FORBIDDEN ZONE - EAST GATE 47

THE UNIVERSE IN G MINOR

Monsters, fairies, evil overlords and an entire host of other fantastic creatures people the digital art of American Kienan Lafferty. Kienan Lafferty is a 2D Production Artist over at Riot Games, and the influence of RPG and fantasy quest imagery is more than apparent in his work. The characters could actually be game characters, comic book characters, or even stars in their very own cartoon series. Aside from games, Lafferty has also worked as the designated illustrator of two books,Humbug, A Christmas Carol and Beau and the Beanstalk. He’s also created 2D assets for movies and commercials and is a regular fixture in the features run by Blizzard.com, Newgrounds and DeviantArt. Not without just cause, we think, since his characters are at once whimsical and realistic enough to seem like they’re about to leap out at you from your very own PC screen.

Source: DeviantArt.com

IS PROMETHEUS ANTI-SCIENCE ?

Prometheus follows a pack of scientists on an expedition to a remote planet to discover the meaning of life — and then horrible, terrible, unspeakable things befall the crew. In a sense, they are punished for their curiosity.

Does that make Prometheus anti-science? We had a spoiler-free discussion withPrometheus screenwriter Damon Lindelof to discuss — as he calls it — "Frankenstein 101" and the relationship the film has with science and religion.

What piece of the Alien saga, what strand in that fabric, did you most want to weave into Prometheus but couldn't?

Damon Lindelof: I think that the only fair answer to that question is, "We got all the fabric in there." It wasn't me walking into Ridley's office and saying, "Hi, my name is Damon. I'm a huge fan, and I would like to write an Alien movie and you should direct it." It was the exact opposite, which was Ridley already had already gone down the road developing this thing for some time. I think Jon Spaihts wrote a great script, but it was very dyed in the wool "Alien Prequel." I was basically called in to take the ball into the end zone, for lack of a better sports metaphor.

It was really, for me, about doing what Ridley wanted to do. We were completely in tune from the word "go." I was really interested in the theme of creation as it related to the Alien universe. The idea that he invented an organism that actually needed to gestate inside a human being in order to become the perfect killing machine. I sort of always wondered, "Where did that thing come from? It's not really a practical organism if it needs a human to gestate. Was it invented by someone?" The fact that that was precisely the story that Ridley wanted to tell felt like harmonic convergence, and we just sort of ran with it.

Did you think of this movie as a horror movie while you were writing it? The reason Lost was so great is because it was a scifi show that didn't feel like a scifi show. It was genre-busting. Did you think Prometheus is horror?

That's a really insightful question because I do feel like the original Alien is very much a horror movie in space. It sort of conforms to those fundamental laws. But then there are these scifi elements to the original Alien. There's a robot in it, there are spaceships in it. There's space travel, hypersleep, and a computer that essentially runs the ship.

But is it horror, scifi, or something new? And I do think that the idea thatPrometheus is, in my opinion, a scifi movie first and foremost. It's hard scifi. Perhaps mixed into that all great scifi — whether Prometheus is great is for everyone to judge — but is based on some sort of philosophical question that we have about the human experience and an exploration of that though scientific means.

That to me was the jumping off point for Prometheus. Then along the way there are certain questions that we as humans should not be asking. When we get too close to the answers, we suffer severe consequences. That's "Frankenstein 101." That was the story that Ridley wanted to tell, and the story that I felt was really cool.

So yes, once those consequences begin to manifest themselves you're back into that horror realm. Hopefully the movie is dancing between those two things and you're also bringing in some fundamental action as well as the Alien sequel did. I think people like to see that too. Get your heart pounding, it is summer after all. Ultimately Prometheus is all those things at the same time. At least that was our intent.

You mentioned earlier that there are some questions we're not supposed to ask. IsPrometheus anti-science then, is that one of the messages?

It's definitely not anti-science. In fact, if anything I think it's pro-science because it advances the idea that part of our own programming as human beings, we're many ways just as governed by our programming as David is. We have to seek out the answers to these questions, even though we know we'll never get satisfying answers. We're curious about what happens as we die. We need to know where we come from. What the meaning of life is. What kind of life we're supposed to lead. These are all sort of nonscientific, philosophical, religious, and spiritual questions. But the idea that we can find some comfort in science, that science can sort of give us a path to follow in understanding our roots. I think we're better off from understanding that we're descended from apes than we are looking at some book that was written 2000 years ago that gives us an explanation for our own roots.

I'm most definitively pro-science, but I think that the movie advances the idea that, "Can the two live along side each other?" Is it possible to be a scientist and maintain some faith in the unknown? And are you rewarded for having blind faith? And I do think the movie makes the meta-commentary on these issues. [Editor's Note: Tune into our follow-up interview to find out how exactly!]

BATTLE BETWEEN LIGHT AND DARKNESS

Let us dare to step into a parallel, magical universe, through the incredible paintings produced by Polish painter Tomasz Alen Kopera. Though born in Poland, and with a style reminiscent of that of co-national Tomek Setowski, Kopera now resides in Ireland. It is there that he creates his basic oil and acrylic on canvas paintings, through themes, symbols and elements borrowed from the artistic lingo of magical realism. He takes his inspiration from “human nature and the mysteries of the Universe,” and there is plenty of dynamic tension between the mystery of darkness and the magic of light in his work. According to the official biography on his website, “each painting motivates thought, challenging our initial response. Sometimes darkness will prevail, at other times, light. He is celebrated in visionary art circles for his acute attention to detail, mastery of color and bold use of subject matter.”

Source: AlenKopera.com

AMERICA'S DANGEROUS GAME

VECTRO 39

New Illustration /

New illustrations by Nithin Rao Kumblekar

June 22, 2012 | New Illustration | by  Stuart McBratney|

Indian illustrator Nithin Rao Kumblekar combines bird’s-eye-view happy snaps with hand-drawn illustrations. On the cool-o-meter, they give Fonzie a run for his money, so it’s no wonder he’s attracted Vodafone, Pepsi and IBM. Though I think his true calling is really personalised business cards. Something to consider Mr Kumblekar?

TINSELTOWN JOURNAL RE-BOOT

2011: A Year In Movie Mistakes

Posted on Tuesday, December 20th, 2011 by Germain Lussier

Most movie fans watch movies hoping for the best. We don’t want to see something bad, we want to be transported to another place and entertained for two hours so, even with a bad movie, we’ll try to find something good in it. On the flip side, if you watch a movie looking for the negative, you’re going to find it.

The gang who frequent MovieMistakes.com do just that. They watch movies and look for mistakes. Mistakes in the costumes, editing, production design, basically anything in the mise en scene that a director or editor missed. They then file those in an impressive database and with 2011 coming to a close, they’ve posted their Best Of lists.

Check out The Best Movie Mistakes of 2011 and The Most Mistakes in a 2011 Movie after the jump.

Both of these lists are from MovieMistakes.com, a site that can literally kills hours of your time. We’re only posting the top ten of each list.

Here are the ten Best Movie Mistakes of 2011, as voted on by the site’s readers.

1. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2 – Why is there snow in Hogsmeade when the trio gets there and meets Aberforth? Hogsmeade and Hogwarts are within walking distance of each other, yet there is no snow at Hogwarts.

2. X-Men: First Class – In First Class, Professor X is made handicapped in 1962 at the end of the movie. In the previous X-men movie, he was walking when he visited the girl (Jean) in the mid 70s with Magneto.

3. Transformers: Dark of the Moon – In the first scene with Carly coming up the stairs she is wearing a white cap, when the camera changes to the front view and she is holding the stuffed rabbit the cap is gone.

4. The Green Hornet – When Reid and Kato are fighting by the pool, the beach ball falls off the chair (beside the pool) when they land in the water, but is back up on the chair in a following shot.

5. Source Code – This scene is repeated multiple times in the movie: usually when the main character enters the “source code” the scene begins by panning over a small pond showing a Canadian goose taking flight. However the sound editor makes the mistake of dubbing in a recording of a hen mallard duck.

6. Fast Five – The gang steal four brand new Police spec 2011 Dodge Chargers. When Brian and Dom yank the safe out, the Chargers they’re driving are older spec, with the old tail lights. Han and Roman are seen driving the other, new Chargers later in that chase.

7. The Hangover Part 2 - Bradley Cooper calls Stu “Ed” when they are fleeing from Russians with the monkey.

8. Scream 4 – In the final shot of the film, Jill’s head moves slightly when she’s supposed to be dead.

9. Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides – Captain Barbossa’s ship has a modern Union Jack flying on the stern. The film is set in the reign of George II (1727 – 1760). The flag shown includes the cross of St Patrick, although Ireland did not become part of the United Kingdom until 1801, and the Union Jack at the time of the film would have comprised only the crosses of St George (England) and St Andrew (Scotland).

10. Thor – When the Destroyer arrives amidst the Shield agents, a coffee cup sitting on the dash of one of the vehicles spills over. The next shot it can be seen lying on its side. The reverse angle shot then shows it upright again.

You can read the next 19 on their site.

And here are the movies with the most mistakes recorded on the site in 2011.

1. Transformers: Dark of the Moon – 58 mistakes
2. Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides - 52 mistakes
3. X-Men: First Class – 30 mistakes
4. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2 – 20 mistakes
5. Super 8 – 17 mistakes
6. Captain America: The First Avenger – 16 mistakes
7. Paul – 14 mistakes
8. Scream 4 – 11 mistakes
9. The Hangover Part 2 – 11 mistakes
10. The Mechanic – 10 mistakes

There are 70 more on the site.

The one disclaimer about these, of course, is that a lot of the site is user generated so films that people see more of and obsess over are sure to be scrutinized more. Hence a movie like Transformers being on both lists. I’m sure The Artist has a lot of mistakes in it too but the average fanboy isn’t obsessively watching a film like that.

TINSELTOWN JOURNAL JUNE

Top 12 Movies in History That Were Ahead of Their Time

In honor of the upcoming movie 300, which is poised to show you another example of a movie vastly ahead of its time, FS.net has put together a list of the top 12 movies in history that were ahead of their time. It's no mistake that most of these are big budget action and/or science fiction films, and that's because those are the kind that take a step above and beyond with visual effects and more. But of course there are some classics that also have to be mentioned as groundbreakers in their respective genres.

These movies are judged as being ahead of their time primarily because of their technical and visual effects achievements. Most of these became the staple for referencing great visual effects after they came out. It's not necessarily that their subject matter or content was not accepted until years later (like Napoleon Dynamite).

I'm sure there were a couple I missed (it was tough not putting Blade Runner) that can still be recognized. I invite any readers who would like to voice their opinion to do so in the comments below, but I'll stand firmly by these 12 as the greatest examples of movies ahead of their time when they were released.

There are LOTS of great additions and suggestions for other movies that were ahead of their time in the comments. I know I forgot some, but read the comments below for all of the great suggestions - like Blade Runner and The Wizard of Oz!

Psycho (1960)

Directed by Alfred Hitchcock

This film set the standard for every horror thriller to come after 1960. It defined the genre and has since become an unforgettable horror classic. It shocked people with its chocolate blood and still scares the living daylights out of many today.

2001: A Space Odyssey (1968)

Directed by Stanley Kubrick

You can't forget that 2001 was even before Star Wars. After Metropolis it was one of the biggest science fiction films up until Star Wars. I still wonder even now how the heck they achieved weightlessness and those incredible set pieces all back in the late 60's.

Jaws (1975)

Directed by Steven Spielberg

A giant mechanical shark and one of the first films to really become a blockbuster in Hollywood history. Although when you think about this nowadays, it's not that amazing, but back in 1975, you'd be so scared that you wouldn't even go swimming. That's the power of a good movie that's so ahead of its time it becomes real to everyone who watches it.

Star Wars (1977)

Directed by George Lucas

No one ever imagined anything like that was capable back in 1977. I'm sure everyone has seen the many making of featurettes showing their use of miniatures and other incredible gimmicks. I mean, this was 1977, and the technical achievements they pulled off are even amazing today. It's frickin' Star Wars!

Tron (1982)

Directed by Steven Lisberger

It's been constantly referred to as the first CGI film that set the standards for all future CGI to come. For 1982 what they were able to do and the funky 80's graphical backgrounds were an incredible visual achievement. If you're a geek by any means this movie is a staple in your collection guaranteed.

WarGames (1983)

Directed by John Badham

The first "hacker" movie of sorts that even played with a global thermonuclear war back in the early 80's. A geek classic even today that fits into the "ahead of its time" category via unconventional methods, as there really are no major visual effects.

Terminator 2 (1991)

Directed by James Cameron

Timeless visual effects that stand up to even today's visual effects and CGI. For being able to not only make a completely smooth shape-shifting metallic robot (that kicks some serious ass) as well as having everyone believe Arnold really was the Terminator, they did a hell of job of setting the visual effects standards for many years to come.

Jurassic Park (1993)

Directed by Steven Spielberg

Who would've thought you could've created dinosaurs that looked that lifelike back in 1993. Even using the animatronics system that they did, this was a far step ahead of anything at the time. Then the stories surrounding how horrifically real the dinosaurs were fueled its popularity even more. And the best part is that they look better in this movie than any more recent CGI creations.

The Fifth Element (1997)

Directed by Luc Besson

Sure many may argue against this (calling it cheap) but I'll stand by my belief that it's very futuristic visual effects were seamless and much more advanced than anything otherwise seen in any other movie in 1997 (except Starship Troopers). Nothing has ever topped that taxi cab chase sequence throughout the future city - it looked flawless then and looks flawless now.

Starship Troopers (1997)

Directed by Paul Verhoeven

Like Terminator 2, the "bugs" in this movie are even better looking than plenty of current day films. Ten years later and the visual effects in Starship Troopers are still some of the best around in comparison. 1997 was a great year for a very few films that had outstanding visual effects that have rivaled every film thereafter.

Office Space (1999)

Directed by Mike Judge

A tough one to argue, it's the fact that this bombed completely and didn't hit mainstream to far after its theatrical release that makes this way ahead of its time. It shows that the acceptance of a film can come after its planned theatrical release and earn a place in movie history by being comically ahead of its time when it first came out.

The Matrix (1999)

Directed by The Wachowski Brothers

Groundbreaking and revolutionary. I don't think I need to mention how much this film changed the cinematic world after its release - as everyone knows that story by heart. I'm sure this one will still be referred to as visually better than most films even years down the road, too.

The Baker's Dozen Special Unforgettable Addition:

Metropolis (1927)

Directed by Fritz Lang

This film has become the reference for nearly every science fiction film ever made. Despite being silent and set to music, you can pick up and watch this movie at any time and still be amazed by it. Metropoliswas many, many years ahead of its time, and coincidentally is set many, many years ahead of its time.

Outlook on the Future

What films will be referred to as ahead of their time years down the road? An outlook on some of the few that I believe we'll all be talking about in 2010+ that were ahead of their time when they came out fairly recently.

Monsters, Inc. (2001), Sin City (2005), A Scanner Darkly (2006), The Fountain (2006), Children of Men (2006), 300 (2007)