Latest
Hannibal.
I was one of the first people who, when seeing the first promo for NBC’s new show Hannibal, to say “Oh no, not again.” I mean Hannibal Rising (a.k.a. The Young Hannibal Adventures, as I prefer to call it) was enough, right? Surely to God a TV series is not even required. Well, when I found out that Mads Mikkelsen (of Casino Royale and Valhalla Rising fame) was turning down film roles right and left to work on the show, I became intrigued. And when I found out David Slade (of 30 Days of Night fame) was involved, I became interested. After the first episode, I was thrilled.
For those who don’t know, the show takes place before Silence of the Lambs, and even before Red Dragon (or Michael Mann’s superior Manhunter, based on the same Thomas Harris novel), when Will Graham and Lecter first work together, with the fun being that we, as the audience, know how things will work out. But do we?
Based on the first two episodes I’ve watched, the show weighs heavily on Graham (wonderfully played by Brit Hugh Dancy), as it should — but wavers a bit more towards Lecter than it should. Let’s hope NBC (who has done a wonderful job of bringing such a dark and grisly show to air otherwise) has things well in hand.
Flying Hershel.
A sneak peek from Season Five of The Walking Dead (if I ran it, anyways): Hershel gets an upgrade.
Early Works.
On my recent birthday post, I mentioned wanting to find some artwork I had on one of my first webpages, a site I had sponsored by the good folks at Planetquake — my very first “Scampie comic” among them. Whilst trolling about the interwebs tonight, I finally found a site which had archived a number of the old PQ sites, including my own. So here are a few golden oldies from at least about a decade or so ago:
This is a little Lovecraftian pic I did, which was a big hit amongst the Quake fans I knew (for reasons which are obvious if you’ve ever played the game).
Harry Potter meets Silent Bob. Have no idea what inspired this one.
Spock meets Homer. Again, no idea — but it’s funny at least.
At long last, my first ever Scampie comic, “Four Helpings of Scampie”, which I did under my internet pseudonym Biff Debris. I actually didn’t mean for the Scampie character to mispronounce “Darth Sidius” as “Darth Sirius”, but it added another level of humor to the pic.
John Carpenter’s The Thing: The Musical.
Anyone who knows me knows I’m nuts about anything John Carpenter. Shit, I would re-watch his take on Village of the Damned instead of anything playing on TV most days. And don’t get me started on The Thing. There are few films which are as memorable, quotable and infinitely enjoyable. Sure, one needs a strong stomach to endure Rob Bottin’s mind-bending practical effects (most of which stand up still today in this age of overwrought CGI), but the film’s strong performances, script and Carpenter’s signature thematic style of direction really make the film what it is. Anyway, enough background — we’re here today to make fun of it.
Well, as with the best of satire, in this case it’s done with a great deal of love. Jon and Al Kaplan (and their friend, vocalist Nick Amado) turn everyone’s favorite quicksilver shape shifting extraterrestrial into one heck of a saloon singer. just imagine his tendrils wrapped around a microphone stand in a smoke-filled cabaret as you listen:
