Farewell Bright Knight - The Death of Batman

Farwell Bright Knight - The Death of Batman

late last week we lost one of my childhood heroes, Adam West, the actor who played Batman in the classic 1960's TV show.
West was 88 years old and died from luekemia. Batman the tv show seemed almost like a constant, no matter what time of day or when you turned on the tv you could literally stumble across it somewhere in the tv schedules.

As flawed at it was funny, the tongue in cheek comedy delivered with such serious command from West made it all the more beautiful. I still own the toy Batmobile from Corgi, albeit a little worse for wear it was one of my favorite toys as a kid. Batman was the first real superhero for me, growing up in the 70's the tv was peppered with childhood heroes we could all lose ourselves in for a while, shows like The Lone Ranger, Flash Gordon, Batman or The Six Million Dollar Man. The Amazing Spiderman movie didn't come along until 1977 so it was Batman that had established my love for the character.

West lived in Sun Valley, and if you saw Rusty Blazenhoffs post on Boing Boing recently which was originally posted back in 2014 you'll have learnt that West was quite the joker ( pun intended) - a flip through the Sun Valley, Idaho Phone Book saw several entries that West had engineered into the listings.
At Comicon events and entertainment trade shows and panels he was the down to earth, kind and warm guy everyone had time for by the truck load. Held in such high regard for decades despite Batmans relatively short run he will always be remembered a true class act.

 Batman the tv show never took itself too seriously, the incredible coloured sets and costumes provided a visual splendour unlike anything on tv at the time. The choreographed fight scenes were the stuff of Wild West saloon fights more than crippling rib breaking affairs but anyone I talk to always remembers it so fondly, in a warm slow head nod kind of way. Adam West, Batman - you will be fondly missed sir but never forgotten.

PREDATOR Just Turned 30 Years Old!

You know you feel old when one of your all time movie favorites nudges 30. Arnold Schwarzenegger's rumble in the jungle with the mandibled ugly motherf****r did just that on June 12th 2017.
Directed by John McTiernan and released on June 12 1987, Predator is perhaps one of the finest sci-fi movies ever made, Written by relatively newbies at the time, brothers Jim Thomas and John Thomas. The two would later go on to write other action movies such as Predator's lesser sequel, Predator 2 and the Kurt Russell movie Executive Decision which famously killed off Steven Segal relatively early on in the movie (he gets sucked out of a plane hatch) and later in 2001 they also wrote the military chase thriller Behind Enemy Lines starring Owen Wilson and Gene Hackman.

Arnie had wrapped Raw Deal, his mob themed actioner in 1986 when he was approached with the screenplay for Predator, which at the time was originally called 'Hunter'. Like his previous movies, Predator was pitched as a major A list part and would see Arnie take on the role as the leader of an elite special forces team on a mission to rescue hostages from guerrilla territory in Val Verde in Central America's Northern Triangle.

The movie saw the heavily armed special forces elite become the hunted as the Predator picked off the elite warrior team one by one.

Predator the movie wasn't all plain sailing, the film had to face a lot of challenges to get made and become the blockbuster hit it went on to become.The Predator creature was actually the thing that nearly sank the entire movie, the design of the original Alien creature was totally different to the Stan Winston masterpiece we've all come to know and associate with the franchise. The original Predator creature concept had a long neck and beak like appearance with spindly long legs, a far cry from the mandible, dreadlock styled  alien warrior -hunter killing machine we know now.
Initially the suit was going to worn by martial arts expert Jean Claude van Damme, who at the time was a relative unknown within Hollywood. Steve Johnson Effects supervisor at Boss films got the brief for the 'alien creature, "What they needed was a character with backward bent reptilian legs, extended arms and a head that was out here," Johnson said. "They wanted to shoot on the muddy slopes of Mexico in the real jungles. It was virtually physically impossible to do. I told them it wouldn't work."Van Damme got his body cast but didn't realize that the red version of the suit was for the effects guys to work from, thinking it was actually the look of the Alien Van Damme ranted and had misgivings about the integrity of the role he had been offered. Van Damme promptly left the film reportedly from when a stunt man had broken his leg doing a kicking stunt Van Damme had refused to do due to the risk of injury .

Director John McTiernan wasn't so sure about the red alien suit design either, "it looked like shit, we had to stop shooting the movie anyway because we ran out of money, I sent the rushes in and told the studio, you really don't want to continue making this."
The shoot had already been a difficult experience for everyone, the heat was insane, the location was dense jungle, McTiernan had lost a lot of weight because he refused to eat the  local food and it seemed the movie would soon grind to a halt or worse still collapse entirely.

However, the money drying up was actually the break the movie needed and one that provided the breathing space for the movie to carry on. Producer Lawrence Gordon secured more funding to continue the project many weeks later but not before Arnie had recommended to McTiernan to give Stan Winston a call, the special effects guru he'd worked on with Terminator in 1984. "Inspiration for the Predator design came from a piece of artwork in Joel Silver's office, a painting of a Rastafarian warrior. "I saw that and I thought it was a great starting concept for the Predator," Winston said. "I stared drawing and designing this alien character with quills that in silhouette would look like dreadlocks. It was on a flight to Japan with James Cameron that Winston got some additional input from Cameron. ' I've always wanted to see something with mandibles". Winston made good note of it and sketched out several designs before the plane landed.

The 200lb suit would be worn by van Damme replacement and  7ft tall actor (yes, 7 fee tall!) Kevin Peter Hall with the newly minted tribal looking design that Stan Winston ahd turned into a killer suit, McTiernan was able to shoot for 4 more weeks and finish the movie. Hall had suited up before on the bigfoot TV show "Harry and the Hendersons" but the film shoots location and heat were challenges even the 7tf tall Hall hadn't banked on. Hall would reprise the Predator role in Predator 2. Unfortunately it was to be his last Predator role on film, Hall died in 1991 after contracting HIV, he was 35 years old.

The invisibility effect of the predator in the movie was achieved by having someone wearing a bright red suit (because it was the farthest opposite of the green of the jungle and the blue of the sky) the size of the Predator. The red was removed with chroma key techniques, leaving an empty area. The take was then repeated without the actors using a 30% wider lens on the camera. When the two takes were combined optically, the jungle from the second take filled in the empty area. Because the second take was filmed with a wider lens, a vague outline of the alien could be seen with the background scenery bending around its shape

The budget for Predator came in at $18 Million and went on to bank $98.2 million at the global box office, compare that to the last Predator movie 'Predators" budgeted at $40 Million it went on the bank $127 Million globally.

Predators cast was made up of a variety of larger than life characters, ex real life Navy Seal Jesse Ventura 'The sexual Tyranasaurus Rex' tobacco chewing minigun toting mercenary didn't need much tuition in handling firearms.

Carl Weathers, ex Oakland Raiders linebacker had appeared in a number of movies in the 70's and 80's including Force 10 from Navarone. Silver had recruited  him in passing one day (as legend has it) by promising Weathers he could be in a 'big movie' he was doing.

Shane Black had written the script for Ron Silvers, Lethal Weapon starring Mel Gibson and Danny Glover which had released in March of 1987. Ironically enough Black is currently directing his own Predator movie and was recruited to help polish the script on the 1987 version more by trickery than anything else. The producers convinced him to take a part of the movie and told him, 'While you're down there running around with guns and stuff you may as well work on the script for us".

Sonny Landham who played Billy in Predator is descendant of the Cherokee and Seminole native tribes, a former porn actor who went mainstream and starred in a string of movies including Warriors, Action Jackson and Southern Comfort. A behind the scenes documentary revealed that Sonny had a bodyguard on the set of Predator who was tasked in keeping Sonny out of trouble off set when the crew wasn't shooting. Landham was involved in a car accident in 2016 and ended up losing both his legs as a result of the injuries he sustained when his car left the road. He has a Go Fund Me page set up to help him here

Arnold Schwarzenegger already had Conan The Destroyer,Terminator, Commando and Raw Deal movies under his belt by the time Predator came around and was already a household name when it came to summer blockbusters.Arnie was establishing his Hollywood clout and box office draw and by now making the most of his appeal, now officially a US citizen (since 1983) he was embracing the American dream. During the 1980's and early 90's Arnie pretty much defined the blockbuster movie, a larger than life star, actor and ambassador for physical fitness he is also a successful businessman, investor and 7 times winner of the Mr Olympia body building competition. It wasn't until Terminator 2 came along until he had really cemented his stellar pay cheque heyday. Arnie also managed to forge a successful political career when he served as the Governor of California from 2003 to 2011 before returning to acting and starring in movies such as Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines Sabotage, The Expendables 3, not to mention a more varied role in the Zombie movie 'Maggie'.

Bill Duke who played razor snapping dry shaver Mac is an American actor who's other notable appearances have been in the tv shows Lost and Battlestar Gallactica, he also starred in Commando with Arnie and little known fact -  directed the Whoopee Goldberg film Sister Act 2.

Richard Chaves who played poncho is not stranger to military life, from 1969-70 Chaves joined the army. He served 3 years with a tour of duty in Vietnam. His television roles include guest starring roles in Star Trek: Voyager, Walker, Texas Ranger, F.B.I. The Untold Stories, LA Law, Babylon 5, MacGyver, Trials of Rosie O'Neill, Miami Vice, Hill St. Blues. Film roles aren't as prolific but his TV work is extensive.

So there you have it, Predator at 30 years old, pretty crazy to think that with Star Wars just turning 40 many more of the big blockbuster movies are also putting some years under their belt.
I was at art college in 1987 and saw Predator three times, even now when I watch it with my son on TV the film never really seems to age.

End.

Wartile: A Viking RTS You Can Drool Over

I'm Currently working with a very cool developer on their latest project; WARTILE, a Viking RTS game with a sprinkling of turn based flavor to it.
What stands out the most about this game is the absolutely gorgeous visuals of the playable maps, or battleboards as they are known. These battleboards are created digitally to replicate the resin diorama boards you would typically play with real figurines on.
Each battleboard your characters move and fight on provides a different combat experience and environment, the battleboards have a tile based system that you'd find on most strategy turn based games but this has a real time combat element to the gameplay.

The cool-down aspect between moves for the turn based flavor actually works pretty well, at first glance you'd be set for a full on turn based strategy game but I love the fact these guys have found a way to make both real time and turn based game-play work in unison. The design is a bold move but one that works once you get into the swing of it.
Customizing figurines from the spoils of war, spending your loot from raiding churches and caves provides players with a means to level up with a variety of cool looking weapons and armor.

Battleboards are presented in gorgeous detail complete with coastlines and the water looks like a cross between clear poured resin and something you'd find in a billionaires model collection. The Viking figurines are animated and once selected you'll need to choose your fighters carefully and equip them with the weapons and armor you have collected along the way.

Wartile is a game not bound by historical accuracy or fact, the developers are keen to explore a broader, wider scope of content which could feature Knights, Kings and Lords. Onwards from there Wartile could add other historical characters such as Templar Kings, Persian Warriors and Roman Soldiers
Michael Rud Jakobsen, Creative Director of Playwood Project says "On the history we decided a while ago to not be bound by history facts or events, but more inspired by mythology and legends allowing only or fantasy to set the boundaries of the story."

Wartile is available on Steam Early Access which means that more content, fixes and updates are due, if you want something a bit different and particularly gorgeous to look at while you're playing you'd be hard pressed to find another game like this, especially one that Kotaku called "too pretty to bleed over."

There's a small update going into the game shortly with a very cool 'stealth mission' battleboard.

Wartile is available on Steam 

The New Stormtrooper Helmet Star Wars fans Are Crazy For

Star Wars Black Series Full Size Stormtrooper Helmet

If you’re a regular reader of my blog you may recall I took the plunge on purchasing a life size replica of a Stormtrooper helmet last year. Overall I was pretty happy with it, close inspection of it highlights the fact it’s a home based kit made to order, the biggest giveaway of that being I have to turn the helmet sideways to get it over my head because the mould was probably squashed somehow and the painted on elements are okay..ish - but it’s functional in that it sits on my desk as an ornament and that is the only reason I bought it.

I have an absolute obsession with the original Stormtroopers – I even have a Pinterest page dedicated to them here

Last year HASBO released the Kylo Ren cosplay replica helmet as part of its Black Series, an impressive mould and likeness from the movie, it gave cosplayers the leg up they needed when looking to recreate the Force Awakens ultimate villain.

Now on the horizon (launching just in time for Halloween 2016) Hasbro have followed up the impressive Kylo Ren mask with the Imperial Stormtrooper full 1:1 scale helmet.

Now  the armour purists out there who know the sculpt differences in the helmets between ANH, ESB and ROTJ helmets (add to that now Rogue One sculpts) and the arguments for and against Andrew Ainsworth moulds it will be interesting to see how these are received – early indications from looking at the Replica Prop Forum comments suggest that this one for the price and accuracy is a winner. For many collectors the EFX version is the holy grail for costumers and collectors.

One of the standout differences with the Black Series version to all that have gone before it and are approved by the current 501^st costuming ‘rules’ is the indents along the sides, in the original trilogy of films these hash / chevron lines are always represented by decals (see, we’re in real nerd country now) , however in Rogue One these are clearly indented...and straight not curved (see photo from Rogue One costume display below) and painted like the Black Series version which does suggest that this is a Rogue One Stormtrooper lid.

 Above: Rogue One Stormtrooper costume, note indents along side of helmet

The other difference is that the right hand eye socket doesn’t have the bump on the lower eye lid, the small movie imperfection that was in the original mould when the Stormtrooper helmets were created, collectors and 501^st troopers swear by the eye bump ( see below) as an indication of movie authenticity. See I told you it was the small things. Anyway, this is completely absent on the new Hasbro Black series lid but 90% of the collectors who are going to grab this probably don’t really care.

Throw into that a half decent voice changer this is perhaps as close as anyone is going to get to an affordable and movie accurate Stormtrooper lid.

Above: ABS plastic, sharp detail and and a movie accurate sculpt, what's not to like!?

Amazon is listing the helmets now with a launch date of 28th Oct.

Who The F**K is Casey Neistat?

If you don't know who Casey Neistat is then chances are your internet has been down for way longer than it should have been.
Casey Neistat is a New York based Vlogger and film maker currently burning a legacy on the internet and YouTube at an incredible rate. In August 2015 he had just over 1 million subscribers on his Youtube channel, that figure is now racing past 5.2 million subscribers as we hit the halfway mark to October 2016 and over 683+ daily vlogs in the bag.

Neistat is currently the fastest growing Youtuber in terms of popularity and subscriber growth, it's fair to say he had a somewhat lucky break with being able to sell his Neistat Brothers tv show to HBO for a cool $2 Million a few years back but in general its clear to see that Neistat's popularity stems from his genuine personality and all round super friendly and fearless appeal.
Neistat, like many of the top YouTubers believes in delivering high quality content, it is after all what drives viewer interest on most youtube channels, unique highly engaging content that draws the audience in. His unique formatted style complete with a range of drone and hand held footage all of which is shown in super high definition quality and accompanied by music from the genre typically known as 'Headbob' mixes beautifully with his spontaneous and down to earth persona on camera.

Above all though, Neistat is super connected with the city of New York, his trademark Boosted board and bastardized Rayban Wayfarers (see this episode about the sunglasses) define who he is and how the people of New York recognize who he is as he darts through busy city traffic at what looks like crazy breakneck speeds. Neistat is also super connected to all walks of celebrity and media folk including other Youtubers like Roman Atwood, film directors like Ariel Schulman (Catfish and Paranormal Activity 3,4) , singers such as Justin Beiber and sports personalities like USA World Cup player Jimmy Conrad, the list goes on...

So, who the f**k is Casey Neistat?..

Neistat is the guy who snowboarded through New York city towed behind a jeep during one of the worst ever snowstorms to smash into New York , thus gaining massive global exposure through various news networks and racking up over 15 million views.

Neistat is the guy who 's breakthrough YouTube film 'Bike Lanes'  saw major news channels and New York blogs propel him to local stardom when he got ticketed by the NYPD for not riding his bike in the designated bike lanes (sounds mundane but Neistat crashing into a parked NYPD squad car deliberately to prove his point is pure genius).

Neistat is the guy who blew Nike's entire ad budget on international travel over the course of 10 days  but in doing so created the single best YouTube branding story out of three he created for the brand, titled 'Make it Count'  it remains his most watched YouTube piece with over 21 million views.

Neistat is the guy who hung on the bottom of a rope ladder suspended beneath a helicopter over the famous Hollywood sign to create a shot for Samsung's 360 camera.

Neistat is the guy who brands love, emerging powered skateboard brand, Boosted gets massive exposure from Neistat who uses their boards as a means of travel when he's in New York ( the guy dodges truck wing mirrors like a goddamn ninja). DJI, makers of the Phantom 4 and Mavic high resolution drones also get amazing exposure.Samsung and Canon get some of the most coverage through paid and unpaid endorsements of their brand and gear. Even corner shop and party supplier Balloon Saloon also does pretty good out of the visits by Neistat, $1 Pizza also gets a lot of promotion.

Neistat is the guy who, along with tattoo artist Scott Campbell went to Afghanistan and was embedded with American Special Forces Para Rescue jumpers to tattoo them, also check this particular episode for a blistering account of how getting tattooed after hours of insane close combat with Taliban forces proved to be a cathartic experience for one PJ by the name of Roger Sparks.

Neistat is the guy who goes through more tech than NASA on a bad day, his drone graveyard in his New York studio makes grown men weep, don't get me started on the number of smashed cameras and expensive lenses, to Neistat these cool gadgets are merely tools of his trade as a film maker.

Neistat is the guy who is creator and owner of venture capitally funded social app, Beme. Available on iOS and Android, Beme is a video sharing app designed to help people communicate and promote themselves and share their daily experiences. ( Beme was purchased by CNN in 2016 and employs Casey and his team to drive Beme as a media content driven arm of CNN).

Neistat is the guy who's video on the $21,000 Airline seat went viral, gaining him further exposure around the globe on various culture, news and lifestyle channels who loved the informative and detailed insight into luxury air travel with Emirates Airlines.

Neistat is the guy who decided to vlog daily on March 25th 2015, his 34th Birthday, he uploads a vlog segment everyday except for when he's too busy traveling, each Vlog lasts around 8-11 minutes and is a cumulative overview of his day.

Neistat is the living proof that living a decent and honest life with a positive outlook is one of the facets to success and happiness. Truth be told, if you're going to get advice from anyone, get it from someone who's living the dream and wringing every second out of every day and being successful with it.

Neistat is the guy who has a Supermodel for a friend - Karlie Kloss  who also started up her own channel with the help of Neistat's guidance.

Neistat is the guy who sometimes has a segment on his vlog called 'mailtime' whereby he opens ( totally destroys) his fanmail packages to camera, he gets sent everything from branded clothing and candy to tripods,gadgets and live lobsters (yes, live lobsters).

Neistat is the guy who helped his friendly UPS delivery driver Marlan start a Go Fund me page as a way for Marlan to help his critically ill sister receive medical treatment for her Kidney dialysis, something Marlan was struggling to pay for out of his own UPS salary. The fund target was smashed in less than 3 days.

Neistat is the guy who won GQ's 'New Media Star' Man of the Year and the Streamy's (First Person category) award  in the same year.

So there you have it, that's who the f**k Casey Neistat is and he's totally killing it.
Check out his YouTube channel

Students are Hunting Killer Clowns

Ever since John Wayne Gacy and Tim Robbins gave clowns a bad name, oh and that one in the kids bedroom in the original poltergeist movie -  we've been plagued ever since by the darker aspects of clowns.
So much so it would appear that its become quite an epidemic, especially since the Twitter page for Clown Sightings has exploded in follower growth in the space of a week to well over 240,000.
They're arresting clowns in Kentucky ( a man dressed as a clown hid in a ditch), then Police in Virginia arrested two clown outfit wearing teenagers for chasing kids. Then in Winston-Salem a guy gets cuffed for reporting a clown trying to lure children into the woods..but later admitted he made it all up.
In Phoenix two other teens were arrested for robbing a Dominos Pizza and Taco Bell dressed as clowns. (not quite Batman bank style).
In Pennsylvania a 16 year old student was stabbed to death by an attacker wearing a clown mask. 
Authorities in Arkansas are enforcing a zero tolerance to anyone dressed as a clown...a move which could prove to be a career killer to children's entertainers in Arkansas.

Kentucky: Clown arrested, wasn't laughing at the time according to Police.

Pesco County Schools posted the following 'Clown Alert' on their Facebook page...
As you may be aware, there is a "Creepy Clown" phenomenon that is sweeping the country. This morning a tweet from the "Ain't Clowning Around" twitter site posted a threat about high schools. We have no reason to believe it is credible or that any of our schools are in danger. However, we are not summarily dismissing it and the sheriff’s office is investigating. To be on the safe side, all Pasco County Schools have been placed on "Alert Campus", which essentially amounts to “See something, say something.” Teachers will continue to teach and all other activities will go on as planned. Thank you for understanding that we are simply erring on the side of caution.

Orange areas above indicate reports of clown sightings ( Do clowns wear warm coats in Alaska?)

Nobody appears to have killed a clown yet, I don't know what's less dignified, getting shot dressed as a clown or getting killed by a clown. Then again, scaring the shit out of people always gets a laugh...until a clown induced heart attack happens.

If you're hunting clowns in Penn State ( apparently all the students are hunting them) you might need this, available from Tee Spring.