8-bit Guardians of the Galaxy

Star Wars: Crowdsourced

This is awesome.

From the video description:

The Story:

In 2009, thousands of Internet users were asked to remake “Star Wars: A New Hope” into a fan film, 15 seconds at a time. Contributors were allowed to recreate scenes from Star Wars however they wanted. Within just a few months SWU grew into a wild success. The creativity that poured into the project was unimaginable.

SWU has been featured in documentaries, news features and conferences around the world for its unique appeal. In 2010 we won a Primetime Emmy for Outstanding Creative Achievement In Interactive Media.

We can’t thank everyone enough for making this such a special project.

http://StarWarsUncut.com

Jerk it

I’ve been enjoying this song from Thunderheist for a week now. I’ve been enjoying the winning video (done by That Go [warning: sound]) even more. I have been remiss in my duties as a blogger, and I apologize. Enjoy:

thunderheist – jerk it (contest cut) from thatgo on Vimeo.

It seems like the video is filmed with the Phantom, or some other sort of super-high-speed imaging device. Check out this other video that uses it. (Thanks, Allen!)
Edit: I guess it’s actually shot on a Red.

Arrested Development movie?

Bateman: “It’s in the works; the grownups are trying to work out the numbers. David’s very expensive now, but we’re trying to work some sort of a back-end position that he’s comfortable with.” It’s mostly Hancock talk until about halfway, and then David Cross shows up.

Brad Neely Animation Showcase

Tonight, Monday, and next Thursday only, the Alamo Drafthouse downtown will be showing a Brad Neely Animation Showcase. Brad’s the guy from Austin who came up with the Harry Potter spoof ‘Wizard People Dear Reader’ as well as the Cox and Combes George Washington video (NSFW). He also does a whole bunch of funny stuff over at SuperDeluxe. Drafthouse says:

We’ll have a selection of Neely’s funniest animations as well as an introduction and Q&A with a guy that the Pentagon has called “the most dangerous man in the world.” OK, I made that up. He’s really, really funny though and if you miss it you’ll be sad.

In other Drafthouse news, I’m heading to the Monster Rock Sing-Along tonight at the Ritz. Come on feel the noise.

Black Cab Sessions

I feel like I may have posted this before, but it’s worth the possible repost. Check out the Black Cab Sessions, a series of indy performances all done inside old London cabs. For an English outfit, Texan musicians seem to be represented fairly well: Daniel Johnston, Spoon, St. Vincent, Okkervil River, and I guess we can count Bill Callahan too, since he recently moved to Austin.

The Greatest Silence

I missed this last night, both because I don’t have HBO, and because I was playing my last soccer game. If you have HBO, record and torrent it, because I can’t find it anywhere yet. This year’s Special Jury Prize at Sundance went to The Greatest Silence:

Since 1998 a brutal war has been raging in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). Over 4 million people have died. And there are the uncountable casualties: the many tens of thousands of women and girls who have been systematically kidnapped, raped, mutilated and tortured by soldiers from both foreign militias and the Congolese army.

The world knows nothing of these women. Their stories have never been told. They suffer and die in silence. In The Greatest Silence: Rape in the Congo these brave women finally speak.

The HBO page for the film is here, if you want to find the schedule. If any of my friends with cable and a DVR want to record it for me, I’d be grateful. There’s an interview with the director here. The HBO trailer:

‘I fell in love with a female assassin’

This is just an incredible, jarring story:

They met on a train and fell in love. Then Jason P Howe discovered that his girlfriend Marylin was leading a secret double life – as an assassin for right-wing death squads in Colombia’s brutal civil war. With their story set to become a major Hollywood film, he recalls an extraordinary, doomed romance

And it would make one heck of a film, too.  You can see Jason Howe’s stunning and moving photography at his website, ConflictPics.

Control Netflix (and other things) with your remote

I watch a lot of downloaded and streaming content. Often I copy files to the PS3 in the living room, and playback control is no problem. But if I’m watching on my computer, if I want to pause or rewind, it means I have to physically get up and go to the computer to do so. No more! I’m setting this up today:

You can control Netflix Watch Now playback with your remote. All you need is a remote control, a infrared receiver like the USBUIRT and a program like girder. I’ll show you how I’m doing this and share with you my girder gml file which you can download as well.

Dolphins at play

They can make air rings in the water, and then they play with them:

In other news, I finally saw No Country for Old Men. It was pretty great.