The Top 10 TEDTalks of all time, as of June 2008.

All of our tools are based right in your browser or as downloadable AIR applications. Our tools all communicate and relate to each other. To illustrate an example: You can import a swatch from Toucan into Phoenix, while doing complex bitmap processing of a 3D object developed in Hummingbird. Finally, you can take your finished artwork and lay it out in Owl as the DVD artwork for a music CD you and your friends put together in Roc and Myna and offer it for sale in our marketplace, Hawk.

New York based Worth1000, LLC, have created (and are still developing) a  suite of Internet based creative applications. Intended to allow online collaboration between creative types as well as providing a useful alternative if your away from your desktop suite.

While its not going to be able to replace something like adobe suite for now (who knows what the future holds for Internet based applications) its certainly very impressive. With more and more people working away from the office it could prove really useful. 

Its in beta at the moment so if you want to try it sign up for and invitation on the site.

Teaser trailer for Simon Hunter's Mutant Chronicles which stars Thomas Jane as Major Mitch Hunter a 23rd century soldier fighting against an army of underworld NecroMutants.

www.mutantchroniclesthemovie.com

We’re working on some new Analog Medium T-shirts. And these shirts are all about cheap. We’re making them as cheap as we can by skimping on layout, graphics, and even originality.

... Analog Medium: Wolfman’s Got Nards / RELAX

Poster for the coens brothers comedy Burn After Reading

MrDisgusting posted this over at bloody-disgusting.com and its really is a very cool bit of claymation. From youtube user 'takena' comes this excellent claymation short about a faithful maid and flesh munching zombies.

You can check out takena's website Here 

Mary Henry (Candace Hillingoss) miraculously appears from what should have been her watery grave as the sole survivor of a car accident only to be plagued by visions of a man who is apparently stalking her.

It’s hard sometimes in our age when you get so used to the amazing sights and the sounds and the colours to dip back into an age of cinema long gone and never to return. But when you do you know you did right. And if you wonder about it long enough you can practically see the air go wavy and hazy until you’re cross-legged on the living room floor right in front of the one TV ready for the late night chiller you can watch because your big sis is necking with her boyfriend at the drive-in and your babysitter’s happy to leave you alone because her football jock boyfriend’s snuck round for some fun.* In any other horror situation this kind of behaviour would be punishable by, oh, lets say stabbing, but this is 1962 and we’re going to watch the TV chiller – it’s Carnival of Souls tonight. Well, it is Fright Night, and after all, this is long before anyone could ever dream Asian cinema would go so nutty, why we don’t even know they make movies! So, gather round and let’s begin…
And just like an old episode of The Twilight Zone this black and white tale of death diversion is a most eerie interlude to our multi-coloured modern viewing. When Mary starts to see her ghoulish apparition, it isn’t difficult to imagine the outcome of this particular chiller, particularly when, if we zip back to the present day for just a sec, we’ve become so used to these creepy tales; the old Twilight Zones, the new ones, Tales from the Darkside], Tales from the Crypt, The Outer Limits, etc, etc. We’ve been spoilt for choice over terrifying tales and have learned what to expect from their outcome.

So Carnival of Souls isn’t necessarily about a twist ending. Why, I hear you ask, whatever is it about then? Well, that is part of it, the nostalgic tale of reckless American youth from an era when horror meant not a drop of blood spilt, where the story was more nightmarish than horrible, but that isn’t the reason why this film is far superior to many other horrors then or now. Carnival of Souls is the kind of rare film that surprises you so much that after you’ve had a good think about it you want to watch it again, to experience again this haunting spell director Herk Harvey has produced before your very eyes. With only the bare minimum of special effects and simple but effective make-up, it is Harvey’s direction which brings this frightening tale to life. With the almost constant organ score and minimal dialogue this film plays very much like a silent movie, coupled with the expressionist style it’s obvious this film was as influenced as it would come to be influential itself. There is certainly homage to some of the silent screen’s classics, most overtly Nosferatu. But there is also evidence of the surrealism which was to be so influential in turn on so many countless other films and directors, the kind of small town surrealism achieved by the suspension of reality for just a fraction of a second too long too feel quite right.
However, it’s not only Harvey’s expert direction but also Hillingoss’s unique performance of a uniquely fascinating character which makes this film so enthralling. Like a blonde Audrey Hepburn she graces the screen with all the ladylike reserved elegance befitting a star of the early 60’s. Though Mary is no Holly Golighlty. She doesn’t drink, isn’t really interested in men and, horror of all horrors, only plays the organ in church because it’s her job. Like the woman who wasn’t there, there is a more ethereal quality to Mary then any of her spooky visions, and this is what gives this strange tale its subtle sadness. It isn’t actually the story which is so bleak but the peculiar figure of Mary herself who, in an age where women were the pinnacle of conformity, seems completely unable to integrate herself into society, and so Harvey’s scenes of total isolation are only really an exaggeration of her whole life’s feelings. As Mary says, she thinks she’s always been that way.
…And so wavy hazy air and back to the present day. Have we got the surround sound back? Check. Digitally remastered picture? Check. Extreme violence? Check. But did we enjoy our trip back in time, where Herk Harvey’s beautiful camera work told us a story of light and shadows, and Candace Hillingoss’s amazing big eyeballs of terror performed their own version of dialogue? We most certainly did, and we’d like to pretend it’s always been that way.

An amazingly creative and artistic piece of horror history. Uniquely frightening and beautiful in equal measure, 9/10

*Please note any nostalgic references to American youth are purely fictional, we never had this much fun over here.

9(Nine) Souls starts out with 10 men sharing a prison cell, as they eat a meal in the cell one of the men becomes increasingly animated and seems to have lost his mind. As he is dragged from the cell he shouts the whereabouts of a hidden treasure to the others.

One of the 9 remaining prisoners is a famous jail breaker and finds a way for them to get out. As the men make a dash for freedom having emerged from a manhole, presumably having crawled through the sewers in their escape, the film's hip music comes in and the director Toshiaki Toyoda (Blue Spring, Pornostar) freeze frames on each of the nine individuals. In the momentary freezes, subtitles announce each characters name, the crime he committed, and the time he was serving in prison. Not only is this a cool scene but it also serves the dual purpose of introducing us to the nine leads and giving us a glimpse of their back stories, but also lets us know that to a man these people have committed a range of pretty despicable acts. By choosing characters who have committed acts of terror, murder of family members and friends, hardcore pornographers and alike Toyoda instantly robs the audience of the classic hero or even anti hero such as the cool Yakuza gangster to route for. It is clear that he is prepared to work to make you feel any kind of empathy or understanding of his characters. To add to this one of the first acts of freedom some of the men indulge in is the sodomising of a ram, the only qualm they seem to have with this is the fact it’s male and even then this is quickly dismissed as a problem.

One of the strange things about this tale of men escaping prison is the fact they stick together on escaping rather than splitting up and there for giving each individual more chance of evading capture, in the interviews with the director on the DVD he says this is based on a real life break he heard about in Texas where the escapees did just that. In the movie the plot device used is that of the treasure they are searching for known as the "key to the universe" which holds them together.

The escapees relieve a man who foolishly picks up nine men at night of his battered old red van and it is this vehicle that they spend the majority of the movie travelling across Japan in search of there prize and revealing more about there own back storeys and the many facets of their characters.

When I review films I try to avoid the classic blow by blow style which basically turns out to be more of a synopsis of the films plot. Not that there is anything wrong with that, in fact I guess that’s what some people look for, but I prefer to convey the feeling and style of the film and give an idea of why I feel it is to be sought out or avoided. In the case of a complex drama such as this describing the films feel is a little more difficult than say a bloody horror or exciting action film. 9 Souls feels surreal, but is not quite surrealism for the most part its what I would describe as “stylised normality.” Acts that seem somewhat surreal to us are less so when you consider just who these men are and how long they have been behind bars. If there is such thing as a normal person, then even he or she would be warped by sentences stretching well over a decade behind bars away from society and these guys by the acts they had already committed started off pretty far from normal in the first place. Nine Souls is a very brave, very hip, very well made and exceedingly clever drama which draws you in minute by minute. Its one of those movies that studies human nature without judging it, it just presents the story, shows us the characters and then with only the aid of ludicrously cool, but very fitting music and great direction lets us make up our own minds about that which we are seeing. The simple tale of prisoners on the run, turns into one of the best observations of the “Human Condition” I have ever seen, the film explores relationships, between the men, their past, the friends their families and with the world. It looks at the idea of freedom, what it is, if it exists and what it really means. It does not try to answer any of the questions it raises as that would take it into the realms of pretentiousness and it is clear Toyoda has no interest in going there. The questions raised are just for the audience to think over either as little or as much as they wish. The acting in this movie is first rate, there is no weak link among the nine leads each of them bringing a different and wonderful presence to the movie. This movie takes us on a joyride through the full spectrum of human emotion being equally happy as it is sad, comic as it is tragic, surreal as it is normal and so on. Toshiaki Toyoda 9 souls is not quite a masterpiece, but it’s close and I for one think there are some very great movies yet to come from this director.

To Sum up, 9 Souls is a bit like a beautiful river, if you look at the surface at an angle you can just take in the beauty of the river it self, but if you wish you can choose to look directly into the water and gaze at the miracles of life occurring beneath the surface.

America’s Dumbest Family embark on a disastrous house swap holiday where they encounter creatures whose master plan is to turn them into vegetables and eat them.

Troll 2; it’s not a sequel and there aren’t any trolls in it. No, really. And yes you should take that as a measure of the overall quality of this film. Totally unrelated to the original and no doubt superior Troll, Troll 2 actually features goblins with the dietary requirements of vegetarians who have honed their favourite meal to vegetables which are both man in size and man in origin. The trouble is, only Joshua, youngest of the Dumb family, knows their secret, for the cunning of these creatures is plenty as they masquerade as humans with a great sense of hospitality who, consequences abound, inhabit the town of Nilbog, which just happens to be the family’s holiday destination. So it is left to Joshua to save both his family and presumably mankind from becoming goblin fodder, which he does with the help of his dead Granddad and a bologna sandwich (a reference to the film in general, or just the hammy acting?)

I don’t know what is more disturbing about this film, the fact that it was ever made or the fact that it was made in 1990. Currently occupying position number 8 in the IMDB’s bottom 100 films poll and with a user rating of 1.8, this film belongs to the ‘so bad it’s good’ school of filmmaking. Despite all the actors being American and it actually being filmed in America, this is an Italian film, which may explain a few things (those guys sure made some weird crap didn’t they?) This film is so bad it’s quite unbelievable, though it is hugely entertaining for this very reason. This is definitely one of the best worst films I’ve ever seen; the acting is diabolical, the dialogue quite shockingly bad (there are so many superbly bad lines but my favourite has to be ‘you just pissed on hospitality’), terrible editing (I’m not really one for noticing continuity errors but there are some shockers here), crap effects (an awful lot of green poster paint and not a lot else) and costumes (potato sacks and masks no self respecting trick or treater would venture out in) , and just plain old peculiar story ideas (lust among popcorn being just one of them.)

Troll 2 is so worth a watch if, like me, you’re partial to really bad films and they make you laugh when you know they’re not supposed to. It seems to be generating a bit of a cult following theses days which is good to see because this film shouldn’t be written off as rubbish, there’s too much unintentional entertainment value to be had here. Although there were times during this peculiarly anti-vegetarian film when I did wonder if it was actually meant as a bit of a joke, or can it really be that bad? So, is it a joke on us or another nail in the Italian filmmaking coffin? I know where I stand on that one.

This is a tricky one to rate as it makes no contribution to filmmaking whatsoever in the usual sense, so in that respect it’d probably be ½/10. As sheer entertainment value goes I’d give it 8/10. If you come across a cheap copy bag yourself one and I promise you’ll have a laugh.

I’ve recently discovered upcoming New York based designer Ardistia Dwiasri and have a lot of love for pieces from her Fall/Winter 2007 and Spring/Summer 2007 collections.

Ardistia is “all about self indulgence and treats, summarising the essence of a women’s inner strength, beauty and desire, drawing on confidence from the whimisical secret detail in every piece of clothing”.

I don’t know about all that but I am definitely a fan of her sharp, unique silhouettes, particularly the garbadine jackets with the extensive metal button detailing.

Having a day job (unfortunately) that requires me to dress like I mean business, I would love to have some of her tailored jackets to add a unique yet still professional element to my ‘workwear’ wardrobe.