New tshirt: Welcome to the party, pal!

via redbubble.com

I often find myself thinking this when I hear about the trials and tribulations new parents are going through!

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Review: Rare Exports (2010)

In Australia, like in the UK and the US, Santa Claus is the jolly old elf who brings presents at Christmas-time.

But Christmas has a dark side.

via horrorscope.com.au

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Movie Minutiae: Nineteen Eighty-Four (1984)

I was prompted to look into this after reading this story about a first edition of George Orwell's Nineteen Eighty-Four, found in a charity bin in Wollongong.

It got me thinking about taking liberties, since even the best adaptations take liberties with the original material. They have to - they're movies, not books! And part of the charm of adaptations is seeing how the screenwriter goes about it.

via blogs.abc.net.au

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The story behind Switzerland's first sf movie

If you're going to see the When ET Has a Chainsaw panel (Friday 1700, Room 212) and then Cargo tonight (Friday 2100, Room 210), you might like to check out this week's Movie Minutiae, over at The Buzz.

Director Ivan Engler told me all about the challenges of making Switzerland's first science fiction movie.

“Cargo took eight years in the making, and a lot of blood, sweat and tears. Most of my fellow filmmakers know about the ordeal I went through, and everybody is not only impressed, but also quite scared when they hear about the sacrifices.”

Read more at The Buzz.

(My trip to AussieCon 4 has received financial assistance from the Queensland Government through Arts Queensland)

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100 days of action: get on board!

(Image: Olly Moss, Flickr)

A friend of mine, Chris Paine, is going to watch 100 action movies in 100 days.

Find out more at the 100 Days of Action site.

The Horseman: go see it!

I've done a rare post over at HorrorScope, for a very good reason.

The Horseman has finally got a limited cinema release!

Head on over to HorrorScope to find out more.

Matthew Reilly interview

Matthew Reilly has likened his novels to big budget Hollywood action movies, without the budget restrictions. The Sydney-based author is set to get a taste of Hollywood himself, when he moves to the US later this year to work on a TV pilot. Meanwhile, the film adaptation of Hover Car Racer is crawling through the works at Disney. As Reilly prepared for his Sydney Writers Festival duties, Articulate asked him about his plans for Jack West Jr and Shane Schofield, breaking readers' expectations, and dealing with the critics.

Read on...

And don't forget to vote for this feature at Newsvine!

And also at Digg.

Ben Templesmith: Comics 'in the blood'

Posted an interview with WA artist/writer Ben Templesmith yesterday, who has just been nominated for two Eagle Awards and whose vampire-fest 30 Days of Night will appear as a major Hollywood blockbuster later this year.

Since publishing a feature about Character Sketches a while back I've been getting tip-offs about happenings in the comics scene, and the more I hear the more interested I become.

I was in Borders the other day and thought I'd check out their comics section, but it was a total dog's breakfast. Didn't seem to be any order whatsoever.

Anway, here's a couple of choice quotes from the Templesmith interview.

On seeing 30 Days of Night on the big screen:

"It's going to be crazy to see something I came up with on my drawing desk at 3am in the morning living and breathing on screen."

On working with comic industry legend Warren Ellis:

"Warren's mind is like the Ganges river. You just don't know what might float on by next. He has so many ideas."

I also thought it was kind of cute Templesmith was stoked about Melissa George's involvement in the project. (He described it as "funny and cool as hell").

Read the full feature at Articulate.

'Swarm' interview tops busy week

My interview with Matt Hanson - the driving force behind A Swarm of Angels - has ended a busy week.

Hanson's enthusiasm is contagious, even via email, and I think the following quote sums it up pretty nicely:

"Everyone knows Hollywood is broken. Hell, even Hollywood knows it. Their business model is hopelessly outdated for the digital age. But A Swarm of Angels isn't about competing with that, it's about creating a complementary entertainment ecology that is peer-to-peer friendly, and offers a way to create large-scale works that are free to give away and share."

Also had the opportunity to post a feature on an interesting comic project by Sydney artist Matthew Huynh, whereby he illustrated the stories of Cabramatta and Canley Vale residents.

(Comic fans should check back at Articulate next week, for an interview with 30 Days of Night artist Ben Templesmith.)

And Movie Minutiae - which has been gaining in popularity since I teamed up with fellow blogger Katie Cassidy - featured an article about The Thing written almost entirely by an Articulate reader (which was what I intended when I started the column 18 months or so ago).

I also received some exciting news this week, but I've been sworn to secrecy!

Stay tuned...