Rats Nest

well I watched "fear is the key " last night. It starred Barry Newman (dude from vanishing point) and I almost didn't reconize him, but a really young, with a full head of hair, ben kingsley. (as one of the thugs)

This is another one of the Alister Maclean movies, alas, this one isn't on dvd in the states. I managed to get a bootleg of it, but it was pan and scan which sucked. I used to have a region free dvd player that did pal films. I may have to invest in another one as most of these films are available in the UK.

The film is a sort of spy/action flic and has the classic twists of the bad guy actually being a good guy, the good guy is a bad guy, or is he, etc etc.

I liked that the film starts with a young guy at a radio on a desolate air field talking to an airplane. He chats with the pilot, then talks to a young lady on the plane that is clearly someone he cares for, and then he listens as they are shot down and crash.

thats the opening, and it then cuts to something else, leaving the viewer going wtf. what was that about! It of course gets tied in later, but its kind of a neat way to just jump start the movie.

70s action films seem to not be afraid to leave out a romantic side story, or even have any women in the film altogether. Half the time the cast of men isn't even attractive, just rough looking dudes, old dudes, fat dudes, etc. I'm not sure at what point action movies needed to star male and female models who are having romance on the side, while shooting and blowing things up.

anyways, if you get a chance "fear is the key" is pretty damn good. Its got a great car chase scene with a gran torino as a nice bonus.

well I watched this one on recommendation of a close friend. Wow. freakin fantastic.

Its a shame that its not available in letterbox or a cleaner print, but its still worth watching.

Its the story of 4 guys that are desperate in south america and take a suicidal job of driving 2 trucks 200 miles.

Its so well filmed, the trucks are very distinctive, the cast is great, and you really get the full effect that these guys have nothing to lose even if they die. Its the most desperate situation ever, they are pretty much in hell.

The stunts are all done by the actors and being 1977 all the effects are practical (as in not cg) that truck on the rope bridge is really at that angle, and from what I read the actors did most of the driving! everything is shot on location as well. There is a bank that gets blown up in Israel, that the crew actually constructed there and then blew up!

freakin intense!

casual friday by *punchyninja on deviantART

been working my way through the Alister Maclean movies ( he's sort of the scottish Ian Flemming from what I gather) Guns of Navarone, Where Eagles Dare, force 10 from Navarone, and the one I just watched,
Ice Station Zebra.

alas, his other 10 films aren't available in the states, I got a bootleg of the other ones, (terrible quality to, ugh) but I haven't watched em yet.

Ice Station Zebra is a mixed bag. Its got a great cast, Rock Hudson, Ernest Borgnine (one of my favorites!) and Patrick McGoohan. John Sturges directs, and its pretty well done.

Its got a long slow build up, probably to long by todays standards, an intermission (!) and then a pretty fast climax that ends in a strange sort of almost western stand off.

There is some of the most amazing submarine footage I've ever seen. on par with hunt for red oct. which shocked me as the film is from 68. The interior set seems real.

Then this footage is coupled with some of the worst model work and stock footage. f-4 s are used as migs, and there is one lingering model kit shot of a mig that goes forever. just this slow pan of the model kit and the stiff little plastic dude in the chair. amazing. I sat stunned as it just held on the model.

over all I really liked the film, its got a pretty clear set up, a very clear goal, and a neat setting and reason for everything. so unlike some bond films.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Du7ls7v2uYQ

Over the last couple of weeks this is the constant, and I mean constant, question I've been getting.

Loosing my job has put a hell of a dent into my noggin, and I sure as heck don't have an answer to this question....well, until now. thank you Warren. your the man.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ftWooK0Yg50&feature=related

I've been on my old movie kick still. after I lost my freakin job it seems I have time to chill and enjoy more of em =)


First up is

The Friends of Eddie Coyle

I really dig Robert Mitchum, after I saw Yakuza I really have a soft spot for him.
He's stunning in this, playing a washed up old con that is a go between guy for a gun runner. The whole film is amazingly shot, but the thing that really stands out to me were a couple of dialogues between Mitchum and the gun runner. great stuff.


The Big Sleep (70s version)
Another Robert Mitchum film. I love the original Big Sleep. Its one of my all time favorite movies, and I've seen both cuts of it dozens of times. It doesn't make a lot of sense, but its loaded with style. This 70s version lacks the style, but at the end of the day it makes a hell of a lot more sense as a whole. Mitchum does his best to hold the picture up, and a cameo by Jimmy Steuart helps, but the rest of the cast just didn't do it for me. I have no idea why they set the film in europe either.

Where Eagles Dare
this one floored me. Really good spy/ wwII film. Great action, great dialogue, really feels epic to me. I really didn't see where this one was going and it twists and turns all the way to the end. freakin great movie.




Major Dundee
Been on a Sam Peckenpah kick lately. This one I caught on Tivo, but it was the extended cut. Its got a great performance by Charlton Heston, and Richard Harris. Its about a rescue mission of two children from a group of rogue Indians, but its really about two men and how they don't have a place in the world anymore now that the civil war is over. They build a rag tag group of ex south and north troops, criminals, and cowboys to do the job. James Coburn plays a native america...no really, but he gets little screen time. Worth watching if you like westerns or Heston. oh, and Senta Berger is really easy on the eyes.

APE 2009

Well APE went well this year. Probably the smoothest run of any con I've ever done.

I went to the pre con mixer friday night at Last Gasp in the mission. Picked up the badges early with Kelly and hung out, had a beer and met people. Last Gasp is a sight to behold. I'm not sure if they allow people to come off the streets to just walk in and buy stuff, but if they do, I highly recommend swinging in (its on 20th and florida 777) The collection of cool art and posters, and what not are stunning.

While we were there we met a bunch of cool cats from Juarez that had come up to SF to sell there comics. The quantity and quality of the work was really amazing. It all had this feel to it that that was really unique.

Saturday we rolled into the con around 10:45 (it opens at 11) found free parking next door, and hoofed it over and set everything up. I made sure that I only brought what I needed to bring supply wise, and we also brought beer, coffee, and food. No blowing my hard earned dough on con food. woot! Kel made me a custom stand that can hold 6 comics so that freed up a loot of table space.

I did have an eye infection that was its worst saturday. one of those things that most people you don't know may or may not even notice, but to you its like this massive growth. I felt like that dude in total recall. ugh. I did my best to be happy and chat with people but the longer conversations got a bit hard and I kept wanted to look down or close my eye. I kept debating if wearing an eye patch would be better or worse. (all the pirate jokes, and arr. comments vs the face wound. )

Sunday I rolled in at 11 on the dot, which was not ideal, but not bad. my stupid eye had healed so life was once again good. yea!!

We had cool table mates (not sure what else to call them) and a really good spot on the floor. With each of these cons I get better at setting up the table, and figuring out what to say to people.

Sales were strong, my two newest books did well (though I think that had more to do with the placement then the new factor)
I took out an AD in the program book and that thing actually worked! I had many people say they came over just because of the ad. sweet!

There were a lot less crazies this year. Like, almost none. everyone seemed cool and considerate.

Still, heres the list of notable ones:

I had a lot less "force of nature" people. you know, the ones that pick up books, flip through them as if they are looking through a much hated text book, and then chuck it down anywhere except where they found it. Once they have done a pass on your table you have to clean up and redo everything. only had 2 of those this time. woot!

I had one dude that asked if he could read the whole book without buying it.

I had one dude ask if the book was about native americans, when I said "er..no" he made the strangest disgusted sound I've ever heard come from a grown man, and then stormed off.

had 2 different guys ask if I would do a free sketch for them and then when I was done, they not only didn't buy anything, but they didn't even say thanks. classy folks.

what I didn't have was the small army of people that I got at comic con that were at my table to sell ME something. movie agents, comic publisher, iphone devs, etc. My favorite one of those was the guy that told me for 8 minutes how much he loathed the big companies and wanted to support indy comics. How he was a reviewer. and the punchline. how he wanted me to give him free books. thanks for the support pal. lol

Well I've been on a Robert Culp Bill Cosby Kick for about 2 months now.

It starts with this old TV Show, I SPY. I've been slowly working my way through them, some campy, some bad, some amazing, all fun. Hulu has em, but I just picked up the box sets on DVD.

This led me to a new favorite 70s action film.

Hickey and Boggs.

Its out of print, but itunes has it. Its sort of an I Spy reunion, but not really. Cosby and Culp play down and out detectives in LA that are just barely one step behind the bad guys until the very end. Its classic noir, where the film doesn't stop to hold your hand. Culp Directs this one and its really a visual stunner at moments.

If you like 60s,70s noir then you'll love Hickey and Boggs.

went to the shooting range sat, really the only event in a long weekend without the wifey. 3 days of lonely with a brief interlude of really loud shooting of things.

got to fire a 1911, 357 magnum, 38, a bobcat, and 22 revolver. all in all a lot of fun. the 357 is crazy loud, though the guys next to us were shooting shotguns which made it seem tame.

nother page from the book.

Primecuts
an 1972 action/crime film with Lee Marvin and Gene Hackman.

I swear, Hackman seems to play bad guys and good guys at a seemingly equal rate more so than any other actor I can think of.

He's pretty good in this as a slaughter house owner that has lost touch of humanity.

Its not a great movie, at times it feels like its missing several critical scenes that would make the difference. It has a couple of plot points that don't resolve, and hints of a past that seem to need a connection to the films events.

Lee Marvin is of course awesome in it though, seeing him gear up with guns at the end is really a high point.

Its got white slavery, the irish mob, and a chase scene with a bailing machine, what more could you want =)

well first off I finally saw shinjuku incident. I think I've seen almost every Jackie Chan film, but this one is really different. I can't say its good, but it really unique. Most of the main cast is chinese, and they speak very little Japanese, yet, they are toe to toe with the yakuza.

It has a lot of odd bits about crime in shinjuku in the 90s (phone card fraud, rigging pachinko machines, black market goods) and the premise of an immigrant rising the ranks of the local mob scene is sound. It just drags at points, and feels very TV movie at times. I really can't sum it up any other way.


shinjuku incident trailer


next up is legendary assassin.
It has the chinese sandra bullock (I'm not kidding) and the largest chinese guy ever. ever! the dude is huge!!!!!


legendary assassin trailer


also saw a couple of older flics.

The professionals.

awesome 1966 western with and all star cast. Its brutal, funny, and pretty well paced. It does have jack palance as a mexican which is ....odd....but he actual does a pretty good job with it.


the professionals trailer


and finally one that I've been meaning to catch for a long time. bring me the head of Alfredo Garcia. Kel bailed on this one about an hour in, its long, slow gritty build up takes a bit to get through (she was tired to be fair) but then the whole affair comes crashing down like a roller coaster. one of the best noir revenge tails I've seen. just amazing stuff.


Alfredo Garcia

well I'm on page 8 of the second issue of native drums. I'm pretty juiced about this issue.

heres the first couple pages


more to follow

http://www.gamasutra.com/php-bin/news_index.php?story=24627#comments

freakin crazy. Its a thread on the boycott of shadow complex and peter david not only responds in the comments, but just keeps responding, swinging away. wow. ....reminds me of the good old days of looking forward to but i digress.

well 2 weeks ago my tivo started into constant reboots. ugh.

So I called Tivo, they suspected it was bum cable cards. SOooo I got comcast to come out and swap in new cable cards. ugh. it did not solve the rebooting.

SOoo another call to Tivo sussed out that the signal was to "hot" and that I needed a 1.50 part (-10 db atenuator if you must know)

So a trip to radio shack during lunch re-affired that people that work in a radio shack are one step below DMV employees. I asked duder about aforementioned part at which he looked at me as if I had asked for a sewing attachment. he started to lead me to the wrong section of the store to look for said part. radio shacks are smaller than many peoples bedrooms!!! come on dude, look around once and awhile. they didn't have the part. 2 radio shacks later It was clear that they don't carry anything of the sort (I can boost a signal, but lower?? maddness!!) the best was the girl that was scanning everything in the store for an inventory, and still didn't know where the cable section of the store was (she leads me to the audio section) jesus woman, you have actually touched every item in here and have managed to NOT retain anything. amazing.

SOooo it was off to amazon, and I waited and waited for my $2 part ($5 shipping) ugh.

widget in place, still tivo reboots like crazy. ahhhh!!! though the signal isn't artifacting as bad. plus.

So another call to tivo and a new Tivo is in route....but of course the cable cards are now no longer paired properly. noooooes

So I called comcast and crazy lady on the phone assures me I have bum cards and that they are old, hence she can't re pair them and that I need to go to a comcast store can get another set. she also told me that I needed the new multi stream cards instead of the crappy old single stream cards I have.

I chewed on this for a couple of hours, pulled the cards, and discovered that they were in fact the new multi stream cards. ...and decided to instead call comcast back. I played stupid like it was a new issue. new call center dude re paired the cards (he had to de pair the cards from the old Tivo first otherwise he couldn't set them up) and everything works now.

of course if I hadn't insisted that I could find and read the data ids and card ids to them over the phone I would have been waiting for another service visit for some chuckle head to navigate 5 menus deep and read em over the phone to the same call center. wow.

on the upside none of the tech calls had a wait, and none of them where out of country.

been watching a looooot of i spy at work. its become my new habit, get to work, cue it all up and begin cranking on textures and mesh and have robert culp and bill cosby keep me company on the other monitor.

anyways,

sketch from my sketchbook

had to catch a flight down to burbank this morning (5 am. ugh) been a loooong day. lot of tech stuff, but pretty educational. "what ever you do, never push this button, not even sure why its still there...."

did some drawing on the plane.

well I spend a hunk of time doing a color job on this sketch, got to the end, on a whim ran a filter on it and it looked waaaay better and a lot more simple. doh.

oh well