If you’re a visual effects groupie (or just enjoy gawking at really cool, Emmy-Award winning eye candy for a couple hours) you’ll want to make your way to beautiful downtown North Hollywood on Thursday night at 6:30. That’s where Newtek (makers of Lightwave 3D, the ground breaking computer animation software that started the CGI revolution) will be sponsoring a night of glitz, glamor and space ships. And you are invited!
Pictured above, Deckard swipes his iPhone and orders some Chinese. Now you can use your precious iDevice to immerse yourself in the world of Blade Runner with an app called Sleep Machine, a neat little program meant to help you sleep by generating ambient sounds like wind, rain, surf and crickets. Now that’s great if you want to pretend you live out in the middle of nowhere, but can it relax the futuristic city dweller, looking to close his eyes and get lost in the soothing sounds of a dark, yet shimmering urban landscape?
[WARNING: NO SPOILERS]
Some people love to hate Michael Bay.
Some people also love to hate movies that exist primarily to sell toys (kinda bizarre how two, high profile examples of this “genre” were released at the same time this week), so it should come as no surprise that a number of early reviews for Transformers: (Turn Off the) Dark of the Moon have stuck the kinfe in. These commentaters resolutely claim that the movie is abysmal, wanting you to believe it’s as painful as watching a Lady Gaga concert while having your testicles sandblasted.
Judas, I say!
As long as you go in knowing what to expect – a rambunctious movie about giant robots masterminding all manner of mayhem - then it’s easily the best of the three and a thoroughly enjoyable ride.
Mind you I’m no Michael Bay or Transformers apologist; I think the first movie is ok at best and the second IS as painful as the above. But the new film clearly removes itself from the pack in a few small but important ways…
I’m calling on my loyal readers who still keep the faith (both of you) to sharpen your stylus and get cracking on this one:
TRONALD MCDONALD
I’m way too lazy to do it myself, but i’d love to see this visualized! I’m keeping my fingers crossed that someone reading this also thinks the concept is too funny to pass up. And speaking of posts (and Tron), i’ve got one in mind and it will be online by Monday – promise.
Oh wait, assuming I get more than one entry I need a prize! Let’s see… ok, the winner gets to play DarthMojo editor and tell ME what the subject of my next post will be. Want to see more B5? A brand new Voyager image? Some behind the scenes BSG stuff? You win, you choose!
Thanks for staying with us…
Thirty Two years ago today, ABC rocked the house with the first-ever airing of Battlestar Galactica. Killer robots, thrusting spaceships and Lorne Green’s toupe would forever change my world. It also marked the official start of the 25 year countdown to Ron Moore’s epic re-imagining of the series, which breathed new life into the Galactica franchise and showed the world that you can take science fiction seriously. So, on this fine Friday evening, why not grab a friend (Cylon or otherwise) and tip a glass of Ambrosia in honor of Glen Larson’s little wagon train to the stars that could.
Hey everyone… 1,000 pardons for not posting anything sooner, but as many of you have summised I am indeed working on some new material I can’t really discuss yet. Of course, that’s no reason for not telling everyone sooner! The fact is, after a year of freelance, going back to a regular work schedule really zapped the life out of me. I started up soon after my last post, and when I get home i’m just so spent blogging really took a back seat – the last thing I want to do at home is sit back down in front of the computer… Continue reading ‘it’s alive!’
This is what happens when you cross a nerd with too much time on his hands with a warped sense of humor (pun intended). The ever-talented (and ever-warped) Daren Dochterman decided that my urinal puck and Nintendo remote from recent posts were begging to make the leap from pseudo Star Trek wannabe to iron-clad canon. So, ladies and gentleman, we present to you the USS WiiWee. Look for the resin kit in first quarter 2010.
… the USS Enterprise just keeps showing up no matter where you look. First it’s in a urinal, now it’s a fishing rod controller for the Nintendo Wii. What’s next? The Jefferies Tube in a salami? A Phaser in a beard trimmer? Is it us or is the whole world actually trying to look like Star Trek? [special thanks to reader BobaTrek for sending this one in. Send yours to DarthMojo4u at AOL]. At the risk of straying off topic for a moment, I just ran across this Photoshop image of Obama as a Vulcan. Am I the last guy on Earth to see this?
What a fascinating trip this has been! Who would have ever guessed I’d be able to milk two weeks worth of posts from a silly picture of a bad Halloween costume? Who else but sci-fi fans could turn a quick chuckle into a raging ethical debate? I want to thank everyone who not only took part in the contest, but to those of you who shared it with friends, egged us on in the comments and appreciated the value of the unexpected twist. In the coming days my cohorts and I will be pontificating on lessons learned and insights gained as a result of all this tom-foolery, but for now we need to put on our tux, turn on the lights and hand out some trophies…
So the polls are closed and the results are… interesting. During the first few days of voting, the “Khhhaaaaannnn!!” image was well ahead with double the votes of everyone else. The race for second was very close indeed, and “Animated XL Kirk” was the front runner for last place. Then I opened the floor up to “Kobayashi Maru” tactics. Within 24 hours, the results had completely changed – the number of votes had doubled, with “Action Figure” firmly in first place, followed closely (in order) by The Horse, Tribbles and Animated XXL. “Khaaaannn!!” was now in last place (ironically, I know for a fact that Jon (creator of the “Khhhaaaaannn!!” image) was the only one not cheating). But things really took an unexpected turn over the weekend…
It seems like yesterday’s post has “inspired” a lot of you, as the voting has gone topsy turvy. I find this most interesting. I think I’ll let you guys run with this over the weekend – the voting will end Sunday night/Monday morning at midnight. You have until then to “be creative.” The image posted above is Daren’s idea of how to win this contest – just combine the most popular images! Well, at least they were the most popular until today. We’ll have the winner and an in-depth analysis of the voting come Monday. Have a great weekend!
One of the cool things about WordPress is they provide you with all kinds of useful data about your blog; not only do you get an accurate count of how many people are visiting and what they’re reading, but it also lets you know where they are coming from. With one click, I can see which sites are linking to me and how many people visited Darth Mojo as a result of those links. Naturally, if I see an unfamiliar site suddenly pointing hundreds of people my way, I click over to them to see what all the fuss is about (usually it’s someone telling his or her readers to check out a post). Today I noticed a few dozen people had been referred to my blog from a discussion group I’d never heard of, so I clicked the link to investigate. And that’s when I discovered the cheaters.
Citizens of the Federation, it’s time to do your civic duty and vote for your favorite image in our “XXL Captain Kirk” Photoshop contest (review the last two posts if you’re in need of a briefing). Staying true to the spirit of Star Trek, our hailing frequencies certainly reached out to the furthest star, as entries have come in from across the globe to create a truly international contest (just the way Gene would have liked it). You’ll find the ballot after the jump, where we’ll show you the “final five” images and tell you a little bit about the evil geniuses behind them…
11/12 update: While it seems like “Khaaaaan!!” is the front runner, it’s still important for everyone to vote - as of now, the race for second place is VERY close, so, to keep things interesting, I will also offer a special prize (to be announced) for the second place contestant. The runner-up spot is totally up for grabs at this point, so I suggest those of you in the running get out there and do some campaigning!
Continue reading ‘vote: you choose the winner of “XXL Kirk” Photoshop contest! (updated)’
How would the world be different if the guy from our favorite Halloween costume (as discussed in the previous post) had actually been the one to land the classic role of James T. Kirk? What if there was no Shatner? Help the world visualize this with your mad Photoshop skills and send your best effort to DarthMojo4U at AOL (Click here for a clean image of “big Kirk” to help get you started). The winner will receive the ultimate prize – the thrill of victory! I can’t wait to see what everyone comes up with. Spread the word! And remember to check back with this post often - I’ll keep updating as new images are submitted!
Continue reading ‘photoshop “xxl kirk costume” contest (final entries are in!)’
Friday I was assembling a few odds and ends for my last minute costume when I encountered the above abomination at the Halloween store. Generally speaking, they choose a model for the packaging that at least bears some vague physical similarity to the person or character they’re trying to market – but in this case, WTF?! Obviously they weren’t even trying to go for a Chris Pine lookalike, and he’s fatter than Shatner ever was, so, all I can come up with is they wanted a model that made men say “hell, I’d be a better looking Captain Kirk than this guy!” Unless the costume is supposed to be bloated Kirk after McCoy injected him with the comedy virus. What was my costume, you ask?
I went to see this a few days ago because there’s a lot of people out there calling it one the scariest movies ever made. At least one reviewer said it was the scariest film they’ve ever seen. That’s a lot of hype to live up to. Based on what I saw, I think it’s fair to meet them all halfway and proclaim that Paranormal Activity is “the scariest movie released this month.” Give me a frakking break, guys – this is not the scariest movie ever, although it is perhaps the most repetitive movie of all time.
Continue reading ‘movie review: paranormal activity (no spoilers)’
… you stare at a urinal puck and you see the primary hull of the USS Enterprise.
