Dork Art: Comic Con Minilist Classics

IGN revealed today that 20th Century Fox will be selling these exclusive DVDs featuring a batch of Olly Moss wannabe minimalist covers.  When it comes to these kinds of exclusives I'm always fascinated by how the suits choose the movies.  Why Child's Play?  Why The Fly?  Silence of the Lambs?  Donnie Darko?  I dunno.  And I'm not sure if I'll bother fetching them this weekend.  Maybe the Apes disc.  Maybe.

--Brad

Dork Art: Bigode Ideias's Big Trouble In Little China

Coming hot of the heels of his Escape From New York print, Bigode Ideias unleashes his floating head tribute to my second favorite John Carpenter film Big Trouble In Little China.  I'd certainly snatch the six demon bag and slap this on the side of the Porkchop Express.

--Brad

Dork Art: Santiago Caruso's Pan's Labyrinth

Here's a fascinating news item.  While the world (or at least the internet) is going gaga crazy for Pacific Rim, BFI Books is taking pre-orders for their Pan's Labyrinth critique.  The book is written Mar Diestro-Dopido, however, the immediate treat is the above cover image from artist Santiago Caruso.  A real beauty, this gothic illustration (and the unpublished version below) can be viewed in detail on Caruso's blog.  I'll certainly be snagging a copy, and I cannot wait for the (hopefully) inevitable Devil's Backbone follow-up.

--Brad

A Fistful of Titans! (Brad's Picks)

Yes!  I can not express how happy it is to report my enthusiasm for Guillermo Del Toro's latest genre smackdown, Pacific Rim.  It's not a flawless masterpiece (save those squees for The Devil's Backbone, Blade 2, & Pan's Labyrinth), but it is a joyous celebration of all things titanic - be that of the Harryhausen or Honda variety - and it's the Blockbuster this Summer Season so desperately needs.  Of course, Pacific Rim begs ITMOD to question, what are our favorite cinematic titans?

5.  Godzilla (Gojira):  Look, I love Godzilla.  And it feels really weird to drop him at the bottom of my Titan list.  But if I'm going to be honest with myself, I really only love the original film and the comic book incarnations.  I have not experienced the pleathora of rubber suit flicks like I should have as a kid.  With Matt's help, I'm going to make up for that now in my 30s.  He's got a slew of films lined up for me, and I'm hoping that if I were to put this list together next year, the big lizard will appear much higher on the chart.

4.  Chev Chellios (Crank 2 - High Voltage):  I don't know if you guys have been paying attention, but ITMOD holds Crank 2 in very high regard.  It's easily one of my Top 5 films of the last ten years; mostly due to its complete insanity, highlighted twenty minutes into the movie when Statham suddenly transforms into a monstrous rubbery Kaiju.  This has to be one of the wildest & whackiest moments in movies - a genuine Need-To-See-It-To-Believe-It.

3.  The Rancor (Star Wars - Return of the Jedi):  The Rancor is the beginning of my own fascination with stop-motion beasties.  Before I knew the names of Ray Harryhausen or Willis O'Brien, I knew the terror of this piggy-munching grotesque.  I look back at Return of the Jedi & it's easily my least favorite of the original trilogy, but Jabba's Palace is still a magnificent wonderland of creatures & curiosities, and the Rancor is it's ultimate treasure.

2.  Galactus (Fantastic Four - Rise of the Silver Surfer):  This is a cheat.  The Galactus seen in the Fantastic Four sequel is a lame ass cloud of insects.  BUT!  That lame ass cloud of insects is based on one of comics greatest behemoths.  Behold, The World Eater!  In 1966, when Jack Kirby hit a creative wall of stereotypes, he turned to the Bible for inspiration and crafted a supreme being worthy of those Old Testament threat levels.  Galactus cares not for our human problems, he just hungers, and our pitiful ant hill will satiate him until he hits the next planet on the buffet line.

1.  King Kong:  All beasts go back to King Kong eventually.  The Eighth Wonder of the World is a scary ass monster that goes toe-to-toe with T-Rexes and Pterodactyls, but eventually reveals the lovelorn soul in all of us.  Willis O'Brien brought life to the tiny puppet, and birthed a generation of fanboys that would eventually go on to create Star Wars, Indiana Jones, and Pacific Rim.  But not just an icon; eighty years later and the film still packs an emotional wallop that sends this geek to tears every time.

--Brad

A Fistful of Titans! (Matt’s Picks)

    Guillermo del Toro’s Kaiju VS Giant Robots movie Pacific Rim has finally hit theaters and it was a whole heck of a lot better than I expected.  So this week, we’re looking at the coolest giants to lumber onto the big screen.

5.  Leviathan (Hellraiser II: Hellbound)  is Lord of the Labyrinth and not shy with irony.  It’s probably a good idea to avoid going to hell.  If that doesn’t work out, at least try to keep out of Leviathan’s black light beams.  Trust me.

4.  Shai-Hulud (Dune).  Bless the Maker and His water.  Bless the coming and the going of Him.  May His passage cleanse the world.  May He keep the world for His people.

3.  Kronos (Kronos) was one of the original Greek Titans and the source of Zeus’ daddy issues.  But Kronos was also a giant space robot that rampaged across the Southwest back in the 50s, and he was pretty cool…I mean, nasty.

2.  Cthulhu (The Call of Cthulhu) spends much of his time sequestered in a secret location (I’ll give you a hint, it’s not in North Carolina).  But once in a while, he likes to come out and see how the world is progressing, how those stars are turning.  Hold on to your soul!

1.  King Ghidorah (Ghidora the Three-Headed Monster) takes the Kaiju cake.  When Ghidorah dropped down from space, it took the combined might of three other giants to drive the three headed monster away.  A great, golden dragon shooting lightening out of three heads while flying around Japan.  Awesome.

-Matt

Dork Art: Agent Carter

Marvel Studios has really been loving the Pulp Fiction covers lately, first their Iron Man 3 paperback, and now we get this Hard Case poster for their upcoming Agent Carter short film.  Agent Carter will focus, shockingly! on Hayley Atwell's Agent Carter as she punches Nazis or something.  I haven't been too impressed with these Marvel One-Shots, but this is also the first one in which I actually give a crap about the character involved.  The film will premiere at an undisclosed location next weekend at the San Diego Comic Con, and I'll be scouring the streets for a ticket.  Those unable to attend Comic Con will get their chance when the Iron Man 3 dvd hits the market.

--Brad

Dork Art: More Mondo Comic Con

For some of their new prints, Mondo is working a new method this year at Comic Con; these posters will actually be going on sale tomorrow through their website, but can only be be picked up at the San Diego Convention Center next weekend.  I like this in theory.  Especially for a high ticket item like the above Dark Tower print from Drew Struzan ($275).  Curious to see how fast these go - the usual ten seconds?  Or will we lucky Comic Con few be given five or ten minutes to score our copies?  I won't hold my breath, but I will be in the queue tomorrow.  Martin Ansin's Conan The Barbarian is pretty killer too, and much more reasonable at $50.  I dig the Olly Moss Miyazaki prints, but I could not care less about those movies.  Sorry nerds.  Mondo will still have other surprises at their booth this weekend, but if you want these prints you better pay attention to Twitter tomorrow morning.

--Brad