T O S H I S T A T I O N http://www.toshistation.com Nerd Weblog en-us Copyright 1996-2007, Toshistation.com http://www.toshistation.com/images/88x31-toshi.gif T O S H I S T A T I O N http://www.toshistation.com http://backend.userland.com/rss Collecting Headquarters (www.collectinghq.com) We're going to get you.
Evil Dead done in 60 seconds with CLAY
You can stop waiting for the chainsaw, that was ED 2.

Axe Cop
Written by a 5 year old, and illustrated by his 29 year old brother. Thx, Kev.

Tokyo/Glow

Matchstick Minas Tirith
Nearly half a million matchsticks on that big guy.]]> http://www.toshistation.com/story/Were_going_to_get_you_129905.asp Thu, 04 Mar 2010 16:23:00 CST http://www.toshistation.com/story/Were_going_to_get_you_129905.asp Toshi Station: Geek Weblog Yes, I'm old. Old enough to remember when the MCP was just a chess program. Flynn Lives.com. Apparently it's counting down to February 24th.

This would be in support of the Tron sequel "Tron Legacy", which opens this December. The trailers look flashy, though it's obviously lacking the original's bullet-proof sheath of nostalgia that protects it from the absolutely ridiculous storyline. Those special effects were just insane back in the day, and I'd argue that the lightcycles still hold up. Plus, Tron spawned one of the greatest arcade games of all time.


See also:
Official Tron Legacy website
Tron Coin-op Arcade Game info
Tron-Sector.com fansite
Official Tron Guy website (you are hip to "The Tron Guy", right?)]]> http://www.toshistation.com/story/Yes_Im_old_Old_enough_to_remember_when_the_MCP_was_just_a_chess_program_129582.asp Tue, 16 Feb 2010 11:08:00 CST http://www.toshistation.com/story/Yes_Im_old_Old_enough_to_remember_when_the_MCP_was_just_a_chess_program_129582.asp Toshi Station: Geek Weblog The Princess is in Another Castle 30 artist interpretations of Mario and Luigi.

]]> http://www.toshistation.com/story/The_Princess_is_in_Another_Castle_129292.asp Mon, 08 Feb 2010 14:11:00 CST http://www.toshistation.com/story/The_Princess_is_in_Another_Castle_129292.asp Toshi Station: Geek Weblog I want his arm. Cut it off. Lord of the Rings, King Kong, etc) has at last announced a line of prop replicas for District 9. They are rolling it out with the incredibly impressive Arc Generator (in white) and a Gas Projector. Each is an edition of 200. Sadly, the price tag accurately reflects my desire to own one - with the NZD exchange, it looks as though these bad boys run nearly $500US. Worth every cent, no doubt about it.




The design of the alien technology (by Mr. Greg Broadmore) was one of the highlights of District 9. Next if we could please get a replica robot Exo Suit to park by my front door, that'd be just swell.

Broadmore on the concept designs:

Guns! I like to design guns. What a sad human being I am. They're pretend guns so that makes ok though eh? Hello?...

These three designs were all based on a phrase or concept that Neill threw out to me: An electric 'lightening' gun (the Arc Generator), a Gas Thrower- something that would project out gas or liquid like a flame thrower, but unlit - perhaps some destructive, corrosive gel or gas (it ended up just blowing sh** up in the film - corroding humans costs a lot of effects budget...) and an Assault Rifle."

So, when we account for the nature of the item (alien rifle, with mounts for displaying proudly on wall above TV) and add in the high cost, the Spouse Approval Factor is as low as these are cool. One really can't expect to have both - I went ahead and crunched the numbers, and somehow my wife just barely edged out the Arc Reactor. Barely.

See Also:
Greg Broadmore blog
District 9 review
i09 Broadmore interview]]> http://www.toshistation.com/story/I_want_his_arm_Cut_it_off_129242.asp Fri, 05 Feb 2010 13:07:00 CST http://www.toshistation.com/story/I_want_his_arm_Cut_it_off_129242.asp Toshi Station: Geek Weblog My condition is irreversible. this side-by-side comparison video of Oceanic Flight 815, which puts the first season opener of Lost against Tuesday night's final season opener.

The Tuesday evening multi-hour premiere was a winner - from the beginning we've been fully onboard with all the flash forward/backward/sideways action, which makes the whole deal impossible to predict and a really enjoyable ride.

I'll admit, however, it was a little exasperating to watch Our Heroes stumble upon the Other Others (despite Hiroyuki Sanada). Also, the unrelenting avalanche of commercial interruptions was absolutely brutal.]]> http://www.toshistation.com/story/My_condition_is_irreversible_129202.asp Thu, 04 Feb 2010 10:00:00 CST http://www.toshistation.com/story/My_condition_is_irreversible_129202.asp Toshi Station: Geek Weblog We slay all suckers who perpetrate, and lay down law from state to state.
Me and my Adidas do the illest things...
See Also:
Official Adidas site
Slick SW shoe commercial
KicksonFire.com Adidas Gallery
StarWars.com Adidas Gallery
Shop Adidas
Vintage SW kicks at the Archive]]> http://www.toshistation.com/story/We_slay_all_suckers_who_perpetrate_and_lay_down_law_from_state_to_state_129201.asp Thu, 04 Feb 2010 09:52:00 CST http://www.toshistation.com/story/We_slay_all_suckers_who_perpetrate_and_lay_down_law_from_state_to_state_129201.asp Toshi Station: Geek Weblog Crediting Sherlock Holmes Art of the Title.com has an interview with Danny Yount, the "sequence creative director" at Prologue Films, who spearheaded the opening and closing titles for the new Guy Ritchie Sherlock Holmes film. The article includes early samples and test - it's fantastic stuff.]]> http://www.toshistation.com/story/Crediting_Sherlock_Holmes_129020.asp Tue, 26 Jan 2010 09:11:00 CST http://www.toshistation.com/story/Crediting_Sherlock_Holmes_129020.asp Toshi Station: Geek Weblog 2009 Year End Movie Review Toshi Station Movie Manifest (and reversed the Manifest page so the most recent year is now in pole position, as it always shoulda been).

Selecting the first four of our annual "Top Five" for '09 was easy - no obvious stand-out for that fifth slot, however.

Top Four: District 9 easily claimed a spot. Then Star Trek and Avatar, a flashy duo that ticked all the right nerd checkboxes. Finally Doubt, which featured crazy acting chops.

The Fifth: boiled it down to The Reader, State of Play, Gran Torino, The Hangover, Inglorious Basterds, and Zombieland. Despite the variety, they all weighed in at about the same level of enjoyment. Went with Inglorious Basterds (despite the supremely irritating misspelling) - the dialogue is just too good to ignore.

The losers this year included Knowing, GI Joe, and Wolverine. I could have just as easily included Choke, Land of the Lost, and Angels and Demons. We're not expecting every film to be a classic, but those that fail to live up to their potential really sting. Wolverine is one of the great comic book characters of the modern age - toss a bunch of ninjas at some steel claws for 90 minutes and it's a winner. Instead we get a very "meh" story and low-rent special effects. So painful.

Here's how '09 stacked up against History. Our local Dollar Theater pulled the number of in-theaters films way up in '09. It's a crummy little theater, but the price is too right. We're hoping this is the year we'll get Netflix streaming reliably over the TiVo, which should bolster the non-theater count in 2010.






The interesting stuff rolling out in 2010: The Book of Eli, Shutter Island (DiCaprio and Scorsese, always a potent mix), Toy Story 3, Harry Potter, Iron Man 2 (tho Mickey Rourke is makin' me nervous), Inception (Chris Nolan + DiCaprio man-crush). We're keen to get caught up on some films we missed in 2009 as well: Sherlock Holmes, The Hurt Locker, Moon, and Dead Snow.

See Also:
2008 Year End Review
2007 Year End Review
2006 Year End Review
2005 Year End Review
2004 Year End Review]]> http://www.toshistation.com/story/2009_Year_End_Movie_Review_128995.asp Sat, 23 Jan 2010 09:14:00 CST http://www.toshistation.com/story/2009_Year_End_Movie_Review_128995.asp Toshi Station: Geek Weblog Avatar GBU Avatar over the weekend in super-deluxe 3D IMAX (LIEMAX, actually). Cameron delivers quite the epic spectacle, though not entirely without issue:

The Good
  • Up there on the big screen, visuals are just astonishing. We have achieved total Hell Yeah. After cutting their teeth on Lord of the Rings, Richard Taylor and his Weta Workshop FX team have brought the technology to the point where imagination (and money) is the limiting factor. I couldn't begin to guess what was real and what was glorious computer fakery.
  • The emotional range of the "na'vi" (which I assume stands for Native American Virtual Individual) motion-capture performances was pretty phenomenal. Miles beyond the stuff we've seen outta Robert Zemeckis with his Christmas Train, Beowulf, and Jim Carrey Scrooge "mo-cap" movies.
  • The 3D effect, which required the first ten minutes of the movie to really melt into my eyeballs, was strictly there to add depth and space to the locations. It's part of the new "highbrow" 3D trend that doesn't explicitly poke at the audience. Makes for a nice effect, though the special glasses are particularly gnarly for those already wearing glasses.
  • Cameron paints his action on with a mighty thick brush - exactly how we like it. Nice to see him continue to indulge that penchant for strong female roles. When is this guy gonna direct us up Wonder Woman movie?
The Bad
  • The story, as you may have heard, is crazy predictable and a little threadbare. That said, I'm not sure I actually cared. It's a pretty good message, told with visual grandeur. Fine. Whatever. Did the job.
  • The bad guys are pulled directly out of the James Cameron School of Villainy. You get one Psychotic Military Jarhead (Lt. Coffey from The Abyss) and one Greedy Corporate Suit (Carter Burke from Aliens). Both are generally one-dimensional, stopping just short of twirling black mustaches and beating orphans with their canes.
  • The MacGuffin is a rock called "unobtainum". Huh? Isn't that the same stuff they used in The Core to shield the ridiculous underground submarine thing they drove?
The Ugly
  • Sigourney Weaver's avatar lady looked really terrible. Entirely too Sigourney-like (+ braids, beads, and an awful belly shirt). One of the few design blemishes on an otherwise sterling CGI canvas.
  • The font/design nerds have beat this into the ground, but I'm compelled to bring it up... They lay out insane amounts of money to get this monster rolling, and we're dealt subtitles in the Papryus typeface (a font even more over-used than the storyline)? It was disappointing enough to see it plastered all over the promotional materials for the film (the logo). Surprised they didn't roll the end credits in Comic Sans.

It's difficult not to be cynical about a movie that follows this much hype. The much-lauded visuals aren't just photo-realistic - it's the conceptual designs of the flora and fauna, the convincing military technology (the wonderful robot "AMP suits", that turn me into a giddy little girl), and the fantastical landscapes all working in concert to create an extremely ambitious mountain of entertainment. Lots of fun.

See Also:
Avatar official site
AVTR.com Resource Development Administration (brought to you by Coke Zero)
The Weta Workshop official site
Unobtanium wikipedia entry
When Will White People Stop Making Movies Like "Avatar"?]]> http://www.toshistation.com/story/Avatar_GBU_128418.asp Wed, 23 Dec 2009 18:53:00 CST http://www.toshistation.com/story/Avatar_GBU_128418.asp Toshi Station: Geek Weblog Monkey Fighting Octopus

A couple more photos over here (including some cool on-the-skin sketching). There's almost certainly an amusing little story to go along with this bit of art, but really, "monkey fighting octopus" is all the information I require.

Saw it at BoingBoing.net.]]> http://www.toshistation.com/story/Monkey_Fighting_Octopus_128411.asp Tue, 22 Dec 2009 09:13:00 CST http://www.toshistation.com/story/Monkey_Fighting_Octopus_128411.asp Toshi Station: Geek Weblog Cube of Solitude



Buddy had better be writing some absolutely bad-ass code if that's gonna be the work environment. Code of intergalactic planetary proportions. (on the other hand, he suddenly doesn't look quite so nerdy wearing a cape to the office)

Don't miss the enthusiastic construction details.

"Frankly, I think this place is a bit boring. I mean, it's all white! Why doesn't this Superman guy put up some nice posters here? Maybe some bullfighting stuff? Or a pool table!" -- Ms. Teschmacher, Superman II]]> http://www.toshistation.com/story/Cube_of_Solitude_128206.asp Fri, 11 Dec 2009 10:18:00 CST http://www.toshistation.com/story/Cube_of_Solitude_128206.asp Toshi Station: Geek Weblog Metropolis in the Old Days Metropolis prior to Superman:

"I remember the first time I saw the headline "Superman Rescues Orphans." It was like reading "Leaves Fall Up This Year." Up until that time I'd never thought of orphans as something that could be rescued. Back in the old days you'd see the headline "40 Orphans Perish in Flames" and think, "Poor little bastards. I guess they didn't have much to live for, anyway." Before you knew it Luthor was getting his ass kicked up and down Broadway, you kept your money in banks and you had picnics under the dam."]]> http://www.toshistation.com/story/Metropolis_in_the_Old_Days_128039.asp Thu, 03 Dec 2009 15:49:00 CST http://www.toshistation.com/story/Metropolis_in_the_Old_Days_128039.asp Toshi Station: Geek Weblog Insert Coin Atari.com has an "arcade" where you can play six different classic games right in yer browser. Asteroids, Adventure, Battlezone, Lunar Lander, Crystal Castles, and Yars' Revenge!

"Hat Tip"]]> http://www.toshistation.com/story/Insert_Coin_127902.asp Wed, 25 Nov 2009 12:53:00 CST http://www.toshistation.com/story/Insert_Coin_127902.asp Toshi Station: Geek Weblog Links o' Fun Lava Volcano!
CulturePulp by Mike Russell has posted a quick guide to making your own disaster movie.

Git 'er Done!
Behold the Holy Bible: Stock Car Racing Edition. A 1152 page "ministry to the world of motorsports".

No Punctuation for Old Men
Pretty fantastic interview with Cormac "The Curmudgeon" McCarthy in the WJS. "I'm not interested in writing short stories. Anything that doesn't take years of your life and drive you to suicide hardly seems worth doing."

Make Me Mighty
Transmogrify your name into the stuff of legend: "Vicroy Chrishawk, The Uber-Genius. Forthright Kaiser, Entity of Infiniteness". Ordering business cards right now...

Tauntaun Wedding Cake
Our buddy Chris Trevas managed to find a wife who was cool with a dead tauntaun wedding cake (Stromtroopers at the wedding were her idea, no less). She's a keeper.



]]> http://www.toshistation.com/story/Links_o_Fun_127758.asp Wed, 18 Nov 2009 10:16:00 CST http://www.toshistation.com/story/Links_o_Fun_127758.asp Toshi Station: Geek Weblog Gandolf the Red play for the Terminator franchise.

"I have heard through the 'grapevine' that the Terminator franchise is for sale, and I am prepared to make a pre-emptive bid RIGHT NOW to wrap this dealio up. This is not a joke, this is not a scam, this is not available on TV. I will write a check TODAY for $10,000, and viola! Terminator off your hands." More...]]> http://www.toshistation.com/story/Gandolf_the_Red_127448.asp Wed, 04 Nov 2009 14:45:00 CST http://www.toshistation.com/story/Gandolf_the_Red_127448.asp Toshi Station: Geek Weblog