Yet another Lulu coupon

I missed the 25% off coupon from Christmas Day, but here's another:

Enter coupon code WINTER305 at checkout and receive 25% off your book order. The maximum savings for this coupon is $50. Offer good towards print costs only - shipping and tax amounts are excluded. You can only use the code once per account, and you can't use this coupon in combination with other coupon codes. This great offer ends on January, 5 2011 at 11:59 PM.

10 Unconventional Winter Holiday Movies (link)

If you want to watch a Christmas movie, but you are tired of the more traditional fare, Wired Magazine's GeekDad blog posted a link to ten unconventional holiday movies -- titles like Die Hard and Batman Returns. I may have to dig up my VHS copy of the MST3K version of Santa Claus Conquers the Martians.

Also, in the spirit of the holidays, take a look at a model of Serenity... in gingerbread.

Links of the Week

Some links that I found interesting in the past two weeks:

Dungeons & Dragons alignments in the Doctor Who universe.

Dungeons & Dragons alignments in the Batman universe.

An Apple engineer recreates the functions of the Antikythera Mechanism... out of Lego.

The best tic-tac-toe moves for any situation.

The evolution of human flight in film.

21 scandalous secrets revealed on WookieLeaks.

Equation: Formula for Calculating a Skycraper’s Sway (and the pendulum that keeps it in place).

Cheap DIY Camera Systems Perform Amazing Photographic Feats.

Coding for the masses.

The flight manual for the Harrier Jump Jet.

The 1982 Tron Holiday Special.

Night-time photos of Earth from the International Space Station.

More incredible photos from the ISS, including some of the most inspiring... and most creepy.

A year-end coupon code from Lulu.com

Another coupon code was sent out from Lulu this week, this time for 20% off an order. The code is REMARKABLEYEAR305 and it expires on December 31, 2010 at 11:59 PM EST. I might try to get the new issue of Fight On! or one of the Robert E. Howard publications that I haven't picked up yet.

Various opinions on net neutrality

I try to avoid writing about political issues on this blog. This should be a space to get away from that and talk about games, movies and other fun things. The idea behind what is known as "net neutrality" shouldn't be a political issue but it has become one.

For better or worse, the internet is an important part of our lives, and if you are interested in this medium (since you are reading this blog, I assume that you are) you owe it to yourself to research this issue and the ramifications.

This has been a hot story this week due to the upcoming FCC vote and the Comcast-Netflix conflict. Here are a few recent stories:

FCC Announces Net Neutrality Order for December Meeting
http://www.wired.com/epicenter/2010/12/net-neutrality-order/

Comcast Busted: New Tolls for Netflix Aren't All You Should Worry About
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/timothy-karr/comcast-busted-new-tolls-_b_789786.html

FCC chief backs some rationing of Internet traffic
http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20101201/media_nm/us_fcc_netneutrality

Julius Genachowski, Chairman, Federal Communications Commission: Preserving a Free and Open Internet
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/julius-genachowski/preserving-a-free-and-ope_b_790553.html

FCC Chairman Announces Fake Net Neutrality Proposal
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/josh-silver/fcc-chairman-announces-fa_b_790307.html

Leslie Nielsen, RIP

We were saddened to hear the news late Sunday night that actor Leslie Nielsen had passed away.

I first knew of him as a serious actor, in The Poseidon Adventure, Disney's The Swamp Fox and especially Forbidden Planet (which Mrs. Kaiju saw for the first time last night).




Then in 1980, Airplane was released... My family and I used to watch that all the time, on broadcast and cable TV. It was one of the first VHS tapes we ever purchased, along with Raiders of the Lost Ark.

It's difficult to explain exactly how much influence Airplane had on comedy in the movies, and how important it was in the forming the sense of humor of a generation. I consider it one of the top comedy films ever, right alongside Blazing Saddles, and much of that reputation is because of Mr. Nielsen's performance.

I remember watching his TV series Police Squad! when it first aired, and I recall seeing the two VHS tapes (three episodes each) in the local Camelot Music record store several years later but I never got them. When DVD arrived I hoped for an eventual release of the series on that format, which happened in 2006. If you enjoy The Naked Gun, it's worth tracking this disc down.

I liked the first Naked Gun movie, but didn't care for the other two. I must admit that I haven't seen much of Mr. Nielsen's later work past Dracula: Dead and Loving It, in movies like Spy Hard, Mr. Magoo and the Scary Movie series.

The reaction on the 'net has been interesting. Many condolences and thanks, as is usual for a celebrity who has died, but this time I've seen repeated lines from Airplane or The Naked Gun used in Facebook statuses, Tweets, and article comments. I don't see it as being disrespectful; on the contrary, I think it's a testament to the sense of humor that he had, and that many, many people share, and how much his work has meant to so many. I don't believe that he would have been offended, in fact it's probably the sort of tribute he would have loved.

This clip from Monday's NBC Nightly News is one of the best tributes in the media so far:

Frank: It's the same old story. Boy finds girl, boy loses girl, girl finds boy, boy forgets girl, boy remembers girl, girl dies in a tragic blimp accident over the Orange Bowl on New Year's Day.

Jane: Goodyear?

Frank: No, the worst.

Thanks for all the laughs, Mr. Nielsen.

Cyber Monday deal from Lulu.com

Another coupon code from Lulu.com, good only until midnight tonight -- 25% off your order using code CYBER305.

 

http://www.lulu.com/static/112910_CYBER305wv.html

 

 

Ingrid Pitt, RIP

While checking the Doctor Who News Page yesterday, I saw the news that Ingrid Pitt had passed away. She had just turned 73 on Sunday. For the generations that grew up watching horror films in the 1960s and 70s, she became as iconic -- and as identified with the British horror of Hammer and Amicus Studios -- as Lee's Dracula or Cushing's Frankenstein.

Her real life story was as remarkable as any movie. Born in Poland, her father German and her mother Jewish, she and her family were held in a concentration camp. She survived the war, married an American soldier in the 1950s and moved to America, and worked as a waitress while trying out for parts as an actress.

Her film debut came as a minor role in Doctor Zhivago. Soon after, she had a speaking role opposite Richard Burton and Clint Eastwood in Where Eagles Dare.

In the late 1960s and early 70s, Hammer Studios (and others) tried to press the easing censorship rules by adding more sex appeal to their Gothic horrors. Ms. Pitt's first breakout part in the horror field was The Vampire Lovers (1970, directed by Roy Ward Baker, who died in October). She later starred in Hammer's Countess Dracula.

Aside from her famous horror film roles, she also appeared in many other movies and television programs (twice on Doctor Who) in the UK and the US. She formed a successful touring theater company, and wrote a number of fiction and non-fiction books, magazine articles, screenplays, and a weekly column at Den of Geek.

I don't remember which film I first saw her in. It was probably Where Eagles Dare. Rather than any one particular role, I will continue to remember Ms. Pitt mainly as being representative of that era of movie-making, when corseted vampires crept about through Gothic landscapes and spoke the Queen's English with the slightest Eastern European accent. Thank you, Ms. Pitt.

Our cat Java does her best Ingrid Pitt impersonation.

A quick Hammer DVD List update

My main interest regarding England's Hammer Studios has always been their horror output, and that was the focus of the Region 1 DVD list. I've since added others, including their suspense films and Robin Hood movies, to name a few examples.

The latest update adds VCI's great double-feature film noir sets, and also The Old Dark House. I did not realize that it was on the William Castle Collection set.

The American remake of Let the Right One In is also included, as it was released by the "new" Hammer Productions. It's due on DVD and Blu-ray in February.

Delays

Various real-world responsibilities have keep me from posting recently. Hopefully there will be new posts here this week.

The Green Slime: a DVD review

I made some brief comments about The Green Slime and the Warner Archive program in an earlier post when the title was first announced. We received the new DVD last Tuesday and watched it that night.


In the future, Commander Jack Rankin (Robert Horton) is called back from retirement. A rogue asteroid is on a collision course with Earth, and Rankin is charged with leading a team of astronauts to set charges and destroy the asteroid. The staging for the mission takes place at Space Station Gamma III, under the command of Rankin's old friend Commander Vince Elliot (Richard Jaeckel), who is now engaged to the station's doctor -- and Rankin's old flame -- Dr. Lisa Benson (Luciana Paluzzi). This love triangle plays out against a backdrop that includes the tense but successful mission to the asteroid, and shortly thereafter the discovery that something was brought back attached to a space suit...


The Green Slime was a co-production between American, Italian and Japanese studios: MGM, RAM Films and Toei. It is often considered as part of the "Gamma" films, including the Italian science fiction films War of the Planets and Wild, Wild Planet. Reportedly, MGM gathered together the actors, while Toei offered the studio, crew, set construction and special effects. Although filmed in Japan, the entire cast was foreign actors. Background extras were recruited from the US Air Force base near Tokyo.


This is important for the feel of the film, as it has a definite sense of a military organization and mission. In this way it is in the same tradition of "quasi-military force" science fiction as Forbidden Planet and Star Trek. Robert Horton was best known for Westerns, but Richard Jaeckel distinguished himself the year before as Lee Marvin's second-in-command Sergeant Bowren in The Dirty Dozen.


Kinji Fukasaku was known as a dependable director. For the majority of his career he worked at Toei Studios directing yakuza films. Although he delivered what the studios expected, he was still able to innovate and express his own ideas through his films. For The Green Slime, he wanted to deliver a Vietnam-era parable, about a nebulous fight against an enemy that could not be contained or controlled. Some of that shows through, but the ongoing struggle between the producers and the director over scheduling and costs held back the extremes of Fukasaku's vision. Five years later, he would direct the first in a series of films based on the memoir of a Hiroshima yakuza boss, and would be critically acclaimed around the world: Battle Without Honor and Humanity.


What we do find as a result of this international collaboration is a claustrophobic, paranoid, and almost Lovecraftian struggle against a foe that does not stop, that takes on energy from its surroundings and the very weapons used against it to reproduce.


Rankin and Elliot are fighting over Dr. Benson, but also fighting for command of the situation on the station -- literally and metaphorically. There are spacious areas on board the station (see the celebration scene), but we're still in an enclosed and self-contained space with nowhere to run. Even the sickbay isn't safe.


The hunting of the Slime through the dark and empty corridors of Gamma III is a precursor of military sci-fi and horror films like Alien, Aliens, and The Thing. The shots of the aliens swarming on the outside of the station and trying to break into the docking bay are reminiscent of the Martians in the dream recording from Quatermass and the Pit -- a nameless multitude marching on.


Considering the budgets that were available to films of this era, the special effects are quite good. The model work is excellent. The ship models are filmed against a starfield backdrop which gives it a slightly less-than-realistic feeling, but this technique also avoids the problem with matte lines that plague effects work from other contemporary films. The sets are expansive and spacious. It's remarkable to think that all of the locations were built for the film.


The master used for the DVD is a newly-created anamorphic 2.35:1 master scanned from a "beautiful" inter-positive print. For those of us who have only ever seen the movie on cable TV or videotape, the most obvious change is the widescreen presentation. Watching in the proper aspect ratio lets us see so much more of the frame, and therefore more of the action. It's still claustrophobic at the right times, but now it isn't the artificial 4:3 format that causes it.


Colors on the DVD are bright and good, and the blacks deep, so that details in shadow are still visible. Good examples are the service tunnel and darkened corridor sequences. The colors don't pop quite as much as I expected, but still comparable to other similar films of this era. Some speckles are noticeable, along with the occasional scratch in the film, but nothing glaring. The only odd film effects are two quick shots of astronauts outside the station, where the matte effect seen at DVD-resolution levels gives the actors a greenish glow. Overall, this is, without a doubt, the best that the movie has looked since the theatrical release.


The audio track is Dolby Digital mono. No special features are included. I understand that extra features mean additional expenses, although a good print of the trailer would have been a great treat.

I noticed something interesting when viewing this again for the first time in at least ten years: I felt sorry for the alien creatures. Their home asteroid was destroyed, some of their cells were carried to a strange and alien environment, and they just tried to survive and reproduce according to their instincts.

Any fan of Japanese science-fiction/fantasy films would enjoy The Green Slime. The film sits at the intersection of several noteworthy and historic trends. It's part of the career of an internationally-famous and inventive director. It was one of the first major international film co-productions. The effects were created by former employees of Toho Studios and Eiji Tsuburaya's effects crew. The theme song of the American version was written by the composer of the music for Barbarella and Happy Days. It deserves to be part of any cult movie fan's collection.


War of the Planets and Wild, Wild Planet are also new releases from the Warner Archive. I haven't seen either one before, but I definitely plan to pick them up in the future.

Upcoming posts

I received my DVD of The Green Slime in the mail yesterday, and Mrs. Kaiju and I watched it last night. Unfortunately, I won't be able to post a proper review until the weekend.

Other future postings will include more upcoming DVD news, a look at the "Red Box" D&D 4th edition starter set, and an overview of the state of manufactured-on-demand DVD releases from the major studios.

A Halloween treat from Lulu.com

If you've been thinking about ordering a print-on-demand game (or book, or any other items) from Lulu.com, they just released two coupon codes valid this weekend only. From the announcement email:

Enter coupon code TRICK305 at checkout and receive 20% off your order. The maximum savings for this offer is $100. Enter coupon code TREAT305 at checkout and receive 25% off your order of $500 or more. The maximum savings for this offer is $500. Sorry, but these offers are only valid in US dollars and cannot be applied to previous orders. You can only use these codes once per account, and unfortunately you can't use these coupons in combination with other coupon codes. These great offers expire on November 1, 2010 at 11:59 PM...

15 games, 15 minutes

Following along with the gaming blog meme "15 Games in 15 Minutes", which I first spotted at Age of Ravens and later at Grognardia.

The rules: Don't take too long to think about it. Fifteen games you've played that will always stick with you. List the first 15 you can recall in no more than 15 minutes.

My list:

1. Dungeons & Dragons (1e, Mentzer Basic/Expert)
2. Call of Cthulhu (particularly 4th and 5th ed.)
3. Star Frontiers
4. Warhammer 40,000
5. GURPS (3rd ed.)
   
6. The Bard's Tale II (for the Amiga!)
7. TIE Fighter (PC)
   
8. Pitfall (Atari 2600)
9. Villains and Vigilantes
   
10. James Bond 007
11. Starcraft (PC)
12. Marvel Super Heroes (TSR, FASERIP)
13. Rolemaster
14. Tekken 2/3, Soul Caliber (PS2)
15. Tomb Raider (PS2)

Mostly tabletop gaming, but with a mix of console and computer games. The games in this list have meaning for me because they each could represent a particular stage in my (gaming) life. Also, these might represent different styles of play or design philosophy.

Happy Birthday, Bela Lugosi

The actor famous for his portrayal of Dracula was born 128 years ago today.

"Bela, how do you do that?"
"You must be double-jointed. And you must be Hungarian."

Jazz Age Culture for Call of Cthulhu players

Jazz Age Culture, parts I, II, and the Writers page, is a scholarly resource on 1920s popular culture, focused specifically on the United States. Aside from a few short articles, most of the site is a collection of links to other 1920s resources on the web loosely grouped by subject. Much of the information linked here would be of interest to Cthulhu 1920s players, including fashion, movies, gangsters, music, technology and inventions of the time. Where else would you find The Unofficial Tommy Gun Page? It is an excellent resource for historical research for both Keepers and players.

Update: The Jazz Age Culture pages have been moved to another site.

Vampire Circus release date

The Digital Bits is reporting that the release date for the Vampire Circus Blu-ray/DVD combo is December 14th. Of course, you can check it out right now through Instant Netflix.

The Red Box Diaries at The Escapist

This "escaped" me earlier -- about three weeks ago The Escapist Magazine had an issue devoted to the influence of Dungeons & Dragons on the videogame industry, timed to coincide with the release of the new "Red Box" 4th edition Starter Set. Articles in this issue include the story of a veteran computer gamer's first try at a tabletop role-playing game, and a look at the new Starter Set with Mike Mearls, who is now the full D&D manager at Wizards of the Coast.

I purchased the new "Red Box" the week it was released, partially for nostalgic reasons and partially with the hope that it would make a good introduction to 4e. I have mixed feelings on both counts which I'll share in a future posting.

Hammer horrors and others this month on Turner Classic Movies

Continuing the theme of Halloween movies, I just found out yesterday that Turner Classic Movies is showing Hammer films each Friday night this month. My apologies for not noticing earlier; the Dracula films were on October 1st. Check the link above for the main article and the movie listing.

Take a look at the rest of the schedule for more non-Hammer monster and suspense films throughout October, especially the three days of the Halloween weekend. Universal horrors from the '30s and '40s with Lionel Atwill, Boris Karloff or Bela Lugosi on Friday and Sunday, a block of William Castle films on Saturday, and Vincent Price and haunted house movies on Halloween itself.

For your Instant Netflix viewing pleasure...

The cool chill of autumn is in the air, which means that October is here. For me the tenth month has always meant Halloween and, perhaps more importantly, monster movies.

Here is a list of Showa-era Godzilla and Toho kaiju films that have been added recently to Instant Streaming Netflix:

Rodan (1956)
Frankenstein Conquers the World (1965)
War of the Gargantuas (1966)
Godzilla vs. Mothra (1964)
Ghidorah: The Three Headed Monster (1964)
Terror of Mechagodzilla (1975)
Godzilla's Revenge (1969)

Also, from this thread at the Mobius Home Video Forum, a partial list of other horror and monster movies newly-added to Instant Netflix:

COUNT YORGA, VAMPIRE (1970)
THE RETURN OF COUNT YORGA (1971)
VAMPIRE CIRCUS (1972)
HANDS OF THE RIPPER (1971)
IT! THE TERROR FROM BEYOND SPACE (1958)
THE MONSTER THAT CHALLENGED THE WORLD (1957)
THE FOOD OF THE GODS (1976)
EMPIRE OF THE ANTS (1977)
TENTACLES (1977)
OCTAMAN (1971)
FUTUREWORLD (1976)
YONGARY, MONSTER FROM THE DEEP (1967)
THE VAMPIRE LOVERS (1970)
SOMETIMES THEY COME BACK (1991)
THE RETURN OF DRACULA (1958)
THE RAVEN (1963)
THE TOMB OF LIGEIA (1964)
THE LAST MAN ON EARTH (1964)
THE COMEDY OF TERRORS (1964)
DR. PHIBES RISES AGAIN (1972)
TALES OF TERROR (1962)
WITCHFINDER GENERAL (1968)
THE AMITYVILLE HORROR (1976)
AMITYVILLE II: THE POSSESSION (1982)
AMITYVILLE 3D (1983)
TRANCERS 2: THE RETURN OF JACK DETH (1990)
ZONE TROOPERS (1985)
NIGHT DRIVE (1971)
AMOK TRAIN (1989)
GHOST WARRIOR (1986)
OPEN HOUSE (1987)
THE FALLING (1987)
THE IMMORTALIZER (1989)
THE VIDEO DEAD (1987)
VICIOUS LIPS (1987)
ROCKULA (1990)
NEW YEAR'S EVIL (1980)
DR. HECKYL AND MR. HYPE (1980)
DERANGED (1974)
CRAWLSPACE (1986)
CULT OF THE DAMNED (1969)
THE CRIMSON CULT (1968)
THE HAUNTING IN CONNECTICUT (2009)
CATACOMBS (2006)
SHAOLIN VS. EVIL DEAD (2004)
SHAOLIN VS. EVIL DEAD: ULTIMATE POWER (2006)
THE VAMPIRE (1957)
NEANDERTHAL MAN (1953)
THE TOMB (1986)
BLACK SABBATH (1963)
THE ANGRY RED PLANET (1959)
QUEEN OF BLOOD (1966)
THE BEAST WITHIN (1982)
ISLAND OF DR. MOREAU: DIRECTOR'S CUT (1977)
INVASION OF THE BODY SNATCHERS (1977)
SQUIRM (1976)
VAMPIRE'S KISS (1989)
COUNTESS DRACULA (1971)
DIE MONSTER DIE! (1965)
THE INCREDIBLE MELTING MAN (1977)
FLOWERS IN THE ATTIC (1987)
CARRIE (1976)
THE DEAD HATE THE LIVING (2000)
LASERBLAST (1978)
LEVIATHAN (1989)
EVENT HORIZON (1997)
EDGE OF SANITY (1989)
THE LAST HOUSE ON THE LEFT (1972)
SPHERE (1998)
HOUSE OF 9 (2005)
BUFFY THE VAMPIRE SLAYER (1992)
THE DEVIL'S BACKBONE (2001)
THE GHOUL (1933)
FROM A WHISPER TO A SCREAM (1987)
INTRUDER (1989)
THE BURNING (1981)
THE INCREDIBLE TWO-HEADED TRANSPLANT (1971)
THE THING WITH TWO HEADS (1972)