Tagged: Puppets
Let’s Head to The Void and Help Make Some Old School Monsters!
I love that people these days are using online avenues to make cool movies. Nothing satisfies me more than knowing people are getting things done with the help of true fans. In the end it means that most often times people are really getting what they want rather than a big studio pushing its influence on directors and turning a good idea into a load of bullshit. So we’ve got to take some time out from covering the glossy, over hyped, fully bloated flicks that Marvel & DC are cranking out and give some smaller projects some hype here. One such project is called “The Void” which you can help fund directly on Indiegogo if you’re a fan of old school monster movies, the kind we used to get back in the 1980’s back when life was a little more simplistic and the movies were a bit more of an art form. It’s pretty clear just by this amazing poster for the project that these guys are on to something awesome!
Here’s a little more info on the pitch:
“Cult indie directors Steven Kostanski and Jeremy Gillespie (Manborg, “W Is for WISH” from ABCs of Death 2) and producer Casey Walker of Cave Painting Pictures (A Little Bit Zombie) have launched an Indiegogo campaign to get a head start on pre-production for THE VOID, an original horror film that pits a small-town police officer against all manner of otherworldly creatures in a derelict, rural hospital.
“We’re launching this campaign early in order ensure that the film’s special effects are achieved practically. It’s important to start building our film’s creatures immediately to ensure we can realize them on set and in-camera,” said Kostanski and Gillespie.”
This sounds like my kinda movie, the type I’m always hunting down, whether it be a lost 80’s flick or a new one this is the kind of stuff I want to talking about here at Universal Dork. This trailer looks like a damn fine time and the effects look quite impressive already-so imagine what could be done with a little more funding. Check this shit out and if you have a few bucks to spare throw it their way! I’ll be watching out for this one!
The CRITTERS are Back from the Eighties?!!
It seems the Critters back! There’s rumors going around that Warner Bros is getting ready to revive the 1980’s classic flick with a reboot or sorts. Well we all know that this new version of critters will most likely be nothing like the original movies, but a fan took matters into his own hands and came up with this awesome short film, Critters: Bounty Hunter.
This is pretty rad and it feels just like the 80’s Critters franchise we have grown to love over the years. Jordan Downey put this cool little six minute film together and if Warner wants to get the spirit of the original they should really be taking notes on this sweet little short! This is the type of Critters that we want. I’m starting to feel like the fan made movies are better than what Hollywood is coming up with these days- Check this shit out!
Give Me More Awesome Puppet Horror Movies!!
Let’s face it, puppets totally rule. Period. They are making a big time comeback too. So now that we’ve got that out of the way take a minute to check out this awesome upcoming all puppet horror movie “The Mill at Calder’s End”! Pulling inspiration from HP Lovecraft & Edgar Allen Poe we get something truly unique to feast our eyes upon. This one was funded on Kickstarter and made twice it’s projected goal. Knowing that stuff like this is getting made without the help of major movie studios really make me happy and thankful that Kickstarter exists and has changed the game for film makers and fans alike.
Here’s a brief synopsis of film:
“The Mill at Calder’s End is a gothic ghost story in the spirit of Edgar Allan Poe and H.P. Lovecraft that will be told with 30 inch tall bunraku puppets and old fashioned in-camera special effects.Featuring the voices of Jason Flemyng (The Curious Case of Benjamin Button,X-Men:First Class) and horror legend Barbara Steele (Black Sunday,The Pit and the Pendulum) , this film celebrates two of my great loves: the art of puppetry and gothic horror.”
“From my experience working as a special effects artist in Hollywood for over twenty years and now collaborating with some of the most talented creature effects artists,concept artists, and puppeteers in the industry, The Mill at Calder’s End will be unlike any puppet film you have ever seen before.”
Check out this epic gothic puppet trailer! Hopefully the full movie will drop soon!
A little behind the scenes too:
Son of The Dark Crystal: ‘Lessons Learned’ Brings Back the Magic!
I am thoroughly bummed out that “Lessons Learned“, the short film by Toby Froud somehow slipped through my radar here undetected! Being a huge fan of Both Labyrinth & The Dark Crystal this film is on my must see list and Mr. Froud I find also lives right here in Portland, Oregon! Now that’s not even the most interesting part, Toby is kind of a legendary guy, his parents created the puppets and landscapes of The Dark Crystal & Labyrinth, but get this, he also starred in Labyrinth as the legendary baby that David Bowie kidnaps!!
So these days he lives in Pdx and works on puppets at Laika Studios on movies like Paranorman and the upcoming Box Trolls. Most recently however he’s completed his epic puppet short film, “Lessons Learned”, which was funded on Kickstarter. Now the film is complete and screenings are popping up. The movie looks pretty awesome & it really looks like it takes place in the same universe as The Dark Crystal!
So check out this trailer for the film which he teamed with Heather Henson (Jim Henson’s Daughter)! I think if he could follow this up with a feature length film, in the same vein it would excite legions of people all over the world. Lessons Learned will screen again as part of the Portland Film Festival in August. For those not in Portland, it has been selected as part of FilmQuest in Salt Lake in July, and will possibly play at festivals elsewhere pending acceptance.
Harbinger Down: The Real Prequel to “The Thing”!!
I just checked out the long awaited trailer for a movie I’ve been pumped about for quite some time time now, Harbinger Down! If you follow my blog at all you’ve probably heard me complaining a lot about CGI and how there aren’t nearly enough movies these days that utilize rad practical monster effects like they used to back in the 1980’s. Well Alec Gillis at Studio ADI announced a while back that he planned on making a full on monster movie utilizing all practical effects only using CG to eliminate things like rods or wires.
You see a while back they made a prequel to the classic John Carpenter Monster flick “The Thing” and Gillis and his crew were hired to do the special effects, they were told to use all practical monster effects to keep the same vibe as the 1982 classic. They went hard to work and filmed much of the movie with the effects but at the last minute the studio changed their mind, and CG’d over all of there work, claiming that people these days like their movies to look more like modern video games. The movie was bashed by fans of the original and did little at the box office. So here is Alec Gillis’ response to what happened to them, a movie that bears some resemblance to the premise of The Thing, as if him and his crew is giving the fans the movie that they were hoping for in The Thing prequel. So take a look at the trailer, this one is on the top of my list!!
Royal de Lux: Giant Street Puppets Are Taking Over!!
Ok folks time to show you something pretty damn amazing the Royal de Lux street puppets! If you have no idea what the hell I’m talking about then you’re in for a treat. Royal de Lux is a French company of inventors, stuntmen, poets and scrap-dealers all at once, led by Jean-Luc Courcoult. Royal de Luxe are currently considered to be an iconic, almost mythical, street theater company – equal to the Theatre du Soleil for conventional indoor theater.
They began in 1979 with the dream of bringing theater to the outside for anyone and everyone to view take a few minutes here to check out some of their creations they WILL blow your mind…
Now if they would just bring this over to the United States!
The Mill at Calder’s End: Puppet Fans Beware!!
I ran across this amazing Kickstarter campaign for “The Mill at Calder’s End” an amazing looking short film by special effects wizard Kevin Mcturk. He’s already worked on some great movies like Hellboy II and the awesome horror comedy Black Sheep to name a few. Now he’s completing a fully puppetized film in the vein of Lovecraft and Edgar Allen Poe.
This film brings to mind movies like The Dark Crystal, which when you watch it still, it’s mind blowing piece of movie making. The behind the scenes are incredible and I think creative hands on movies like that are nearly obsolete these days. No matter how amazing computer generated imagery is or will become I think we can all appreciate something as incredible as a fully puppetized film full of real sets. So check this little video out it’s pretty amazing. He’s shooting for a $50,000 goal and god damn do I hope he makes it…
World’s Greatest Puppet Themed Music Videos are Back!
Hey it’s been a while since I posted any new Puppet Themed music vids as I have been trying to prove once and for all that puppets make ANYTHING like 10 times better! Seriously if you are in a band and wanna make a bitchin’ video but can’t think of anything rad to do in it-worry no further-just put some damn puppets in it and you got yourself a hit! So here’s yet another video by Dinosaur Jr covering the cure and yeah it rules and it loaded with puppets! Thus enhancing it’s greatness by at least 10 fold!
World’s Greatest Puppet Themed Music Videos! Part 2!
Ok so here we are again with some more puppet themed videos!! Hell yeah! So here are a couple more music videos that feature some rad puppets-The first up is Interpol’s “Evil”. As I am not a big fan of the band what I can tell you is that I’m a huge fan of that creepy ass puppet they got in their damn video!! See the band just made themselves totally rad by having a cool puppet in their video-see it’s not that hard to make it I tell you if you just rely on the skills of a puppet and ride it’s coat tails all the way to the top!!! check it:
Ok next up is Weezer’s “Keep Fishin'”. I think we can all kinda agree that Weezer now days just kinda blows and I think Rivers has caught onto that. That’s why he decided to get the mother fucking Muppets into his band’s video! See this a common practice of bands that either aren’t that good or have somehow lost their magic. My simple rule proves true again-add a damn puppet to a music video and suddenly the song rocks ten times harder…
The Greatest Video I Have Ever Seen…
Presenting the Rock-Afire Explosion’s thrilling performance of Usher’s “Love In This Club”:
I have never laughed so hard while stoned as I did at this. Truly a genius concept and complex process that deserves checking out further, right here. Oh and make sure to youtube search some of their other amazing performances!
Universal Dork 