I've been watching a fascinating series of film analyses by Rober Ager. In this first video, he shows that HAL 9000 was based on IBM, and that HAL wins the chess game against the astronaut by cheating in two ways:









This next video is about The Shining and how the Overlook Hotel and hedge maze shift architecturally throughout the movie:




(I've previously linked to as series of posts explaining that the protagonist of The Shining is the hotel.)

There's many more videos in the series, including a look at Aliens (Cameron's take on Vietnam?). Via these sites.

*Buy 2001 posters at eBay.

READ MORE - HAL 9000 wins the chess game in 2001 by cheating (and more)

Necktie inspired by The Shining on sale at Zazzle.

*Previously: The Shining in Lego.

READ MORE - Tie based on the carpet from the Overlook Hotel

1. From an interesting interview with Neil Gaiman:

The last time I was in China, I was very puzzled because none of my children’s picture books are in print in Mainland China. They’re in print in Hong Kong and in Taiwan, in complex Chinese characters, but they are not in print in Mainland China. I asked my producer, “Why aren’t any of my children’s picture books in print in Mainland China?,” and they said, “It’s because of their disrespect for authority.” I said, “Really?!” And they said, “Yeah, look at them. The Wolves in the Walls is about this little girl who tells her parents that there are wolves in the walls, but they do not believe her. There really are wolves in the walls, and thus her parents are proved wrong. And, in The Day I Swapped My Dad For Two Goldfish, these kids swap their dad. If that happened, society would crumble.”


So, suddenly, it became a goal of mine that was almost a little obsession to write a children’s picture book that would be published in Mainland China, that they could not help but publish, but still could have all of the things that are in my children’s picture books, and I did it. I wrote this book and it’s being painted right now by this wonderful artist, and it’s called Chu’s Day, and it is about a baby panda who sneezes. There is no way that anyone can resist a baby panda who sneezes. This is the single cutest book I’ve ever written. It is written for two-year-olds and is designed in such a way that I’ve tried it on kids and it actually works that when you get to the end, they just look at you and they say, “Read it again!” The only words on page one are, “When Chu sneezed, bad things happened.”

2. Shark.

3. IMDB on The Shining:

Because Danny Lloyd was so young and since it was his first acting job, Stanley Kubrick was highly protective of the child. During the shooting of the movie, Lloyd was under the impression that the film he was making was a drama, not a horror movie. He only realized the truth seven years later, when, aged 13, he was shown a heavily edited version of the film. He didn't see the uncut version of the film until he was 17 - eleven years after he'd made it.

Via.

READ MORE - Link roundup

A few more gems from that enormous collection of art inspired by the movies of Stanley Kubrick I mentioned yesterday:


The Shining by Dan Ibarra.



2001 by Gabriele Brombin.



Gorillaz meets A Clockwork Orange by Irina Koshina.



2001 by Valerio Vega.



2001 by Dušan Vojnov.

*Buy Gorillaz toys at eBay.

READ MORE - More Stanley Kubrick-inspired art

A few highlights from an enormous collection of art inspired by the movies of Stanley Kubrick:


The Shining by Max Brown.



Eyes Wide Shut by Melissa Mills.



Spartacus by Viktor Hertz.



Photographs by Justin Kent from a Shining-themed party at Timberline Lodge.




The Shining by Erica Gibson.



2001 by Brecht Vandenbroucke.



The Shining by Ben Whitesell.



2001 by Carlos Ramos.




China / Art&Maña Sitges Festival Internacional de Cinema Fantàstic de Catalunya.



The Shining by Grégoire Guillemin.



The Shining by Edward Brown.



Eyes Wide Shut by Aurélie Scour.



2001 by James White.



2001 by Carlos Ramos.

*Buy 2001 posters at eBay.

READ MORE - Art inspired by the movies of Stanley Kubrick

1. Funny post by Drew Curtis about an imminent Fark redesign.

2. Les Dames features drawings of famous women (NSFW). Most recently, Brigitte Bardot. Via.

3. Cartoony 2001 illustrations.

*Buy 2001 posters at eBay.

READ MORE - Link roundup

1. From a long and fascinating article about a group of Serbs that trains revolutionaries to take on despots:

When the next group came to the front of the room, its members were smiling and, oddly, taking off their shoes. Their spokeswoman, a young woman in a pink shirt who was wriggling with excitement, proposed a "Barefoot Campaign," to commemorate the monks of the Saffron Revolution, who do not wear shoes. The idea was to start with 100 young people, contacted by email and social networks. They would do something simple: go barefoot in public spaces. "We can start with the pagodas," said Pink Shirt -- no one wears shoes in a pagoda anyway. And people could walk through paint, Pink Shirt said. "We can easily measure success -- if we see barefoot people and footprints everywhere."

"When the authorities respond with arrests, how will you respond?" Auntie asked. The group had thought through this. "For safety, people can carry a pair of broken sandals in their pocket to show the police," said a cherubic-faced young man. "Or you can say, 'I'm getting ready to go running.'"

The tall man halted their excitement. "If the authorities see you leaving footprints, they will know and arrest you."

"They won't know who it was if we do it at night," said the Cherub. "Let's do it!" He pumped his fist in the air. Everyone laughed.

But the footprints were a problem -- they could quite literally lead the police to their prey. Then a soft-spoken young woman in a gauze shirt spoke up. "There are lots of stray dogs and cats," she said. "We can put a dish of paint in front of where they live so they will walk through it." Cats and dogs as the foot soldiers of democracy! They looked at each other, awed by their own brilliance, and slapped hands all around.

Via.

2. This would be a good start for a Stanley Kubrick activity book - - Overlook Restaurant children's menu.

3. Sad animated gif reveals the extended ending of Wizard of Oz.

*Buy Wizard of Oz posters at eBay.

READ MORE - Link roundup