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I stumbled across this terrific short film the other day called How Wings Are Attached to the Backs of Angels. It’s an surreal animated film made in 1996 by Craig Welch. This is his third and last film, and even after a google search, it’s a mystery who he is. The film itself is equally mysterious. It’s about a tinkering scientist and a girl who haunts him. There is no dialogue. The sound effects are used to perfection, and Chopin’s Piano Nocturne in B flat Minor (Op. 9) creates a dark and wonderful mood. Watch it here.

The multi-talented Talking Head’s frontman has been busy on his latest project, designing Bike Racks in conjunction with the New York City Department of Transportation. Byrne was commissioned to design 9 different racks which are spread throughout Manhattan and Brooklyn. As he says on his site “The racks will suit their location: One is shaped like a dollar sign for Wall Street, another, in Times Square, is shaped like the bosomy profile of a woman often seen on truckers’ mud flaps, and a third, in the hipster section of Williamsburg, looks like an electric guitar.” You can check them all out here.

The Dark Knight is out, and it’s sitting atop the IMDb list of the top 250 greatest movies of all time. Does it deserve really deserve that top spot? Probably not, and it will probably come down after a time. But it’s still one heck of a movie, and one everybody should see.

The story is dark, complex, and plot heavy, and it clips along at a fast pace. With twists and turns, you’re always on the edge of your seat, and there is never a dull moment. All the performances are outstanding, especially that of Heath Ledger. He truly makes the Joker his own, taking it far beyond anything done before. He is just so evil, yet so funny and he’s having so much fun that we can’t help but be drawn to him. The way he walks, the inflection of his voice, everything is so superbly done. He’s really chewing the scenery: in one scene where he crashes Bruce Wayne’s dinner party, he’s actually grabbing stuff off the tables and chewing it. You can feel the energy in the room whenever he walks on screen. When asked about why he cast Heath Ledger, director Christopher Nolan said: “He’s fearless.” This really is a fearless performance, and I think he should definitely win a posthumous Oscar for it.

I haven’t really been in the mood for reading today, so likewise I’m not really in the mood for writing. So, today I thought I’d switch it up a bit. How do pictures and toys sound?

Long story short, about a week ago I decided to invest in four vinyl figures from Kidrobot. The first two figures that found themselves in my cart were theFatcap Series 2 and two Dunny French Series figures would eventually find themselves as the second. This order resulted in me receiving two Fatcap Series 2 toys and two Dunny French Series toys in the mail yesterday. Who would’ve guessed?

I’ve taken quite a few pictures and you can go about seeing them . . . after the jump, of course.

George Carlin died of heart failure yesterday at age 71. The best way I can think of highlighting his life is not rambling on about his achievements, it is a simpler gesture: I’ve uploaded his infamous 1978-Supreme-Court-ruling riff “Seven Words.” The ruling defended the government’s authority to punish stations for broadcasting offensive language. As suggested, for those who have not seen it, the following is not safe for work.

Rest in peace, George, you hilarious bastard.

Today’s world is riddled with the likes of generic, uninventive sitcom humor, and comedy clubs, lurking with comedians who all abide by the same joke-telling formulas aimed at appealing to an audience with a low standard for is considered funny. As cynical, and opinionated as this may sound, it’s quite true, and there is a very sad commentary to be derived from this: Many people would much rather be entertained without having to think. Thankfully, though not everyone thinks this way. There are entire communities of lesser known comics out there who believe that comedy is an art form which should require thought. Here are three of my favorite “alternative comics” who are doing their part to further the art form and bring light to a very dark world.

I’ve been reading up about Spore and it got me doodling and doodling and doodling. A couple of versions later, I got Jeffrey, the fella below. This is the first doodle in a long time that I’ve actually colored - and the first that has been turned into a wallpaper. (Yeah, yeah, I know, another wallpaper) I know I’m no van Gogh, but hopefully some one will enjoy this as much as I did.

Click the image to download

Enjoy!

As some may know, I love experimenting in Photoshop. Usually my experiments result in a hideous monster that should never see the light of day. Today’s session brought something a bit more “lookable” around. I was so pleased with today’s outcome, that I decided to further it’s development and by about four o’clock I had created my first wallpaper! It’s nothing too special, just a simple abstract, but I liked it. So, I decided to share it with you guys.

Click the image to download

Enjoy!

We all like movies, right? I know I do. If you want to see the best movies, there are two lists that you need to know. The first is a little more common knowledge than the second. It’s the IMDb Top 250 list, as voted on by the users of IMDb.com. You can find it here. This is pretty much a popularity contest for movies, but it’s still a terrific list, with great movies like The Godfather, Pulp Fiction, and Casablanca in the top 10. However, great older movies are getting bumped off by more recent fare that may not deserve to be there, like V For Vendetta.

The second list is located at theyshootpictures.com. It’s their list of the 1,000 greatest films of all time, and can be found here. Unlike the IMDb list, this list is formulated with the compiled votes of “1,604 critics, filmmakers, reviewers, scholars and other likely film types.” It’s basically the 1,000 best films according to critics and the like. It’s a great list, with movies like Orson Welles’ Citizen Kane and Alfred Hitchcock’s Vertigo topping the list. It has more older movies and classics on the list, because these have stood the test of time and have accumulated critical acclaim over the years. With these two lists, you’re set to see the greatest movies of all time.

And for those of you who may not like old movies (someday they’ll learn), theyshootpictures.com has you covered with their 21st Century list.

In this, the first edition of Critical Analysis, I will be watching Meet the Spartans. Throughout the movie I will keep a log, which you can read below.

00:00:27 - Titles! Oh boy, I can’t wait
00:01:01 - Baby Shrek vomited on a prophet
00:02:32 - Leonidas got his nuts bit off
00:03:49 - A racist black penguin just defecated on Leonidas
00:05:23 - Boobs
00:06:49 - Child abuse
00:08:05 - Mouth to mouth male kissing, with Spartans
00:09:25 - Nike sweatshop
00:10:50 - Kicking down the well meme begins
00:11:12 - Down goes Britney Spears!
00:12:01 - K-Fed!
00:12:15 - Sanjaya!
00:13:01 - American Idol judges down
00:13:07 - Ryan Seacrest - Out!
00:13:26 - Kicking down the well meme ends