Yesterday I found out, like many film fans, to my great horror and sadness that Stan Winston died of cancer at the age of 62. Stan was a special effects guru who had led the industry for 25 years and left a huge imprint on the landscape of imaginations the world over. His iconic work on Terminator, Aliens, Jurassic Park, and countless other modern and classic films filled with wonder are the reason I care so passionately about film and probably the reason I even pick up pencils to doodle from time to time. The man was one of my few childhood Heroes, a God of creations, and a truly remarkable man. He will be dearly missed.

Okay, so i just watched Little Shop of Horrors for the first time in too many years. i've had songs from the film on my computer for ages, but it has been quite a while since i'd seen the film.

if you've been through my gallery, then you know i've got a piece of fanart for this movie, and it deserves more, because it's terribly fun.

what i want to know is this:

the original ending of the movie involved seymour and audrey being killed and eaten by Audrey II, who procedes to sprout offspring and take over the planet (in a musical number, i believe). i'm not sure about this, as i've never seen the play, but gosh darnit, i'd like to.

anyways, word around the campfire is that they filmed the original ending, but focus groups, in their INFINITE WISDOM, felt that the ending was too depressing or too big of a downer or some other crock of shit. personally, man eating plants taking over the world is probably one of the coolest ideas i've ever heard, especially if they do it through snappy song.

what i want to know is, does anyone know where one can find that original ending? did it ever make it onto a dvd? is there some obscure copy of a laserdisc that features it? hell, i'd track down a beta-max player if i could see that finale.

anyone know where (or if) it's possible to see that mean green mother from beyond the moon take over the planet?

i'd LOVE to know! thanks!

[UPDATE] okay, found a black&white version (without any sound effects) of the plant victory ending on youtube, thank goodness i signed up as a member months back

wyvern, you rock!

First of all - go see Pan's Labyrinth (El Laberinto del Fauno). It's probably one of the best movies you'll catch for a while. In fact, while you're out, check out Children of Men too. Both of these movies are absolutely beautiful. (i can't get those images out of my head)

Ohhh man, who here has Zelda: Twilight Princess? that game just begs for fanart and hours of playtime. i've never played a Zelda game, and i've often ragged on Link for being a bit of a fairy *which i still think is pretty much true* but DAMN is that game fun.
-- i may be crazy, but is the gameplay in LoZ:TP at all similar to that found in the Metroid Prime games? i think so, but no one agrees.

Check this out - Dinosaur Bi-plane Birds? awesome!
[link]

weird personal stuff going on. getting accepted into various colleges is pretty exciting. Finals start this wednesday, so i'm keeping cyanide capsules behind my teeth. There's a Light Over at the Frankenstein Place though, as a Comic Con is going down this coming weekend. (i've never been to a Con, anyone here have any pointers or advice?)

also speaking of comics, through an acquaintance of mine, it looks like i'm going to get Todd McFarlane's autograph on a drawing of a Spawn cover someone has me working on. how groovy is that?

wow.... just wow.

i go to see alot of movies, and i've seen more than a handful of great films *in my humble opinion, anyways* over the past few months. last week i saw Happy Feet and Casino Royale, and i'd recommend either of them to many, many people.

however, this evening i was lucky enough to see "The Fountain."

it's gorgeous. although, if you've seen "Requiem for a Dream", then you know that Darren Aronofsky can gut punch you with a movie. i'd hate to go into too much detail about the movie, as i think it's best that you experience it without knowing the whole story. basically it's a story about love, the search of eternal life, and what comes after both of those. but if you're only going to the theatre for something entertaining, you might want to avoid this one. i'm not embarrassed to say i actually cried during this movie.

i thought it was as beautiful as it was sad, and i hope you guys go out there and support the movie.

so i camped out at a local best buy last night with 30 or 40 people, had so much fun but damn near froze my ass off. after twelve hours i got a Wii, complete with Wii Sports, Zelda: Twilight Princess and Marvel Ultimate Alliance.

i'm so in love with the wii-mote, and even the Mii feature is fun as hell.

screw PS3, buy this system, it will make you happy.