Jake Jackson's Blog, page 28
August 2, 2012
Vertigo Trailer
Just voted as the greatest film ever in Sight and Sound magazine, this is Hitchock’s masterpiece of noir, mystery and suspense. All writers, cinematographers and artists can learn from its breathtaking storytelling technique and careful pacing. For more on this story see here. And here’s an interesting piece about the film. Released in 1958 this has consistently hit the top 3 in most of the greatest ever movie polls.
August 1, 2012
The Hobbit: Movie Trailer
The Hobbit. Can’t wait. I know I’ll cringe at the obvious hobbit prosthetics, but I know I’ll be sucked in by that Peter Jackson magic. I hope the journey under the mountain doesn’t take too long!
July 31, 2012
‘Lord of the Rings’ Trailer
Actually the final part. The high elves, Gandalf as the White wizard, the towers of Sauron. I’ve read and re-read this book and its two companions several times over the last forty years. Fabulously realised by Peter Jackson and brilliant cast. Courtesy of New Line Cinema 2003.
July 29, 2012
Modern Artists: Roy G Krenkel
Three Generations of Tarzan: Krenkel, Frazetta and Jones
The naturalistic illustrations of Roy Krenkel (1918–1983) graced the covers of early fantasy paperbacks of Edgar Rice Burroughs and many others. He inspired a young Frank Frazetta (1928–2010) and, later, Jeffrey Catherine Jones (born Jeffrey Durwood Jones 1944–2011). The illustrations here, of ERB’s great hero, Tarzan, show the similarity of their powerful styles. Of course they worked in commercial, graphic illustration which lends itself to this manner of sinuous representation but you’d be hard pressed to find better examples. They drew with such a rare fluidity and are amongst my very favourite fantastic artists.
July 19, 2012
Avengers Assemble Trailer
The Avengers Assemble is the top grossing superhero movie ever (although let’s see what Batman Rises will do!) and number three in the all time, all movie rankings (1.4 billion USD). The trailer is nothing like as good as the movie but it gives a decent flavour of the action to come. I love science fiction and fantasy but The Avengers is straight down the line superhero adventure, with some really neat touches (The Hulk treating Loki like a ragdoll still makes me laugh). Avengers 2? Already planned! Thanos as the villain. Hopefully they’ll fit in Jim Starlin’s Captain Marvel somehow (wonder who would play him?).
July 18, 2012
Modern Artists: Barry Windsor Smith
Icarus © Barry Windsor Smith 1981
The fine art and graphic illustrations of Barry Windsor Smith (BWS) carry an aching beauty. Every line is lovingly crafted, every colour is imbued with care and elegance. I first encountered his illustrations in the Marvel Conan stories, Tower of the Hierophant I think, to which he brought a splendour and power rarely seen in comics. Briefly he associated with fellow travellers Jeffrey Jones, Michael Kaluta and Bernie Wrightson in the Studio of the late 1970s but this astonishing Icarus piece is one of his best ever paintings. The style is uniquely BWS but to my eye at least I can see Millais, Alma Tadema and Alphonse Mucha all lurking in the background, influencing the brushwork and the bold lines.
BWS has enriched many lives, including mine, so thank you Mr S.
Here’s a link to some of his other work, prints from his website, which represent more of his best work.
July 17, 2012
The Matrix Trailer
The Matrix, the most incredible movie, truly qualifies as fantastic. Enigmatic and explosively inventive it scores at so many levels with the mind-blowing cinematography, cool-sexy styling and the rhythm of the story-telling. It remains my all-time favourite film. From the martial arts action to the ‘bullet time’ filming, the precise slicing of worlds and the edgy acting that made Keanu Reeves seem like a great actor to the deconstruction of our entire world, this became a film against which all other fantastic films must be judged.
Inevitably it’s hard to replicate the scale of success of this first movie, but I also enjoyed the much criticized follow-ups for different reasons so I’ll post these later. The animated shorts, Animatrix, are also worth a look for their imaginative extensions of the world of Matrix so again, I’ll feature these too in another post.
Thank you Andy and Larry Wachowaki, creators, directors and writers of The Matrix.
July 16, 2012
Classic Artists: Alphonse Mucha
Illustrations from ‘Le Pater’ (1899) by Alphonse Mucha (1860–1939)
Alphonse Mucha is well known for his graphic art that celebrates the fin de Siecle of Paris between 1895 and 1908. His bold lines, sensuous female figures and strong colours graced advertisements and posters that have become the classic art nouveau styles. His art is fantastic too though, as you can see from these exquisite, almost supernatural illustrations, just two examples of the Lithographs from ‘Le Pater’ published by Henri Piazza in Paris, 1899. The seven verses of the Lord’s prayer are illustrated and decorated by Mucha who later declared that this was his supreme achievement. Modern graphic artists such as Barry Windsor Smith and P. Craig Russell draw heavily on Mucha’s influence.
Further information on these particular illustrations can be found here.
The Mucha Foundation continues to celebrate the work of this wonderful artist with exhibitions and publications around the world. They can be found here.
July 15, 2012
Great Movie Posters: The First Avenger
Somehow Captain America: The First Avenger managed to avoid the overt patriotism of the original comics. I wasn’t looking forward to the WWII stuff but it was very entertaining, very effective, moving even. And this poster, made in moody Heaven is a darker, grittier version of the clean-living all-American hero who could have been just a bit too much.
July 14, 2012
Ghost Rider Trailer
When I was young (yes, a long time ago) Ghost Rider was never at the top of my weekly hunt for American imports, but whenever I did buy it (for 9 pence I think), I always loved it. Anyway, here’s the trailer for this Summer’s Ghost Rider:
