space heater

Moonrise Kingdom was shot entirely in Rhode Island?

I don't have an opinion about Wes Anderson's new film but I just learned (from our local, crappy news) that his latest film was shot in R.I. Rhode Island is so tiny, how is it that we were unaware that this was being filmed here?

What was the first movie you ever watched in the theater?

I have mistakenly always believed that Pete’s Dragon was the first movie I ever watched in the theater, that is, until I just looked it up saw that it came out in 1977, which means I had seen other films in the theater before it. After wracking my brain I concluded that the first film I ever watched in a movie theater was Herbie Rides Again (1974). As I wait for my next patient to arrive please tell me about the first films you ever watched, Horrorthonners!

Chuck Norris is a wuss

From geekology, After speaking to some of the cast of "The Expendables," it became clear that everyone wanted Chuck Norris to join the cast. Sylvester Stallone eventually made that happen, but now comes word that casting meant turning an R-rated franchise to a PG-13 one.

"In 'Expendables 2,' there was a lot of vulgar dialogue in the screenplay. For this reason, many young people wouldn't be able to watch this," Norris said to Polish newspaper Gazeta. "I don't star in movies like this. Because of that I said I won't be a part of that if the vulgar language is not removed. Producers accepted my conditions and the movie will be rated PG-13."

The film has yet to get rating by the MPAA, so we'll see if the producers kept their word to Norris. But if they did, expect the language and the violence to be toned down.

I won stuff!

My entry in the Lego Speeder Bike contest got the last possible prize available! I'm the fourth entry in the Special Honor category, but one of the higher-up entries already won in another category. You can see the winners here.

The Special Honor category emerged when a Lego-compatible gun making company called Brickarms donated the prizes below, so the items in one of those columns are coming my way (I hope it's column A or C, because of phasers).

2012 predictions

I'm just curious what everyone thinks. Here's my take:

Sherlock (Season 2)
Already seen it (all three episodes): it's fantastic!
Star Wars Episode I The Phantom Menace 3D
I'm more partial to the prequel trilogy than probably anyone else here on Horrorthon. I'd even go so far as to say that The Phantom Menace is kind of comparable to the first few chapters of The Fellowship of the Ring: very little happens, the storytelling isn't up to par yet, the setting is idyllic, and you've got absolutely no idea of the violent, dark wonders to come. (And if Book I of Lord of the Rings had been written/published years after The Return of the King, everybody would be going, "Tom Bombadil? A shortcut to mushrooms? What the hell is this?") Anyway, as I've remarked elsewhere the 3D looks unbelievable, so I'm in.
Mad Men (Season 5)
I think this will be awesome. Season 4 was the best yet, and it left us at a wondrous stopping point. (SPOILER WARNING for Octo, Julie and others who aren't caught up. NOBODY SAY ANYTHING!)
Titanic 3D
I'm not the biggest fan of this movie to begin with (although I was at the time), but, again, the 3D looks unbelievable (at least in the preview I saw).
The Avengers
I think this will be pretty good but not great. Like, you have a blast and pump your fist during the first hour, but by the next day you kind of forget you saw it, you know? It probably won't have the surprising emotional depth of Thor.
Prometheus
I have no idea. It could be brilliant and it could be embarassing crap. Ridley Scott is like that.
The Amazing Spider-Man
I think this looks (no pun intended) totally amazing, but I realize that nobody here is going to agree with me, since it's got two Horrorthon strikes against it: nobody likes reboots (except me) and nobody likes origin stories (except me). But I just saw The Social Network and I think Andrew Garfield is great, and, come on: Emma Stone! Martin Sheen and Sally Field as Uncle Ben and Aunt May!
The Dark Knight Rises
I actually think this is going to be bad. I mean, enough already. I thought Inception was way overrated. I'm tired of Christopher Nolan and what a big deal everything is. Why so serious?
Skyfall
This will kick ass.
The Hobbit
I think this will be the one movie to rule them all, this year.

Comments?

Help me out with my YouTube channel...?

Hey everyone, I've (finally) begun putting my YouTube channel together, using HD versions of my portfolio clips. It's not done yet, but maybe I could get some "views" from you guys? YouTube turns out to be a vastly better solution than continuing to host clips on my own measly server (and who knows, maybe I'll get some views beyond my narrow circle of acquaintanceship). Thanks!

http://www.youtube.com/user/JordanOrlando

(I realize the captions aren't there yet so it can be difficult to ascertain what the hell you're looking at. Sorry about that.)

P.S.: Cal, if you're reading, I refer you to my 2001 trailer and my 2d cartoons.

Sea Monster Still at Large

A few days ago Landshark brought us up to speed on the shocking Monster Attack on RI Beach. For some reason the story didn't receive mainstream media attention (conspiracy perhaps?) so I decided to take matters into my own hands and create this rendition of the creature based on the description from the credible witnesses who survived the ordeal. Hopefully this will assist scientists in identifying and capturing the monster before it terrorizes more innocent Rhode Islanders.

Wes Anderson's new movie trailer!

Moonrise Kingdom




Hee!

Oscar Goldman's desk?

After years of fruitless searching I think I've found images of Oscar Goldman's desk (from The Six Million Dollar Man). When I was a kid, I considered this to be the El Dorado of desks. The only better desk was maybe Commander John Koenig's desk from Space: 1999, but that was impossible to reproduce since it incorporated an advanced computer terminal, and only NASA personnel would have an actual computer (with a screen and a keyboard!) at their desks, and anyway Koenig's desk took up way too much room and would have dominated my bedroom in an awkward way. But Oscar Goldman's desk was perfect and I lusted after it. (Goldman's office -- at the headquarters of the OSI -- also had a recessed phone screen hidden behind a map of the world over the couch, and, out the window, a panoramic view of the Capitol dome from an impossible vantage point near the middle of the Mall, because, damn it, this is Washington -- it's all very serious).

Unfortunately images of Oscar Goldman's office are impossible to come by, largely because the series is tied up in litigation and unavailable on home video. But I think I've found the desk! The above images are from the 1978 Columbo episode "Make Me a Perfect Murder." In the story, this is supposed to be the new office of a television executive (George C. Scott's wife Trish Van Devere, visible in the pictures). The desk even prompts dialogue: Columbo says, "That's a very impressive desk, Ma'am. You could run the world from a desk like that."

Why am I sure this is Oscar Goldman's desk? Because Columbo and The Six Million Dollar Man were contemporaneous Universal Television productions, which means that the prop could have easily been brought from one set at Universal City Studios to another.

Just look at all that crucial equipment you've got lined up in front of you! There's (as far as I can tell) a cassette tape recorder, an intercom, something else, a phone (with six lines), a calculator (not just "four functions" either; it looks like it's got memory keys and maybe one or two stat functions), a Dictaphone, and a multiband AM/FM radio. (I can't identify the leftmost device; the chrome square in the bottom left corner might be a two-axis stick controller like you'd see on a radio-controlled plane's remote control, but beyond that I'm stumped. Any guesses on this or the mysterious central machine are welcome.) It's a great setup, and, if she wants to watch television, it's right there in front of her (Oscar Goldman probably didn't have time for such trivialities). I can't tell you how much I wanted this desk when I was a kid. I acknowledged that I would have to put my typewriter somewhere else, but it would have been totally worth it.

ADDENDUM: Kenner Toys did release a playset of "OSI Headquarters" (intended to be used with their "Oscar Goldman" action figure), but, as you can see, it's not the same:



ADDENDUM II: You'll note, however, that even the playset version has a slightly less impossible view of the Capitol Building as the TV show, since it's showing the East façade, which puts the "OSI" in either the Supreme Court building (no) or in the Senate Office Building (no). But at least he's not sitting at his desk on an enclosed pedestal in the middle of the grassy mall.

The Ballad of Bilbo Baggins

Okay, you've seen it...but it never gets old. I read once that George Lucas started a corporate screening of Star Wars (in some plush L.A. 20th Century Fox screening room with couches and ashtrays) by screening Chuck Jones' "Duck Dodgers in the 24th 1/2 Century" (a Daffy/Porky sci-fi cartoon) as the teaser, "just to break the ice." How great would it be if Peter Jackson put this at the beginning of the 3D/IMAX The Hobbit?