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RETROLAD VENTURES - CHRISTMAS SPECIAL 2021

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  Art  by Aardman & @theretrocritic .

RETROLAD VENTURES - EPISODE 3: CLAW

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Episode by  by @ Badwolf66 .

RETROLAD VENTURES - EPISODE 1: TETRIS

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MOTHER! - REVIEW

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Directed by Darren Aronofsky, mother! is a psychological thriller from 2017 about a couple living in the countryside who get a strange visit from another couple before things get truly out of hand, to say the least. Jennifer Lawrence is the titular mother who lives in an unfinished house with her rather intense husband, a writer (played by the ever-intimidating Javier Bardem) suffering from writer's block until he is visited by a fan and his wife. The latter couple, played by Ed Harris and Michelle Pfeiffer, show up randomly one day as Lawrence's character becomes increasingly suspicious of their bizarre behaviour and nervous about their influence on her husband. "mother" isn't all that normal herself as she appears to be obsessed with fixing her house and spends pretty much all her time walking around looking confused by everything. You're never quite sure what this awkward dynamic between her and her much older husband is all about since they're r

FRINGE: INTRO (CHEAP VERSION)

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I toy around with clay, card and wire to bring you the cheapest version of the Fringe opening titles sequence out there.

BIG EYES - REVIEW

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Tim Burton's latest, Big Eyes , tells the true story of 1950's-60's artist Margaret Keane and her relationship with then-husband Walter Keane in what is the director's first biopic since Ed Wood . Though the film does explore Margaret's (Amy Adams) art and its popularity, the focus here is on how Walter Keane's (Christoph Waltz) appropriation of his wife's work changed her life in a time when women had little say. After Margaret allows Walter to take all the credit for her big eyed creations (despite a clear initial reluctance), the become something of a sensation and the couple's lifestyle improves radically over the course of only a few years but the cost of giving up her artistic rights become too much for Margaret who is soon forced to live a lie. Tim Burton directing Ed Wood made perfect sense: a big fan of horror and sci-fi B-movies, the man behind the likes of Sleepy Hollow and Mars Attacks!  wanted to pay homage to another hugely enthusiast

THE MONUMENTS MEN - REVIEW

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George Clooney's latest film, The Monuments Men , sets out to tell the little-told true story of a group of ageing American soldiers (and a French dude) whose mission it was to recover as many precious art pieces as possible from the nazis who had stolen them from all over an occupied France. The film opens by giving us some background and Clooney's lieutenant is soon off to gather his team of all-stars including Matt Damon, Bill Murray, John Goodman, Jean Dujardin, Bob Balaban and Hugh Boneville... together at last! After a promising Indiana Jones-esque first few minutes involving Cate Blanchett's cartoonish French (at least I think that's what she was going for) spy, the film's tone switches to something more akin to Stripes or the MASH TV series before occasionally dipping back into serious mode. Clooney clearly wanted to even out the film by putting in a sad, emotional moment for every jokey, light-hearted scene, Disney-style, but, after watching The Monu

BENNY & JOON - REVIEW

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Oh dear... This is what happens when you go snooping around a popular actor's filmography. Benny & Joon , a Johnny Depp-starring weirdo comedy in which he plays a Charlie Chaplin wannabe who, for whatever reason, starts baby-sitting some moody guy's mentally challenged (or, in movie talk: artistic, quirky and misunderstood) sister, sounded like fun. I mean, Johnny Depp wouldn't sign up to a rom-com unless there was something a bit more to it. Right? As it turns out, the guy clearly just wanted an excuse to be Chaplin/Buster Keaton for a day and show off his... slapstick magic... 'skills'? The problem? Benny & Joon isn't funny. Furthermore, Depp isn't funny in it. And by god he tries... I mean, ok, parts of the movie get close to being charming (near the very end, mostly) but most of the time you're just waiting for Benny to punch Sam's (Depp) face in. This is a manipulative little film not so much concerned with developing its

ROBOCOP REMAKE - MINI PREVIEW

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Well, it looks that the (likely) ill-conceived RoboCop remake is finally going forwards as the news that Michael Keaton will replace original pick Hugh Laurie as the film's villain is made official. Not to mention the early viral campaign which seems to be there mostly to serve as kind of warning that CGI will most definitely replace practical effects, not a huge surprise seeing as that other Paul Verhoeven remake Total Recall , out this year, as you know, did just that. Ah ED-209, I'm guessing this new model's stair-tested. Not sure what RoboCop himself will look like but if the teaser promo above and whatever concept art is floating around the internet is anything to go by then I think it's fair to say that we won't be getting our favourite 80's design but something completely different. Darker? More intimidating? Or... Hm. I wonder what Peter Weller thinks of this potential character design...

THE BATMAN PROJECT - BAT-LOGOS

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As mentioned in the first announcement relating to The Batman Project , a new Batman logo is being designed. Of course it's still very early days and the script is still being written but that doesn't mean we can't have fun trying to come up with a cool, new logo now does it? Bat-fan (and also my mother lol)  Lynda K. tried her hand at some rough designs the other week including this effort: Liking this one more and more. It kinda feels like it belongs on a knight's shield or something but we're talking about the "Dark Knight" here so that could actually work. It might be a bit too gothic for its own good but it's a cool attempt I think. Next up: Forgive the sketchy look of it and the ones below but this one was a take on the latest Bat-logo we've seen in Christopher Nolan's Dark Knight Trilogy. I like the top part but unfortunately I keep thinking it's an upside-down Christmas tree... Alternatively this logo

THE DARK KNIGHT RISES - POSTER ART

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New artwork by Paul Shipper .

BAT-FANS - BAT DOODLES

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More Bat-related genius from AxisOfOrnament . Click on the jacket-wearin' bat for more.

THE DARK KNIGHT RISES - OLLY MOSS POSTER

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BAT-FANS - BATMAN ART

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Here's some cool Batman -themed art from up and coming UK artist Steven Farmer !  More can be found on his Facebook page and on Myspace . Watch out for a very special cameo appearance from Steven himself in one of the new Batman video reviews which will be posted towards the very end of Bat-Month. Stay tuned!

THE DARK KNIGHT RISES - NEW POSTER

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Ooh, fire! Mmmm fiery...

HEADHUNTERS - REVIEW

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It's hunting season and Norway is on the prowl once again. After Trollhunter comes Headhunters , a movie about a slimy headhunter who spends his time secretly stealing artworks and replacing them with forgeries. Shockingly, what was meant to be his last "job" goes crazily wrong with the guy he was stealing from turning out to be a little bit of a psycho with more than a little hint on our man's shady doings. Think Michael Fassbender kicking nazi ass in X-Men: First Class but in Norway, in the present and with a dog. What the film lack in Trolls, it makes up for in good old-fashioned brutality and a welcome dark sense of humour. Our main character, Roger (played by Aksel Hennie), goes through a lot in this one. Yes, this is one of those movies in which you follow someone who is f***ed beyond belief and you get to sit back and watch that ant melt under a magnifying glass. That's basically the only way we could have ever learned to like this douchebag and it d