Category Archives: Films
Criterion Collection Blu-Ray Player
I usually design Blu-Ray cases here, but for fun I thought I’d design a Blu-Ray player. The best theme for a player in my opinion is the Criterion Collection, something I’m sure many Cinephiles would agree with.
Criterion would look minimalistic and somewhat luxurious, so I enlisted wood paneling and aluminum for the main body. Gone are the electronic LCD panels, instead are a few printed card displays that are illuminated with bulb or LED lights. Buttons are also scarce here, only the power and eject buttons are on the face (the rest could be buried behind a panel elsewhere, I didn’t include it here).
One cosmetic feature is a single-hand clock that would display the progress of the film in lieu of a quartz timer. I personally think it looks really classy, especially with the Criterion ‘C’ on the face. For those who want to see specific time information, that could be displayed onscreen (via remote press - remote not shown).
There are two individual disc trays; for loading the feature disc and special features disc, or two completely different movies. I think this would be better than those 3 or 5 disc trays, allowing you to replace discs without interrupting one that is currently playing. Also you can quickly toggle between the two discs, because they would be loaded simultaneously.
And one feature that I think is really neat is a perch for parking your (empty) movie case. This perch has dramatic lighting to illuminate the case, showing off the case art and making this a theater marquee of sorts. The lights dim when the films plays, and come back on when the film is stopped.
This was just a fun exercise. In all likelihood such a player would look very conventional (cobalt black, LED display, single disc tray). Personally I’d like to see a flat design, something I pitched a long time ago.
Jurassic Park 3D Glasses
I’m pretty sure that 3D glasses similar to the design above are being readied for next year’s Jurassic Park 3D re-release. The night vision goggles seen in the film would make for the perfect design. In fact, if they don’t issue something like this, I will watch all of the Twilight films in one sitting.*
It’s a no-brainer to make this prediction. The bigger question is how could they not go with something like this? Even The Phantom Menace got some Pod Racer goggles for its 3D release earlier this year.
These don’t need the LED lights, though it would be nice. Just as long as they sport a theme similar to the night vision goggles.
This is probably the one occasion where I’d wear dorky 3D glasses to a film, because these goggles were intended for watching dinosaurs in a dark setting.
Have to say I am quite looking forward to seeing Jurassic Park on the big screen again, as the film is probably the most memorable experience I had going to a theatre. The 3D is entirely gravy, however watching the film you can see that so many shots would work great in the 3rd dimension; like that crane shot that goes up and over the electric fence (Prior to Grant and the kids attempting to climb it), or the herd of Gallimimus racing towards the camera. Spring 2013 can’t get here soon enough.
*I said watch. I’ll probably mute the sound and add my own dialogue.
Jurassic Park Blu-Ray Case Redux
This is just an old idea from a few years back. I’m just giving it the red carpet treatment that recent Blu-Ray designs have received.
The original Jurassic Park Blu-Ray case really helped launch this blog from relative obscurity, so it’s something I’ll always look back on fondly. Certainly helped make me feel less silly about posting stuff, that is for sure.
The only change I made from previous incarnations is the Velociraptor cage is more screen-accurate. I could’ve made it 100% exact, but I wanted to keep the cage openings fewer in number and larger in size, so the Raptor eye peering out is noticeable. The addition of the ladder makes this design look more ornate, but less-friendly for sitting amongst your Blu-Ray library - so it is an optional attachment I feel.
The actual cage is slightly wider than this case design, so it could easily be home to four Blu-Ray cases, which could be handy when the 4th film debuts, or possibly for that 3D re-release arriving in Spring 2013 (to mark the 20th Anniversary). That is, if Universal Studios would consider adopting this design. They’re more than welcome to use it!
Films That Can Be Salvaged Part 9: The Last Starfighter
Salvageable Films is a series where I stop finger-painting for a few minutes and armchair quarterback a feature film that fell just shy of greatness.
The Rundown: The Last Starfighter is a film that bowed in 1984, doing moderately well but not setting the world on fire at the time, certainly not enough to warrant a sequel (until somewhat recently, but those plans have stalled). It trumpeted cutting-edge CG at the time of its release, but nowadays the film is more renowned for its story and usage of video games to propel said story, endearing the film to geeks of all ages. Given the film’s success and notoriety, it would be difficult to call it a cult film, but given its age it has an impressive following that is every bit as strong as most cult films.
What made it great: While the FX blew my socks off when I was a kid, I’ve come to realize that what made it great was Robert Preston’s memorable turn as Centauri. I cannot recall another instance in the history of cinema where a character had the showmanship that beckoned the audience to step right up and see what’s behind the curtain. If you’re a kid, that suckered you in. If you’re an adult, darnit if you didn’t feel like a kid again. Yes Centauri’s role was brief but he can still bring an audience back again and again. Imagine if we were only stuck with the whiny protagonist for the first half of the film? Read the rest of this entry
Geeky Paper Lunch Bag Prints
UPDATE (April 28th/2013): Krusty Burger now added! My way of saying thanks to the influx of hobbyists coming here daily to make these.
The new template is below with the others. Original post as follows:
Another printable for you to tackle, for those who like really easy DIY. These are logos you can print onto your paper lunch bag to make it look like a take-out bag:
You can use white paper bags or regular brown bags (for that McDonald’s look). Your choices are Los Pollos Hermanos, The Krusty Krab, Mooby’s, and Smiley’s (that only took a minute to make so why not?).
You can find the instructions and downloads after the jump. Read the rest of this entry
The Future Of Geek Landmarks
As you know geeks are in the early stages of taking over the world. As a show of our dominance we are starting to leave landmarks in our wake that will leave future generations in complete awe of our empire.
Right now we have giant Gundam robots springing up in Japan, the Shire becoming a permanent fixture in New Zealand, and um, a Robocop statue being raised in Detroit. Okay that last one, while cool, means we have a long way to go in North America.
Here is a recent video of that Gundam statue, on sentry duty for his geek masters:
By landmarks I mean places of interest that are accessible by everyone for free. A geek mecca like Legoland is a tourist attraction, not a landmark.
The pilgrimages that geeks take now just to check out filming locations speaks to the appeal and power of geeky landmarks. Whether it’s the original Star Wars sets or a popular location from Breaking Bad, if you’ve built it or filmed in it they will come.
But as I mentioned there is a general lack of quality geek landmarks to check out right now. However if the current trends are any indication we’ll see the following:
Building Ornaments
Whether it’s the Daily Planet globe, a Wayne Enterprises or Luthorcorp sign, eventually a few skyscrapers from around the world will indulge in cosplay for some geek love. I’m a bit surprised Marvel or DC’s headquarters don’t do this already, but c’est la vie. This would be among the cheaper initiatives.
Statues and Sculptures
The aforementioned Gundam statues in Japan are groundbreaking and need to be emulated all over the planet. I would say the North American equivalent would be Transformers or superheroes. Plus these would absolutely mess with archeologists in the distant future.
Entire Towns
Some of you may scoff at the idea of building a town that copied Hill Valley or South Park, but you’d be surprised how many cities are being built every year, with many becoming ghost towns. If only they hired a geek architect. As I stated before the Shire project is a pretty cool idea, one that was attempted previously for the Big Whiskey set from Unforgiven (sorry no link!). Mark my words: geek towns will be built! And they will host Weezer concerts every summer.
Vehicles And Ships
The bombshell from earlier this year that a life-size Enterprise would have been built in Las Vegas is still a very cool notion. It blurs the line of being a landmark and a tourist attraction (it was slated to be a hotel and casino), but at least you can visit it and take photos outside. There are other ships and vehicles which would be great for tourists, like the Sandcrawler, Serenity, and the Planet Express. Just a matter of choosing where to permanently park them. There are plenty of UFO attractions currently, but all lacking that pop culture touch.
Parks
A municipal park could be home to outdoor locations seen in a video game, like the fountain from A Link To The Past (see below), or an entire track from Mario Kart — the sky is the limit. Speaking of which, one block from my home they razed several old houses and put in a new park, but prescribed a terrible layout for it. Where are the geek city planners??
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These are all just predictions for now, but you have to admit the appeal of having any of these landmarks become a reality is just huge for us geeks. We’re just going to have to wait until our world takeover is complete in a few years.
