31
Dec 2002 |
Yes,
it is now "Sir Ridley".
The New Year Honours List includes a knighthood for the Director
of Blade Runner (okay, he's done some other stuff as well including
some big films, plus getting film schools going, etc.) Of course
it is in all the press. Ananova
has a good report, leading with Scott's comment that he is "truly
humbled" by the honour. Also try the BBC
and CNN
or pretty much any news service really. |
26
Dec 2002 |
If
you are interested in DADoES (source
novel for Blade Runner), then the San Francisco Museum of Modern
Art exhibition "No Ghost Just a Shell" holds something
of interest. According to the San
Francisco Chronicle, the exhibition features periodic screenings
of an eight-hour animated film, "Untitled 2002 (Even Electric
Sheep Can Dream)" by Rirkrit Tiravanija,
in which Annlee reads the entirety of Philip K. Dick's science
fiction classic, "Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?"
(Exhibition lasts through to mid-March.) |
25
Dec 2002 |
This
has been on for a while, but I just heard about it at Slashdot
- but it goes on to 26 January. So, if you are anywhere near
Fullerton in California anytime in the next month, why not check
out Barsoom
to Blade Runner: Science Fiction in Southern California
- which looks like it might be full of interesting stuff! (Anyone
been yet who can tell us what it is like?) |
20
Dec 2002 |
I
know. Interesting news on BR is so scarce right now, that even
with the wide parameters I've set, all that pops up are comparisons
to Minority Report or various bits of city, etc. that are compared
to BR. So here is a little
something on PKD movies - nothing new, but at least it keeps
us ticking over. |
09
Dec 2002 |
If
you have diligently read through everything in our Analysis
section, you will already be familiar with Mike
Davis. Well, he now has a new book out (reviewed here),called
Dead Cities. Extending his vision
of the urban landscape he started with City
of Quartz that referred to Blade Runner. |
09
Dec 2002 |
Okay.
Time to draw the line. Not every futuristic setting is like
Blade Runner. The latest Shania Twain
video (I'm Gonna Getcha Good) is described by some (e.g. here)
as "Blade Runner-esque". Rubbish! It is a futuristic
city vision that has no relation to Blade Runner other than
it being a future city vision. Shania in her funky outfit looks
nothing like anything from Blade Runner and her song isn't anything
like the wonderful music in Blade Runner. |
06
Dec 2002 |
Ridley
Scott's
first film, The Duellists, is out
on DVD. Great film. Read a review.
|
05
Dec 2002 |
The
other big dystopian movie out this month is Equilibrium
and just like Solaris, their is
an inevitability about comparisons to Blade Runner, such as
this
one! Looking forward to seeing the film though! |
04
Dec 2002 |
One
of the many reports of Will Smith
starring in Isaac Asimov's I,
Robot is the one in E
online. This story is the one which explicitly stated the
"Laws of Robotics" though it was actually John
W. Campbell who created the rules based on Asimov's previous
writing. And then Asimov said he used the rules in his writing
so that he could write stories where the rules were broken...
So when this article mentions Blade Runner, it is not so far
off the mark! |
30
Nov 2002 |
When
Rover's a robot in the Guardian explores the artificial
pet idea with reference to the Animoids in Blade Runner. |
26
Nov 2002 |
Dreamwatch
magazine lists the top 100 best sci-fi scenes poll - as reported
by the Daily
Mirror. Roy Batty's final "Tears in Rain" speech
makes it to number 10. Number one spot is taken by Darth Vader
saying, "I am your father..."
|
23
Nov 2002 |
One
of the initial reviews (at Rediff)
of the new Solaris cannot help
but refer to Blade Runner and even comments on that fact - the
Blade Runner Hangover. Many other reviews will of course mention
Blade Runner - either to say that the future in Solaris doesn't
look like Blade Runner or that the questions about humanity
are like Blade Runner or that the "created people"
are somehow like Replicants. Whichever way, it seems Blade runner
is the standard by which SF movies are measured these days. |
21
Nov 2002 |
Kurt
Wimmer
(director of Sphere and forthcoming Eqilibrium) tells Fangoria
that he loves Blade Runner, but is tired of so many copying
the visual design style, particularly of the city, in so many
SF films since. In his next project, Valkyrie, he's looking
to create a really new futuristic world.
|
19
Nov 2002 |
Puss-in-reboots
in The
Australian IT starts an article on robot pets by reminding
us of Tyrell's owl in Blade Runner.
|
18
Nov 2002 |
Olmos
focuses on roots in Yale speech
according to the New
Haven Register. Edward James Olmos (who created most of
the Cityspeak in BR himself for character Gaff), lectured at
Yale in his position as a Chubb Fellow. He talked of the East
L.A. where he grew up as a "salad bowl" rather than
a "melting pot" - all the disparate cultures mixed
together, but staying individual. He talked of the need for
"balance" in the historical figures that children
study across the cultures as well as encouraging the learning
of more than one language.
|
16
Nov 2002 |
The
Canadian Globe
and Mail picks up on the flying car aspect of the latest
Harry Potter film and makes rather perverse comparisons to flying
cars in other movies. |
11
Nov 2002 |
In
response to the Sight and Sound poll mentioned below, IMDb are
doing one of their daily straw polls based on the S&S Top
Ten films of the last 25 years. Update:
poll
results - Half of the total votes were for "none of
the ten", but of the other half, BR came a close third
to Goodfellas, but Apocalypse Now still came top. Ah well, in
these days of little news, we have to amuse ourselves somehow! |
08
Nov 2002 |
Ananova,
Sky,
BBC,
etc. report that BFI's Sight and Sound Magazine have done another
survey (of British film critics and writers) - this time for
the Greatest Film of the last 25 years. Blade Runner was voted
in at 7th Place. In the non-date restricted survey we reported
on in August, they didn't have any films after 1980 in their
Top Tens. Hence this poll, which starts from 1978. |
04
Nov 2002 |
Harrison
Ford interviewed by The
Age mostly of course about the current K-19 and the upcoming
Grandad Jones movie. He does have this very interesting comment
to make though, "Sometimes I'll just accidentally catch
something on TV and I'll feel pleased that it's there. Just
recently I saw a few moments of Blade Runner, which I'd never
liked in its first version because I hated the voice-over narration.
But with this director's cut, I feel a lot better about it than
I once did." So, there is hope for him yet! |
01
Nov 2002 |
Lou
Castle of Westwood Studios talks about their new game - Earth
and Beyond to globetechnology.
He mentions the BR game: "When I did Blade Runner, one
of the biggest challenges was not "how do you do a great
game?" it was "how do you not screw up this license?"
How do you let someone explore the world of the film without
ruining it? I don't want to say that it can't be done, but it's
very difficult". |
29
Oct 2002 |
The
Swedish convention last weekend that Rutger Hauer attended went
well. Swedish newspaper "Aftonbladet" has a short
quicktime
interview with Rutger where he talks about Blade Runner
(of course). |
24
Oct 2002 |
Regulars
at a.f.b-r will be familiar with Ray Kurzweil (he even did a
dedication to
us). And some of us are regular visitors to his
website, where today I found pointers
to: The
Intimate Machine, a TV programme by USA's PBS - first exploring
MIT's efforts to "make machines smarter, more empathetic
and easier to work with". Also a link to CBC
Radio 1 where you can listen to a discussion (including
interview of Kurzweil) on downloading the mind into a computer,
with terms cropping up like "replicating", "what
is human" and even leading to the "more human than
human" conclusion. |
23
Oct 2002 |
John
Woo picks up direction of "Paycheck" - another movie
based on a PKD short story, (first published 1953 in Imagination
Magazine). According to Entertainment
Weekly, the story about a man (an electrician) trying to
solve a two year gap in his memory will be directed by Woo now
that Brett Ratner has passed to take on the new Superman movie. |
22
Oct 2002 |
This
is not so much news as "not-news". Jonathon Ross interviewed
Harrison Ford on Film 2002 on the BBC last night. I watched
the whole half-hour and they didn't mention Blade Runner even
once. And Ross is even a big fan of BR. What a disappointment! |
18
Oct 2002 |
From
Talos to Trilobite. Neil McIntosh of The Guardian has some
observations on robots and their depiction in movies and television. |
17
Oct 2002 |
At
the end of last month, I mentioned the latest robot by Evolution
Robotics. They have sent me a press release about the ER1 personal
robot which I've published here. |
10
Oct 2002 |
I
have news on TrenchCo. Known as makers of replicas of the coats
worn by characters in Blade Runner, The Matrix, etc. but plagued
with problems for the past two years, I can now let you know
the company is closed. But it isn't all bad news. Read more
on the clothes page.
Check out these
photos of aRvin wearing probably one of the last Deckard
coats made by TrenchCo. |
10
Oct 2002 |
What
would you pay for Harrison Ford's genuine autograph on a Blade
Runner photo of Deckard? The BBC
finds out from a man who knows how difficult that is to get. |
08
Oct 2002 |
Karen
Idelson at DVDfile
pleads with the Powers That Be who are holding up the release
of the BR:SE DVD to please think of the fans. If only the PTBs
would listen... |
03
Oct 2002 |
In
September, Rutger Hauer said hello to a lot of fans in the UK
as well as answering questions at a special screening of Blade
Runner. Photos
and audio clips are now up on his site. Scandinavian fans
are reminded that Rutger will be in Stockholm in two weeks time. |
01
Oct 2002 |
Visitors
here probably don't care too much about the romance between
Harrison Ford and Calista Flockhart, but just thought I'd tell
you a secret. They're going to get married. But you didn't hear
it from me, right. |
30
Sep 2002 |
Blade
Runner gets a new award! In Movieline's first ever Hollywood
Style Hall of Fame Awards, Sean Young received the top film
character style award for her role as Rachael in Blade Runner,
according to WB
Extra. Fantastic that from all of film history they chose
Rachael as number one! Just a pity the designers of the clothes
aren't mentioned. |
30
Sep 2002 |
"Is
this testing whether I'm a Replicant or a fashion model, Mr
Deckard?" This article in Sydney
Morning Herald makes an interesting parallel on some of
the latest Milan fashion trends firmly rooted in Blade Runner. |
29
Sep 2002 |
James
Hong (who played Hannibal Chew in Blade Runner) is to accept
a lifetime achievement award at the Delta Film Festival. Read
about this and what else he's been doing in this Tri-Valley
Herald report. |
27
Sep 2002 |
Robot
development in the real world. LA
Weekly looks at Evolution Robotics latest effort - the ER1,
both specifically and in a wider context of our reaction to
and acceptance of robots beyond fiction. |
27
Sep 2002 |
"Is
this testing whether I'm a Replicant or a movie critic, Mr Deckard?"
The Toronto
Star makes an amusing parallel with the empathy test. |
24
Sep 2002 |
Miami.com
report on the Latino Filmmaker Showcase on US TV tonight, particularly
the short film "Sensitive", which is all about 'place'.
Gustavo Mercado describes a stroll through Jackson Heights in
Queens (suburb of New York), "This was Blade Runner minus
the flying cars." |
23
Sep 2002 |
If
you are interested in an action figure of Deckard then you probably
already know about the excellent 'Android Hunter' model. Now
see "Tony's" enhanced
Deckard action figure. At rebelscum, you can also find a
good review of the original Android Hunter. |
23
Sep 2002 |
I'm
sure you know about "product placement" in films,
but this is really taking it to extremes. AdAge
reports that BMW is getting their own TV channel. Just like
something out of a PKD novel! And as for that Ridley Scott fellow
... he does get around doesn't he! |
22
Sep 2002 |
Those
of you who were lucky enough to make it to Milton Keynes and
were able to meet Rutger Hauer will surely not be disappointed.
Rutger coping magnificently with the huge crowds and putting
in the effort to make sure he saw everyone. Thanks Rutger, for
being real. |
12
Sep 2002 |
Interesting
BR news has been thin on the ground recently, so at last here
is an article worth actually mentioning. The Cult
de Sac article makes a slightly more hard-nosed comparison
between Blade Runner and Minority Report than most you've probably
read. |
25
Aug 2002 |
Time
have a whole Tom Cruise, Steven Spielberg, PKD thing. Vote for
your favourite film-from-PKD-story. Blade Runner currently leading,
(of course). |
14
Aug 2002 |
Entertainment
Weekly profiles Harrison Ford and his films. Harrison gives
us a more accurate view of *that* voiceover. |
08
Aug 2002 |
The
British Film Institute Sight and Sound Magazine have completed
their 10-yearly Top
Ten Poll of critics and directors to find their "best
movies". It is no surprise that in this "Film Art"
vote, no films after 1980 made the Top 10s, but BR did get a
number of votes anyway (thank you Jonathon Ross and others),
so that makes it one of the few films of the last two decades
that makes it on the list at all. I say give it another two
decades and see how it does! According to an unofficial count,
BR comes out about 46th. |
01
Aug 2002 |
One
final PKD in the movies article that might interest you - in
the Seattle
Times. |
28
Jul 2002 |
New
Blade Runner section on Rutger
Hauer's site. Lots of pics from the movie plus a log of
an extended discussion (in reverse order) that took place about
Blade Runner in his guestbook. |
19
Jul 2002 |
UK
Hotdog magazine (Issue 26) has a nice article on movies made
from Philip K. Dick stories, and ALSO has a SEPARATE article
on Blade Runner! 5 pages of pretty decent article. I'll do a
review of the article when this issue is no longer on sale. |
30
Jun 2002 |
The
New York SF convention from 28-30 June, including appearances
by Joe Turkel and Rutger Hauer and a special screening of Blade
Runner appears to have been a success. The two BR stars were
very friendly and open and apart from being present during the
show did a 1 hour Q&A session after the BR screening. Those
who attended were well entertained. Patrick Meaney was there
- read his report.
Also check out photos and audio clips at Rutger's
site. |
26
Jun 2002 |
More
PKD and more
PKD - there is obvious increased interest in PKD and many
reviews of Minority Report make references to other PKD inspired
work, particularly BR. I've selected these two articles to add
to the one below as a reasonably good look at PKD and PKD-inspired
movies. |
23
Jun 2002 |
Time
reports that Steven Spielberg has finally got his college diploma.
Included alongside is a vote for your favourite PKD book-to-film.
Blade Runner is ahead of Minority Report and the two together
take up over 90% of the votes, with Total Recall, Barjo, Screamers
and Impostor taking up the rest. |
23
Jun 2002 |
What
a Clever Dick - an article in the Observer Review looking
at the increased interest in filming PKD's stories. |
22
Jun 2002 |
Blade
Runner tops the list at Futurist
Movies. Josh Calder has taken a new approach and examines
futurist movies based not just on entertainment value (though
of course that is still important), but also gives them futurism
and scientific plausibility ratings. With its top futurism rating
and very high entertainment value, Blade Runner comes out top
in his overall rating. Good one Josh! |
15
Jun 2002 |
Blade
Runner retrospective held in San Rafael, Califronia.The panel
included Doug Trumbull (VF supervisor), David Dryer (VFX supervisor),
Mark Stetson (VFX miniature supervisor), John Wash (VFX animation
and effects supervisor), Les Ekker (miniatures), Virgil Mirano
(still FX photographer), Matthew Yuricich (Matte Painting supervisor)
Rocco Gioffre (Matte Painter), and David Hardberger (VFX camera
man). Moderator and host was Paul Taglianetti who informed me
that this was probably the first time this crew had all got
together since BR was made! Apparently it was an excellent and
informative meeting. |
12
Jun 2002 |
Blade
Runner pipped to the post in the Online
Film Critics Society review of 100 years of Science Fiction. |
21
May 2002 |
Wired
Magazine have a long interview with Steven Spielberg about
Minority Report. The obvious comparison to Blade Runner question
is asked. |
12
May 2002 |
Rutger
Hauer's official
site has been completely revamped and also tied more closely
to Starfish - Rutger's main purpose in life outside of making
movies. Note, he also announces
his intention to be at the NY
SF convention at the end of June 2002. |
07
May 2002 |
Blade
Runner has been voted top Science Fiction movie of all time
in the June issue of Wired magazine according to NYPOST.com.
Three cheers for Wired for being so clued in! UPDATE: Now archived
on the Wired
site. |
21
Apr 2002 |
Which
Blade Runner character are you? Take this fun test. |
12
Apr 2002 |
The
release date of the Blade Runner Special Edition DVD looks like
it is being delayed. See our BR:SE
news page for the latest. |
13
Mar 2002 |
As
we have a separate BR:SE news page, I usually don't list the
DVD news in this box. However, this deserves the extra attention.
The short clip from Swedish show "Bionytt", where
Ridley
Scott is talking about the BR:SE DVD is now on-line. Short,
but sweet. Thanks to Niclas and Kjell for enabling us all to
see it. |
05
Mar 2002 |
Nicklas
Ingels has created an online
petition at petitiononline.com to encourage Warner Music
and Vangelis to consider releasing a new, official and more
complete version of The Blade Runner Soundtrack. 2002 is the
20th anniversary of the Blade Runner movie, so this is the perfect
time to do something. Please support this intiative. |
27
Jan 2002 |
In
direct response to the Channel 4 vote last November, Sisqua.com
held a free public vote to get a genuine Top 100 Favourite Films
List. We report
on the poll. Blade Runner voted in 11th position. |
15
Jan 2002 |
In
their February 2002 issue, Empire Magazine has an excellent
interview with Ridley Scott full of Blade Runner chat. Read
our review of
this interview, (with excerpts). |
13
Jan 2002 |
"How
to Build a Human" - the new series starting on BBC TV tonight.
The official
BBC site is full of information for those interested in
cloning of human embyos - why people want to do it and the moral
implications. (No doubt the series will be shown in some form
around the world.) |
06
Jan 2002 |
The
Observer: Scott's Corner Long article about Ridley Scott
including a couple of paragraphs on Blade Runner. |
03
Jan 2002 |
AICN
claims on Blade Runner Special Edition This link is included
for completeness, but be warned, we have official confirmation
by the real inside source that this report is *false*. See our
BR:SE News Page for the
only information on the BR SE you can trust. |