Mad Max - fourth movie, and a game coming in 2015

For the last couple of weeks I've spent most of my gaming time exploring the desolate future of Rage. In my opinion this game is an absolute gem. Yes, it has a few niggles, like a lack of an autosave feature, and the texture pop-ins, but it was exactly what I was after as my next game to play.

Rage is an open-world shooter with a terrain that essentially looks like a more realistic rendition of Pandora (Borderlands), with the vehicles and weaponry of the original Mad Max movie. In fact the game shares a lot of features with the original Borderlands, such as the bounty boards, looting, and of course, the various bandit enclaves.

Before I found out about the existence of Rage, I was getting quite excited over the future release of the open-world Mad Max game being developed by Avalanche Studios. While the in-game Max looks very little like Mel Gibson, and more like Joel from The Last of Us, I'm guessing the game's Max is actually modelled to look more like Tom Hardy.

What does the Bane actor have to do with Mad Max? Well Hardy is playing the titular character in George Miller's fourth instalment, Mad Max: Fury Road, which is also set for a 2015 release. I'm guessing it makes more sense for the game's Max to look more like Fury Road's Max, than like the original Max, Mel Gibson. This will help the game and film tie-in with one another, even if that was not the initial intention. 

We'll have to wait to see how these new additions to the Mad Max franchise will be marketed. But it looks like my desire for another open-world game, set in a dystopian future will be satiated by Mad Max. In the meantime though, I'll quite happily continue to get that fix from Rage.

Fincher's 'Seven' as an 8-bit video game

I'm a big fan of David Fincher, and Seven (sometimes stylised as Se7en) is easily one of his best works. If you haven't seen it yet, then here's a summary re-imagined as an '8-bit,' side scrolling adventure game. Actually, if you haven't seen the original yet, go watch it first, then come back and watch the 8-bit version. You'll appreciate it a lot more.

If you liked this video, here's a similar one for Iron man 3.

The Avengers vs More Avengers

Today's Madame & Eve cartoon by Stephen Francis and Rico is one of the best I've seen all year. Not only is it poking fun at South Africa's most prominent politicians, but it also makes light of frustration being caused due to the latest Marvel movie, Avengers: Age of Ultron is being filmed in down town Johannesburg. Several of the streets in the inner CBD have been closed off while Hulk runs amok, causing even worse traffic than normal in the area. Good thing I'm not planning on going near that part of town for quite some time still.

Trent Reznor, Atticus Ross, and David Fincher team up once again

The soundtrack scoring duo, Trent Reznor (Nine Inch Nails, How to Destroy Angels) and Atticus Ross (How to Destroy Angels), are set to team up with director David Fincher for the third time to score the soundtrack for Gone Girl.

The trio have previously collaborated on the soundtracks for The Social Network, and The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, while Fincher also directed the music video for the Nine Inch Nails' track, Only.

Devil Baby attack in NYC

In order to promote upcoming film Devil's Due, this elaborate hidden-camera prank was conceived (da dum tish). A radio controlled baby stroller, concealing an animatronic, screaming baby was let loose on the streets of New York City. The following video has some of the best reactions of people looking into a newborn's carriage, and seeing something totally unexpected.

X-Men: Days of Future Past - Official trailer

I hope this film is going to be as good as the trailer suggests. I recently watched X-Men: First Class, and really enjoyed it, apart from a rather lame looking Beast. This instalment of the X-Men story looks to sort that out, while introducing a few new mutants, and re-acquainting us with a few old, familiar favourites.

September 3 music, gaming and movie releases

Tomorrow there are quite a few things being released that I am really looking forward to adding to my various, ever-growing collections. 

First up is Nine Inch Nails' ninth* studio album, Hesitation Marks. I've ordered both the regular and deluxe versions of the CD, because I am a huge collector of Nine Inch Nails related media (but let's leave that for another post when I can share pictures of my entire NIN collection). While I'll have to wait a few weeks to receive the physical editions, I can at least take solace in the fact that I'll be able to download lossless versions of the complete album, as well as the alternative mix, some time tomorrow. Till then I'll sit and listen to Came back haunted, Copy of a, and Everything a few times.

Then, the console version of Diablo III is also hitting shelves tomorrow. I pre-ordered a copy quite some time back in order to secure a copy of the artbook advertised by my local games retailer. Although my copy will be ready for collection tomorrow morning, I wont be able to get to the store until the weekend. While I'm hoping the week will pass relatively quickly, at least I know I should have enough time to finish Diablo II.

Lastly, The Lords of Salem is getting released on DVD and Blu-Ray tomorrow. I haven't seen the film yet, but it's on my list of things to watch. At present The Lords of Salem doesn't have very favourable scores on IMDb (5.2/ 10), but then again, even Rob Zombie's House of 1000 Corpses and The Devil's Rejects only score 5.8/ 10, and 6.8/ 10 receptively. Both of which I'm quite fond of too.

While writing this I realised that I am quite happy to fork out my cash to buy music (either digital or physical CDs) and PlayStation and PC games, but I'm a bit more reluctant when it comes to buying movies. While I do have a small collection of DVDs, it's nothing compared to my CD collection. I may even have more PS3 games now than DVDs. Considering I only bought my PS3 in March, its a good reflection of the where I've been investing my free time and spare cash. I've also come to realise, that after watching a movie I've enjoyed, I tend to buy the novel the film is based upon, rather than the DVD of the film itself. One notable exception is Ang Lee's Life of Pi, for which I'd like to buy the Blu-Ray and the book.

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* Some sources may say it's Nine Inch Nails eighth studio album, but I consider Broken to be an album, not just an EP. 

How to take Instagram-like photos using vintage cameras

The folks over at 1000memories (which is shutting down at the end of the month) created the following infographic to show how to create Instagram-like effects, using good old-fashioned film cameras. Helena Price's article behind the process of making the figure is really interesting too.

Source: 1000memories

Iron Man 3 movie 16-bit homage

Here's an 16-bit summary of the Iron Man 3 movie. If you haven't seen Iron Man 3 yet, this video is full of spoilers.

New Disney/ Star Wars princess

I just came across this picture of a tattooed Princess Leia on a friend's Facebook page. After a quick Google search, and following four or five links, I eventually found the original source of the drawing over at Deviant Art.

Disney Princess by ~paulorocker on deviantART

In somewhat related news, Disney's Alan Horn has announced that there will be new Star Wars movies released in 2015, 2017, and 2019. Episodes VII-IX certainly can't be worse than the prequel trilogy, or can they?

"Venomous Rat Regeneration Vendor" pre-order

Rob Zombie's fifth studio album, Venomous Rat Regeneration Vendor is now available for pre-order through iTunes. The video for the first single, Dead city radio and the new gods of supertown will premier on Monday 8 April. Venomous Rat Regeneration Vendor has the planned release date of 23 April, just four days after the release of Zombie's next movie, The Lords of Salem.

In the meantime, here's another still from the Dead city radio music video, as well as the lyric video to further whet your appetite.

There are no flags visible in this scene

The Naked and Famous announce free concert download

Hailing from New Zealand, The Naked and Famous stormed the music scene a few years ago with their début record, Passive me, aggressive you. The band has been a bit quite of late, as they had just finished a two year touring cycle, promoting the record worldwide.

Finally they have broken the silence to announce that the tour documentary One Temporary Escape will be available as a free download form 18 March. Below is a trailer for the film to set the scene.

I'm going to be away from the internet (and technology in general) for the next two weeks, but at least I know that when I get back One Temporary Escape will be sitting, waiting for me to download and watch it.

Exclusive clip from 'The Lords of Salem"

Entertainment Weekly is hosting an exclusive video clip from Rob Zombies fourth film, The Lords of Salem. While there are a couple of folks saying that Zombie is a "terrible fimmaker [sic]," Regardless, I for one am actually looking forward to the release of this film. While it may not be released in cinemas in South Africa, it is sure to reach the shelves of the local DVD rental shop.

From the short blurb on the Entertainment Weekly site, it sounds as though this film might just have a few more elements of a psychological thriller, as opposed to being a straight up shock horror, gore fest like the previous films directed by Zombie I've watched. That said House of 1000 corpses and The devil's rejects are still two of my favourite horror films, simply because they don't come across as trying overly hard to be serious and scary. I'd consider them to be light-hearted horror, because the story lines and gore are so over the top, they couldn't possibly be real. And that's what I love about Rob Zombie's films, as unreal as they are, I can still sit and watch them over, and over again.

Overview: a documentary by Planetary Collective

On the 40th anniversary of the famous ‘Blue Marble’ photograph taken of Earth from space, Planetary Collective presents a short film documenting astronauts’ life-changing stories of seeing the Earth from the outside – a perspective-altering experience often described as the Overview Effect.

The Overview Effect, first described by author Frank White in 1987, is an experience that transforms astronauts’ perspective of the planet and mankind’s place upon it. Common features of the experience are a feeling of awe for the planet, a profound understanding of the interconnection of all life, and a renewed sense of responsibility for taking care of the environment.

‘Overview’ is a short film that explores this phenomenon through interviews with five astronauts who have experienced the Overview Effect. The film also features insights from commentators and thinkers on the wider implications and importance of this understanding for society, and our relationship to the environment.

OVERVIEW from Planetary Collective on Vimeo.

Sound City - Real to Reel full track listing

The soundtrack to Dave Grohl's rockumentary, Sound City, will contain 11 original tracks, featuring collaborations of many of the greatest artists in rock. The album is set for release on the 12 March 2013, and is available for pre-order from iTunes. Folks who pre-order the album will receive an instant download of the first single Cut me some slack, featuring Paul McCartney (The Beatles), Dave Grohl (Foo Fighters, Them Crooked Vultures, Nirvana), Krist Novoselic (Nirvana) and Pat Smear (Foo Fighters, Nirvana).

Here is the fill track list:

1. Heaven and all (Robert Levon Been, Dave Grohl & Peter Hayes)
2. Time sowing down (Chriss Goss, Tim Commerfors, Dave Grohl & Brad Wilk)
3. You can't fix this (Stevie Nicks, Dave Grohl, Taylor Hawkins & Rami Jaffee)
4. The man that never was (Rick Springfield, Dave Grohl, Taylor Hawkins, Nate Mendel & Pat Smear)
5. Your wife is calling (Lee Ving, Dave Grohl, Taylor Hawkins, Alain Johannes & Pat Smear)
6. From can to can't (Corey Taylor, Dave Grohl, Rick Nielsen & Scott Reeder)
7. Centipede (Joshua Homme, Chris Goss, Dave Grohl & Alain Johannes)
8. A trick with no sleeve (Alain Johannes, Dave Grohl & Joshua Homme)
9. Cut me some slack (Paul McCartney, Dave Grohl, Krist Novoselic & Pat Smear)
10. If I were me Dave Grohl, Jessy Greene, Rami Jaffee & Jim Keltner)
11. Mantra (Dave Grohl, Joshua Homme & Trent Reznor)

At this point, I'm most excited to hear the last track, as it has contributions from three of the musicians of my 'dream team.'

Fron left: Grohl, Reznor & Homme in the studio.

First song from the album Sound City: Real to reel

Credited as being written by Paul McCartney, Dave Grohl, Krist Novoselic and Pat Smear, an 18 second video snippet of Cut me some slack has been uploaded to cutmesomeslack.net. 

The site also contains a link to the 121212 Benefit Concert, at which the song was performed, and another link to pre-order a DRM-free download of the Sound City Movie for US$ 12.99 10 (for a limited time only).

Official trailer for Sound City

Set to première at the 2013 Sundance Festival, the official trailer for Sound City has been released.  The documentary will featuring a host of prominent musicians from the past and present, as well as an interview with Rupert Neve, creator of the iconic Neve 8028 analogue mixing console that Dave Grohl purchased from Sound City Studios.

Jurassic Park 3D

Nearly 20 years after its original release, Steven Spielberg's epic adaptation of Michael Crichton's novel, Jurassic Park will be released in 3D.

I was too young to see Jurassic Park on the big screen back in 1993, so I'm definitely going to take full advantage of the opportunity of seeing it on the big screen, remastered and in 3D.

The poster has the date as 05 April 2013, which is likely the U.S release date. Hopefully we non-Americans won't have to wait too much longer to see the film. In the meantime, I may just have re-watch a DVD of the original. 

As a bonus, here's Birdfeeder's slowed down version of the famous theme from the movie, originally composed by John Williams.

Sound City: Real to reel

Directed by the god-like genius that is Dave Grohl (Nirvana, Foo Fighters, Them Crooked Vultures), Sound City is a documentary  about the legendary analogue recording facilities of the Sound City Studios in Los Angeles, CA. 

To date the film's website has featured musical memories from prominent names in the music industry including those of Lars Ulrich (Metallica), Brad Wilk (Rage Against the Machine, Audioslave), Rick Nielsen (Cheap Trick), Vinny Appice (Dio, Black Sabbath, Heaven & Hell), Rick Rubin (producer), Trent Reznor (Nine Inch Nails, How to Destroy Angels), Pat Smear (Germs, Nirvana, Foo Fighters), Lee Ving (Fear, MD.45), Lindsey Buckingham (solo, Fleetwood Mac), Butch Vig (Garbage), Ross Robinson (producer), Benmont Tench (Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers), Corey Taylor (Slipknot, Stonesour), Tom Petty (Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers, Traveling Wilburys), Alain Johannes (Eleven, Queens of the Stone Age), Tim Commerford (Rage Against the Machine, Audioslave), Josh Homme (Queens of the Stone Age, Them Crooked Vultures, Eagles of Death Metal), Joe Barresi (producer), Rick Springfield (solo, Sahara Snow), Jim Keltner (session musician), Mick Fleetwood (Fleetwood Mac) and Rupert Neve (electronics engineer).

From additional photographs posted on the website, it looks as though many of the artists and producers involved in the project are collaborating in the recording of new material that may become the films soundtrack, or possibly be released as an accompanying album. 

The initial trailer for Sound City: Real to Reel

Free download from Rob Zombie

Rob Zombie is probably one of the busiest people in both the music and film industries at the moment. 

His next film, The Lords of Salem, is premiering at the Toronto International Film Festival the first week of September.

After that, he is headlining a two month tour of the United States and Europe with Marilyn Manson, billed as The Twins of Evil. 

Between being involved with the new film and organising a massive tour, he's also been recording a new studio album and done an interview about all of the above. 

And that's not all! Even with all that going on Rob Zombie still managed to find the time to drive around Los Angeles, listening to and selecting the tracks to appear on his newly released, career spanning remix compilation, Mondo Sex Head. 

As for that free download I mentioned, you can get it here. You'll have to work for it though by finding 13 zombie kitten heads. You can get an idea of what you'll be looking for from the image below. Happy hunting.