DEBRISLAND.

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This is way too short, but still funny as hell.

This is the part of doing one of these pencil drawings that makes me nervous: laying out the lighting. In the case of a portrait like this one, it’s doubly nerve-inducing, seeing as how not only do you want to have a solid look to the drawing, you also want a strong resemblance.

Right here I’m starting to work in black and sepia tones to define how the light will play on Roy. Here I’m rather happy, since I’ve got a decent resemblance and all.

Here I noticed things have gone a bit awry, as his nose seems more pronounced — mainly due to my deepening the left side of the tip of the nose. His mouth is giving me fits, too — if you’ll noticed int he past posts the lighting source face is rather different from the main reference (b&w) face, and at the mouth is apparently where they differ a good deal. He just looks too prissy.

At sort of a crossroads here, seeing as how while the lighting is nice and solid, the resemblance is still a good ways off (looks more like Woody Harrelson than Rutger Hauer to me). As I work in lighter tones, I’ll play down the prissy mouth — and hopefully will figure out a way to make the face Haueresque. Wish me luck!

I love this.

This was a solid Must Go from the teaser. Don’t know what more to tag on, other than it’s as funny as you think it’s going to be, and of course the obligatory bit about the story and actors involved:

Burn After Reading concerns Laura Litzke (Frances McDormand, Fargo, Darkman, Raising Arizona), an aging single woman who decides some “life changes” are in order. Seizing an opportunity with a lost CD found at the gym she and her co-worker (Brad Pitt, The Assassination of Jesse James By The Coward Robert Ford, Ocean’s movies, Fight Club, Twelve Monkeys, Se7en, Cool World, Johnny Suede, who is the epicenter of comedy in this movie) decide to blackmail the author of said CD (John Malkovich, Eragon, Hithchiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, The Messenger). Yes, hilarity does indeed ensue.

Along for the ride are a conniving George (Michael Clayton, Ocean’s movies, Syriana, Intolerable Cruelty, Confessions of a Dangerous Mind, Solaris, O Brother Where Art Thou, Fail Safe, From Dusk ‘Til Dawn) Clooney and Tilda (Michael Clayton, Narnia movies, Constantine) Swinton, who plays Malkovich’s cold fish doctor wife. Needless to say, with this being a Coen Brothers film, the whole thing is rather complicated, duplicitous and bust out loud funny.

Bottom Line: See the first paragraph.

9/10

When we last left our intrepid anti-hero Roy Batty, he was a decent sketch that was ready for transferral to a matte board, where the final drawing of him would be made. At this point, I flip the sketch over and scrub on it with a pencil:

This is to make the sketch a kind of carbon paper, and allow it to be traced onto the board. So then I flip it back over and tape it to the board, like so:

As you can see I’ve already done the tracing with a ball-point pen (one of the few times I ever use one of those horrid instruments). Pulling the taped sketch away from the board thus reveals:

Err, that should read “highly-digitally tweaked badly-shot photo reveals”, but you can just make out the underdrawing for the final portrait. This whole thing is to save matte board, and to avoid having any graphite mixed in with the colored pencil, which doesn’t look too good. A little drawing with some basic tones to sort out the lighting:

And I’m very happy with the results thus far, but it’s still a long road to hoe. Stay tuned…

My stepsister Susie has been bugging me for as long as I can remember to draw her something, and I had always told her I would, but never have. I believe I’ve mentioned my laziness before, no need to tread upon it again here ;D

Anyways, the week before last we had both caught Blade Runner on TV (the dreadful narrated U.S. Theatrical Cut), and she mentioned yet again that she would like me to do her a portrait of Roy Batty. This time, I had decided, I would actually fulfill my promise.

First up, I needed some references. Firing up Google, I came up with this pic, which provided a nice tight portrait shot, replete with dove and spiked hand:

I didn’t care for the face in that shot though, since 1) he wasn’t connecting with the viewer, which a solid portrait should always do — that’s at least my opinion, and 2) the expression is clearly out of context, and a bit odd. Solution: A better pic of Batty’s face:

Mind you, the lighting doesn’t at all match, but the angle is enough right to work, and it’s a solid look at Rutger Hauer’s Dutch dapperness. Now, let’s see that along with the rest of the first pic:

Hrmm, not bad at all. This will look nice once the lighting is set properly in the drawing, and all the information I need is there. From this I make the sketch, which will eventually find it’s way to the matte board I’ll use for the final colored pencil drawing:

Mgah, not so good. I apparently stretched his head a bit too long, but otherwise, it doesn’t seem to be too far off the mark. Oh well, that’s easily enough fixed:

Rather than redraw the whole thing, I simply cut the paper and bridged the gap, so to say ;D Muuch better, but needs more tweaking:

Pretty much what I wanted, with the squared off area representing the dimensions of the board. The building is an attempt to decide how to approach the background, thinking I may go another route at this point. To be continued…

Was wanting to see this one, being the begrudging fan of Paul W.T.F. Anderson (Resident Evil, Event Horizon) that I am, and it was just what I was expecting: balls-to-the-wall action, and a general exploitation vibe. On that topic, we see more of star Jason (Transporter series, Ghosts of Mars) Statham than I personally expected to — but thanks mainly to the lovely Natalie Martinez (who we don’t get to see nearly as much of) my masculinity ended up escaping unscathed.

Joining Mr. Statham and Ms. Martinez are Tyrese (Transformers) Gibson, Ian (Deadwood) McShane and Joan (Bourne films, Pleasantville, The Ice Storm, Manhunter) Allen, who all are way better doing their jobs than one would expect for a Roger Corman remake. Nothing against the Corman, I respect the man and what he does for genre film, but you know what I mean.

But yeah, the film is about fast cars and slow-mo explosions, and Death Race delivers them in spades. Enough gore and black humor to keep things from getting too melodramatic, although there’s a bit of that, too. The keen ear will also pick up subtle references to Scarface and Aliens, as well. We all know W.T.F. is a fanboy at heart, and you gotta dig him for that.

Bottom Line: Seen the trailer? Expect that and more from the movie. No really.

7/10

Oops, but since my internet connection had been on the fritz more or less over the last couple of weeks (got my lovely cable provider to do so with a new modem, and all is well now) I’ve gotten rather behind on bloggage. Far be it from me to keep you Gentle Readers from my exploits, so I’ll just wrap it up in one big post. You ready? Let’s go!

Nine Inch Nails. Yeah, they were just here in January, but damn. It’s NIN, folks — and the double-dip was worth it. A completely re-vamped light show (with amazing stage dioramas and blinding assaults) and just about every track I wanted them to play (last number: “In This Twilight” — my fave Year Zero track). And I had a better seat this time, so nobody stood in front the entire concert. The band Deer Hunter from Hot-lanta opened the concert with a set that sounded like what would happen if Joshua Tree-era U2 tried their hand at some PiL songs.  All in all a killer show.

Tropic Thunder. Saw this last weekend and it’s yet another one that’s as great as all the reviews say it is. While the pace lulls a bit from time to time, every performance was pitch-perfect, with the standouts being firstly Robert Downey Jr. (feign shock), who seemed to be completely improvising in one scene, which almost made me fall out of my comfortable cinema chair laughing. I dunno if it was what he said, or the looks of genuine confusion his castmates were giving him at the time. Anyways, massive kudos to director/star Ben Stiller for keeping it in, it made the movie for me.  The second was (genuine shock) Tom Cruise, who, under extensive prosthetics and rubber-suitage, was full-on wacko — and marvellous. It’s nice to see that Tom can still put all the trappings aside and go for a great comedic performance. 9/10, go see it.

X-Files: I Want To Believe. Caught this the week before last, and honestly didn’t expect much from it. I was glad to be surprised. Naught an alien in sight, but a warm and human study of our favorite ex-FBI agents, and the aftermath of their lives and careers. With a glimmer of the past, and some more familiar faces (yes, Skinner is in it — I was gonna be super-pissed if he wasn’t), the movie moves at a leisurely pace and features some really sure shots from director and series creator Chris Carter. Not really a summer movie, though — this one should’ve been shown a few months from now, when things slow down. 7/10 nonetheless, really nice note on the show and the possible future.

Okay, thinking that’s got everything up to date for now — got Death Race to see tomorrow, and I’m currently spooging over Call of Duty 4 at the moment. Probably the prettiest carnage I’ve seen, outside of Crysis, really. But more about that later.

I have to admit it — I only entertained a thought about seeing this movie. Most comedies aren’t my cup of tea (I usually find really bad horror flicks to be immensely funnier — without all the effort), but I had borrowed a copy of Superbad and it cracked me up bad (favorite scene: Michael Cera singing “These Eyes” to a roomfull of cokeheads). So the thought was there, but so was “but ALL these other movies are out too (and I still want to see The Dark Knight again)!” I stood at the crossroads.

Enter one free pass for a sneak preview. Mind officially changed.

Looking back, I would’ve paid for the ticket. Pineapple Express is basically the 21st century update (and not much of one, at that) of the standard Cheech & Chong movie, if it were “presented” by Quentin Tarantino. Instead of the aformentioned duo are Seth (Horton Hears a Who! Superbad, Undeclared) Rogen and James (Spider-Man) Franco, who have a instant (and sometimes creepy — fans of Ren & Stimpy may note what I’m talking about) chemistry. Along for the ride is Danny McBride ( I am a POET), but the film is really about Rogen and Franco and their torrid friendship, and the hurdles that they face. Together.

Yes, there is drug-humor, yes, there is bad language, but there’s also a great deal of improbable action (which in itself is both terribly violent and hilarious, although many critics seem to have missed the joke) — not to mention Ed (Arrested Development, Kingdom Hospital) Begley Jr. on a shotgun rampage and Gary (Harvey Birdman) Cole being a whiny badass (yes, he manages to pull it off).

Bottom Line: It’s really really funny. Even if you’re not a stoner you’ll enjoy it.

8/10

Got to see this one in IMAX, and honestly — I wasn’t that impressed. With the IMAX, that is. About the movie, read below. But It basically was a really big screen, which made the usually inconsequential dust bunnies the size of cows as they have little epilectic fits across the screen. And the music mix was too fucking loud. There were some scenes where it basically drowned out the dialogue. It was annoying. Give me a normal, lower-priced digital screen - - that is, unless its Harry Potter in 3D (which I’ve already made plans to go see). I am a schmuck.

Now, for the movie at hand. Go read all those reviews about it being so amazingly awesome and a truckload of win — because it is. This is one of those cases where all the basic mechanics of a “modern” film — plot, character, action, suspense, and all the technical ends all work superfluously (not bearing the IMAX gripes, above). You know how there are kickass scenes and then those scenes where the characters blah-blah-blah, right? Well even the blah-blah stuff rocked because you gave a shit about what was being said, and by who. There isn’t a single bit of time wasted in the whole two and a half hours. No, really.

Of course the late Heath Ledger did an awesome job as the Joker. The character was so perfect in my eyes that yes, I was rooting for him several times. As conniving as Hannibal Lecter, and as sardonic as Bale’s Patrick Bateman — and waay funnier than either of them. For what basically amounted to the glue that held the brickwork of the movie together, he more than served his purpose and defined the character to the utmost.

That brickwork includes the rock-solid performances of Christian (The Prestige, The New World, American Psycho) Bale, Gary (Harry Potter, The Fifth Element, Hannibal, Immortal Beloved, The Professional, Bram Stoker’s Dracula) Oldman, Michael (The Presitge, Children of Men, Dressed to Kill, Harry and Walter Go To New York, The Man Who Would Be King) Caine, Morgan (Dreamcatcher, Se7en) Freeman, Maggie (Confessions of a Dangerous Mind, Secretary, Donnie Darko) Gyllenhaal and Aaron Eckhart. Absolutely top-notch performances by an ensemble devoted to not only telling a story but doing their best to define it as well.

And that’s what The Dark Knight does, even better than the first film — even better than any other “comic-book hero” movie out there (yes, including the Spider-Man movies). It’s the definitive Batman, and defines itself as it’s own organism, apart from its beginnings and the many other TV and movie equivalents — as a reality and sense of consequence on its own terms. Yeah, those are high-falutin’ words when talking about a summer blockbuster, and yeah the movie isn’t really worth much more of that sort of analytical talk, but it’s the best way I could put the depth the film has. All the characters have well-thought out philosophies, not just a couple of sentences to summarize their function in the plot. Christoper Nolan’s Batman is more about what I always thought Batman should be about — an all-too human hero. A man who is subject to ignorance, emotion and weakness. Not like Superman, who has no real contact with human failings, or Spider-Man, who is too busy putting out smarmy one-liners (not that some or most of those aren’t funny). Those things are touched upon in Raimi’s films, but not nearly as wholesale as in Nolan’s. His Batman is my Batman, the one I’ve always thought could exist but never really had. And I’ll always root for him over the Joker, at the end.

Bottom Line: What? You haven’t seen it yet???

10/10