Wednesday, October 31, 2007

This Is Halloween...

A very Happy Halloween to all you boys and ghouls out there.... So strange how we've managed to take a Celtic death ritual and transform it into such a fun time in just 3,000 years, isn't it?
Special thanks goes to all those who contributed to The Vault of Horror's very first poll. The question was "Who Is Your Favorite Universal Monster", and Dracula won the thing handily, drawing a third of the vote. In a shocker, The Wolf Man rallied late to steal second place from the Frankenstein Monster, who had to settle for the bronze. Fourth and fifth were the Creature from the Black Lagoon and Mummy respectively, with the poor Phantom of the Opera getting only a single vote.
Still better than the Invisible Man, who got no love whatsoever. Perhaps, then, it was out of pity for good ol' Jack Griffin that I dressed up as him this year for the Feast of All Hallows, which you can readily observe above (hey folks, I do it for the kiddies, alright?)
Naturally, Halloween has always been a favorite holiday of mine, running neck and neck with Christmas. I have very fond memories of dressing up each year as a kid. Thanks to my demented gift of total recall, lets take a stroll down memory lane and look back on what some of these costumes were, shall we?
  • 1975: Charlie Brown (refused to wear the mask)
  • 1976: Clown
  • 1977: Superman
  • 1978: Spider-Man
  • 1979: Batman (detecting a pattern?)
  • 1980: Dracula (my best friend was a bat. Do the math.)
  • 1981: C-3P0 (Mom bought Boba Fett, but I didn't know who he was. Doh!)
  • 1982: E.T.
  • 1983: Darth Vader
  • 1984: He-Man
  • 1985: Zorro
  • 1986: Pirate (probably shouldn't have still been trick-or-treatin'. Lame!)
  • 1987: Dracula again

I stopped dressing up after that, in a futile attempt to seem cool. As I got older and it got cool again to dress up, some of my costumes included: Zombie, murder victim, Evil Dead, Gomez Adams, psycho surgeon, Michael Myers and Superman.

What about you? Leave a comment and let me know about some of your favorite Halloween costume memories....

Barontieri Concept Art


At the moment, I'm going through a fantasy art phase (along with all my other phases!) and one guy that really stands out in the field is BARONTIERI.
"Thierry Doizon aka BARONTIERI is an Art Director and Concept Artist of the French Mafia dominating the industry right now! He is currently working in Ubisoft Montreal. For the last 10 years he has worked in the game industry and CG Production around the world with studios like Acclaim, Digi-Guys (Pinewood Studios), Splash Damage and many others."






Original Words & Info [VIA]
All images are Copyright of Barontieri 2007

Tuesday, October 30, 2007

Andre the Giant comes to London

Not satisfied with merely admiring the new Obey pieces springing up all over London, the ESP/adapta crew met up with the Brain behind the Giant - Shepard Fairey whilst he was setting up his new show NINETEENEIGHTYFOURIA which opens Thursday 1st November.

The exhibition will be huge - covering over 20,000 square feet and will feature some appropriately enormous prints.


ukadapta will feature a brief interview with Shepard soon. Also: look out for his part in our upcoming DVD documentary.

RE in 3-D CG!


Apparently, the next installment in the Resident Evil series will more closely resemble the actual game itself. That's because Sony Pictures and Capcom, the creators of the original 1996 Resident Evil arcade game, are teaming up to put out a 3-D computer-animated flick.
It'll be called Biohazard: Degeneration (the game is known as "Biohazard" in Japan) and will use a completely original story, once again based on the game about a monstrous plague unleashed by a shady pharmaceutical lab. No word yet on cast and crew, or if anyone from the live-action flicks will be included (still couldn't resist putting up a Milla pic). Variety, which broke the news this morning, indicates we can expect a late 2008 release.

Anti VJ


Anti VJ is French VJ collective based in Paris and Bristol. Me and Selph met them at Glade Festival 2007, when they were vjing at Overkill stage. Anti VJ interview is coming soon on UKADAPTA web magazine (www.ukadapta.com)!! Check out their audiovisual installation videos. Wicked! www.antivj.com


3Destruct audiovisual installation
at Biennale d'art contemporain in Louvain, Belgium. May 2007
Produced by Yannick Jacquet (Lego_man), Jérémie Peeters et Thomas Vaquié.


Live visuals installation in Berlin - January 2007
Sculpture by Visomat
Visuals by Joanie Lemercier [ANTIVJ]
Music: Sleep Archive

Your choice

Ok ESPV readers I thought I would do something different. I am going to let you choose what anime I review in about three week’s time (that’s around 17/11/08). You can choose from 15 titles some are new and some are older. I have also included some longer series like Ghost in the shell and Ranma 1/2 and If you choose one of these; I will review each season and movie separate i.e. GTS stand alone complex, GTS second gig and so on. So all you have to so is write the anime you would like me to review in the comments box and on 10/11/08 at 12:00pm GMT I will count all your votes.

Trinity Blood
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Gilgamesh
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Last Exile
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Texhnolyze
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Ghost in the Shell (TV series and movies)
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Spirited Away
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Neon Genesis Evangelion
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Ranma 1/2
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Full Metal Alchemist
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Noir
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Elfen Lied
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Hellsing (The TV series not the OAV)
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Gunslinger Girl
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Witch Hunter Robin
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Boogiepop Phantom
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Now it's up to you to choose.
Photos via photobucket

Monday, October 29, 2007

David Mach


David Mach makes mad artwork using common household items like coathangars for the gorilla above and matchsticks for the heads below! Now that's a progressive form of art.......




Post from HERE.

South Korean Subway Cars


Why do Asian cities get the coolest subway cars? These photos are from Seoul's underground system where all kinds of marketing and viral campaigns are underway all the time.






Original Post [VIA]

Been Mad Busy!!!!


I'm sorry for the lack of updates on my part but I have been crazy busy with some film interviews for UKAdapta.com with Irieman recently. We are working on a documentary about Progression in British Creativity and have been lucky enough to interview some of the biggest creatives in their fields. I don't want to give away too much yet, but this week we have interviewed Insa, Hi-Res! and Shepard Fairey (Obey).





The greatest thing is that I am getting to interview some of my creative heroes of the UK and beyond. Next week will be D*Face, Conor Harrington and One Dot Zero but on a more manageable time scale so the blog will return to its normal daily update.

Images from HERE, HERE, HERE & HERE.

The Truth Is STILL Out There

Nearly a decade after the first feature film, and five years after the mega-hit TV show went off the air, the X-Files movie sequel is finally underway.
Comingsoon.net broke the news today that 20th Century Fox has green-lit The X-Files 2, which goes before the cameras December 10. Both David Duchovny and Gillian Anderson are reportedly on board (what else do they have to do??) to reprise their roles as Special Agents Fox Mulder and Dana Scully. Series creator Chris Carter will helm the project.
The movie is expected to be released some time next year. How much you wanna make a bet when all is said and done, we still won't know what the hell is going on?

Sunday, October 28, 2007

Dracula Gets a New Box

Just in time for Halloween--well, not really; the inexplicable release date is November 6--comes this new DVD set from Warner Home Video. As part of its "4 Film Favorites" series launched this year, Warners is issuing four of the classic Dracula films from Great Britain's legendary Hammer Films studio.
But it's a strange fit. The superb original, Horror of Dracula, is of course included. But the sequel, Dracula: Prince of Darkness, is not. Instead, it jumps to the third and fourth films, Dracula Has Risen from the Grave and Taste the Blood of Dracula. The fifth flick, Scars of Dracula, is also skipped, and the set is closed out with Dracula A.D. 1972--which also leaves out the final entry, The Satanic Rites of Dracula.
Now I understand it's part of this "4 Film Favorites" gimmick, but wouldn't Hammer fans have been better served by a complete Hammer Dracula set comprising all seven flicks--or at least the first four in order? Personally, I'm still more interested in picking up the earlier Hammer box set that came out a few years back. But anyone who's interested in this four-movie Drac pack can pre-order it here.

There's only one day left to vote in The Vault of Horror's Universal Monsters poll, so make your opinion felt! Coincidentally, Dracula is currently in the lead. Will the bloodsucker hold on to the top spot...??

Saturday, October 27, 2007

Catch Up on What You Mist

The website for the upcoming Frank Darabont-directed Stephen King adaptation The Mist has just been updated with a ton of new stuff in anticipations for the film's November 21 release. Anyone with any interest in this production would do well to check it out. Among the things you'll find is a no-holds-barred interview with Darabont, as well as on-the-set webisodes.
Kind of a cross between Night of the Living Dead and Lord of the Flies, King's yarn tells the tale of a group of townspeople trapped inside a grocery store that's surrounded by a strange mist which conceals demonics beings. The novella makes up the primary piece of King's classic 1985 anthology Skeleton Crew.
Darabont is no stranger to horror, having cut his teeth working on the script for A Nightmare on Elm Street Part 3. He's also no stranger to Stephen King, having previously directed the King adaptations The Shawshank Redemption and The Green Mile.

DAN IN REAL LIFE

Written by Pierce Gardner and Peter Hedges
Directed by Peter Hedges


Marie: You are smooth.
Dan: No, I’m not smooth. I’m Dan.

If you’re anything like me, smooth and single do not go together. You see someone you like, rare enough as that can be, and you want to say something but you don’t. Or maybe you do say something but it ends up being perhaps the least intelligent thing you’ve ever said in your life. More often then not though, you stare from afar and admire without having to deal with taking that which most agree is the only way to get anywhere in life – a risk. You can’t blame a guy for being a little frightened though. Maybe he’s been burned hard before or maybe he’s trying to focus all his energy on his career. There are reasons, some valid, some not, and all of them can be interpreted as excuses rather than reason. You tell yourself you don’t need it or it isn’t the right time for you but you still wish it were happening. Any way you break it down, it’s not easy. Sound familiar? If you thought yes even just a little, then DAN IN REAL LIFE, the new comedy from director Peter Hedges, is a must-see. It will reach inside of you and somehow manage to both break and warm your heart all at once.


The Dan from the title is Dan Burns (Steve Carell), an advice columnist who is admired for his insight into living a balanced, fulfilling and morally uplifting life. Four years or so before the film opens on Dan waking up to his day, he lost his wife and love of his life. After that tragedy, Dan was left to raise their three daughters alone. Between that and focusing on his career, finding love again was not one of Dan’s priorities. And so he became more functional than feeling. Removed from the power of intimacy, Dan no longer knows what it means to be that close to someone and has resigned himself to never knowing that again. That is, until he meets Marie (Juliette Binoche) in a book and tackle shop in Connecticut on a quiet morning. They’re interaction is casual, comfortable and it catches both of them off guard. There is only one problem really. She is already seeing someone. Unfortunately for all involved, that someone is Dan’s brother, Mitch (Dane Cook). His entire family has come up to their parents’ country home for their yearly visit and Dan must now spend the weekend pining and yearning for the fleeting feeling he had with Marie that morning. It only lasted an hour or so but it only took that long to awaken Dan’s heart from its coma.


With so many family members to deal with (John Mahoney and Dianne Wiest are at the helm), DAN IN REAL LIFE does drift away from its grander purpose from time to time. While the cyclone of kids and parents and aunts and uncles makes for trying times for Dan, Hedges also uses it unnecessarily as a means to distract, with the presumption that it would ultimately make for a more complete film. Luckily, Hedges has got Carell to carry the heavy burden. It is a pleasure to watch Steve Carell come into his own more and more with every picture he makes (despite the occasional EVAN ALMIGHTY-sized misstep). He is charismatic, charming and obviously a sharp humorist. As Dan, he is also self-deprecating, awkward and scared. Carell is the rare comedian who pushes himself to find character in his roles rather than rely solely on his comedic instincts and established persona. Perhaps more importantly, he is entirely relatable as Dan. Whether he’s flopping down on the cot in the laundry room where he is subjected to sleep as the only single adult at this reunion or fidgeting around the kitchen, unable to stand still in his anxiety, Dan is every guy who has even been unsure of himself and felt alone in the crowd. Carell gives Dan so much heart that he becomes the heart of the film itself at the same time.


I wondered after seeing the film if I enjoyed the it as much as I did, despite its slight shortcomings (Juliette Binoche – I know you might like to lighten up every now and then but I don’t recommend it unless there is chocolate involved), because of where I am in my life. Would someone who has found that someone else derive as much meaning and comfort from this film? I can’t say. What I can say, as someone who knows what it means to be lonely, DAN IN REAL LIFE knows what it means to be surprised by life and love and how these moments and people need to be appreciated and cherished. It also knows that anyone who might be feeling lonely on any given day or for months at a time needs to be reminded that surprises still happen.

Visual x Architecture

Amazing visual installations projected onto monumental architectures. Watch the youtube video below.

Easyweb.fr
A monumental video show creates a single event using the innovating system of mapping 3D video Neoproj, technique that consists in applying video onto a monumental architecture playing with its forms and its volumes.
http://www.easyweb.fr
http://www.neoproj.com

Showreel 2007

Extreme Unicycling


This guy is an absolute nutter! The title of the post says it all.....

Alexandre Orion Reverse Graffiti


Alexandre Orion spent last year doing graffiti in Brazil. However, he was actually doing the government a favour. His style of graffiti doesn't use paint or markers but instead he employs the power of a towel. He wipes scum/soot and pollution offwalls in order to bring out the colour from beneath the grime. A form of reverse graffiti. However, the government, not being keen to allow any form of expression ordered every tunnel in the city to be washed down. It's amazing that it took the work of an artist doing them a favour to realise that the city needed a clean. Something that really grinds my gears. Why suddenly now do they decide to wash their walls? Check out the video below to see all of Orion's hard work washed away in a mater of minutes.





Info [VIA]