I knew it was going to be a kick ass action movie with my old crush Angelina Jolie and that's about it. But I just love it when movies exceed my expectations. There were moments in the movie when I clapped a few times at the shear bad assery of it all before I realized I was one of those guys and then stopped. Finally, a rated R comic book movie that got it right. The kill scenes were graphic and bloody as they should be in an assasin movie. The movie was hilarious too. Yeah. What the hell, right? Totally unexpected and a great surprise. The story had a few twists and surprises that I can usually predict before they happen, but not in this one. So did I like it? Fucking bad ass.
Trust Me, You Want To See Him When He's Angry
The Hulk- I'm sorry The Incredible Hulk was just that. Incredible. The new movie is a reinvention of the character on the big screen. It has nothing to do with the Ang Lee version which starred Eric Bana. Edward Norton stars and co-wrote the movie about Dr. Bruce Banner who was hit by gamma radiation and who turns into The Hulk, a 9 foot menace with anger issues. It's not an origin story, in fact it takes place about 5 years after Bruce was contaminated. During the opening credits, flashbacks and newspaper clippings summed up the events that led to his metamorphosis. Bruce is on the run from an Army general who wants to dissect him in order to create super soldiers for the military. There are many tie ins to other Marvel spin offs and areas left open for a sequel if it does well enough at the box office. The super solider serum was mentioned as a project that has been buried for years. A nod to the fact that Captain America was the first successful super soldier created during WWII. Also, at the end of the film Tony Stark shows up to inquire to the general that "we are assembling a team." Of course he is talking about the Avenger initiative otherwise simply knows as The Avengers. Abomination was not killed and the professor who assisted Bruce was accidentally contaminated with the serum that created Abomination. The movie had a few cheesy lines and too many tie ins to the old TV show. It kind of took you away from the story and reminded you that you are watching a movie. The action sequences and fight scenes were spectacular and way over the top in the coolest way possible.
A Hell Of A Poster
I was at the movies last night and saw the new Hellboy II poster up in the lobby. It really caught my eye with its simplistic style. Most sci-fi hero type movies go for very exaggerated poses and wide angle perspective shots of the characters- which is fine. After all, comic art is precisely that but you gotta love the perspective of his profile at ground level. Hellboy is bullseye dead center, which is a amateur no no in photography and graphic design but when you know the rules, you know how and when to break them. The artist pulls it off nicely. The colors are bland and dark as it should be. This is Hellboy. A demon from hell here to save mankind. The contrast of Hellboy's red skin against the gray and golden sky really makes him pop. The title and text above and below him are centered and very old school in its layout. Again, to sum up it's very simple and I love it. It's definitely going up in my room when it goes on sale online. Hellboy II comes out July 11th.
Mutt Williams And The Comb of Destiny
Tonight I finally got a chance to see Indiana Jones and the Kingdom on the Crystal Skull. I purposefully didn't read any reviews prior to seeing it as to not spoil any plot lines or have anyone else's opinion poison my movie going brain. I did hear, however, that people either hated it or loved it. I loved it. SPOILER ALERT: I'm sure I'll read or hear people complain about the ending and how so far fetched or un-Indy-like it is. I would have to disagree. No one in the movie says the word aliens but come on they're friggin aliens. And so what? Is it really all that crazy? How about a beam of light that melts Nazi faces off, pulling hearts of chests or a Holy Grail that makes you age instantly. The intent of the Indy movies are not to get kids to care about history. It's about adventure, globe trotting and following clues to the fun ending that bitch slaps history books in the face. It takes place about 20 years after that last movie (the same length of time since the last movie came out) and all the characters are that much older. Indy doesn't pretend he's the same ripe young age he was in the previous films. There are plenty of old man jokes coming out of the mouth of Shia LaBeouf's character Mutt Williams. Nevertheless Indy still cracks a whip like he used to. It's not much of a spoiler here but Mutt Williams turns out to be Indy's son and it hints to a spin off or continuation of the franchise with Shia as the leading man. I think it can technically still be called Indiana Jones even without Harrison Ford for this reason: Indiana is not really Indiana's name. Henry Jones Jr. is his name and Mutt is not really Mutt's name. Mutt's real name is Henry Jones III. Mutt is a name he gave to himself and with that reasoning he can always change it to Indiana as a tribute to his father. Either way I would give it a chance and check it out. If you get a chance, see this one too.
I Am Iron Man
So tonight I saw Iron Man for the second time in 24 hours. Yeah, it's that good. One of the best superhero movies I've ever seen. Robert Downey Jr. nailed the roll of Tony Stark, billionaire, playboy, inventor turned gold and titanium plated crime fighter. The origin story followed Stark to the Middle East who got kidnapped by a terrorist group and forced to build a missile. Stark with the help of a fellow prisoner instead secretly build an iron suit to escape captivity. Due to injuries sustained while being captured, Tony got shrapnel in his chest which is slowly making its way to his heart. To prevent this, he implanted an electro magnet to his chest which also serves as the suit's energy source. Back home in California, Tony builds an upgraded suit to use to destroy the weapons his company sold to terrorist groups around the globe. Obidiah Stane is Tony's business partner and the one responsible to selling weapons under the table to these groups. He steals Stark's ideas and has a suit made for himself and later becomes Iron Monger the chief villain in the film. The movie runs just over 2 hours which gives it plenty of time to build a great story with characters you like. There is plenty of humor and action that makes the time fly by and keeps you wanting more. The specials effects by ILM are incredible. As a bonus, there are a few tie ins to an Avengers spin off and/or a sequel with War Machine. Stay after the credits for a short scene with Nick Fury (Samuel L. Jackson) confronting Tony with a proposition to join what he calls the "Avenger Initiative." Where do I sign up?
Review: Dan In Real Life
Last night I watched Dan In Real Life starring Steve Carell. It's about a widower (Steve/Dan) trying to find love all while trying to raise 3 girls. It also stars Dane Cook as Dan's brother Mitch. So Dan drives home to his parent's house for the annual family get together and we soon realize that his entire family gets on his case to move on and find a new woman in his life. Of course Dan is rather shy and wants to focus on raising his daughters who subsequently hate his guts at the moment. One morning Dan goes to the local bookshop to get a paper and meets Marie. They of course hit it off right away and spend the morning together talking, laughing, and at one point even cry together. But as fate would have it, Dan realizes Marie has a boyfriend and she must leave. Dan convinces her to give him his number and they part ways. Dan comes home and shares the news with his family and then down the stairs walks Marie and stands by Mitch's side. Cue the awkward silence.... No one knows that Marie is the woman Dan met that morning and so ensues a series of flirting, close calls, and sneaking around. In in the end Marie leaves Mitch, Mitch punches Dan and Dan and Marie get married. The end.
Most romantic comedies are good for a one time sit down (with many exceptions) and Dan In Real Life would fall in that category. The only thing that sold this movie was Steve Carell, the king of sympathy and hilarity. If anyone else starred in this movie, I would have never watched it. Dane Cook, while a hilarious comic, just ain't a leading actor.
Worth buying? No.
Worth downloading? Yes, if you love Steve Carell.
