"Birdman" Trailer - A Surreal Journey Into A Washed Out Actor's Brain

How did we end up here, in this dump? You were a movie star..Remember? That inner dialogue resonates throughout the entire trailer of Alejandro González Iñárritu's incredibly curious looking film called Birdman (Aka The Unexpected Virtue Of Ignorance), an upcoming movie being released by Fox Searchlight films.

Starring Michael Keaton as a washed out actor best known for playing a hero called Birdman on the silver screen (No correlation to Hanna Barbera's hero of the same name), this film looks like it will take us deep into a twisted psychological journey rife with insecurity, regret and mental duress. In a few choice scenes in the trailer we witness Michael Keaton (Who famously played Batman back in the day) begin to blur the line between his real self and alter ego as a superhero, a very clever casting choice by the director that might draw parallels with the reality of an actor losing their luster with age.



If Iñárritu doesn't ring a bell, he's a Mexican director who's delivered some truly amazing movies throughout his career, my favorite being 21 Grams and Amores Perros- So I'm actually pretty excited to know that this twisted dark comedy is in the hands of proven talent.

Valley Of Dolls

Ayano Tsukimi lives in a remote village in Nagoro situated on Shikoku, one of Japan's four main islands. After a boom and bust cycle from a hydroelectric dam, the town's population dwindled from a few hundred to just a few dozen, and Ayano took on a distinct hobby to make her town a little less barren and lonely.

The Valley of the Dolls features a town's transformation into an eclectic wonderland, filled with hundreds of dolls crafted in the likeness of those who've either passed away or left Nagoro behind. The ten year project has ultimately drawn the curiosity of visitors, who stop by to take photos and enjoy the curious visuals. The most telling part of this little documentary is the ending, in which Ayano shares her beliefs on life, death and dolls with us.

Magnetic Micro Robots By DARPA

Darpa's open manufacturing program just unveiled their latest in electromagnetically actuated robotics, and as usual we can't help but wonder what other applications these robots will inevitably be used for in the long run. Mainly centered around a factory of micro robots used to build trusses (A certain structure that can withstand strain), this latest video shows off just how fast and incredibly coordinated these micro-robot systems are, capable of executing movements of up to 35cm/s at a max of 1,386 movements per second, traveling up walls and unorthodox surfaces and coordinating with other robots to perform relatively complex tasks.

The end goal for these micro robotics systems involves them being able to built more complex tech with integrated circuitry, and eventually using ant like colonies of these robots to carry out construction and manufacturing projects. We also could see these micro robots outfitted with surveillance equipment to be used for recon, and let's not forget the potential for sabotaging hardware and infrastructure.

We had to.

Imagine being able to harness the power of an army of ants to assemble large-scale products quickly and precisely from heterogeneous materials in today’s manufacturing environments. SRI’s patented Diamagnetic Micro Manipulation (DM3) technology uses printed circuit boards (PCBs) to drive and control micro-robots built from simple, low-cost magnets that are propelled electromagnetically. This could enable cost-effective production of large numbers of micro-robots that can reliably handle a wide variety of solid and liquid materials—including electronics.

Our vision is to enable an assembly head containing thousands of micro-robots to manufacture high-quality macro-scale products while providing millimeter-scale structural control. For example, some micro-robots will carry components (electronic as well as mechanical, such as truss elements), some micro-robots will deposit liquids, and others will perform in quality analysis. Mounted to a mobile robotic base, a micro-factory will be able to build parts of practically any size.

Legos + Acid House = Play House

Playhouse is a really curious automata developed by Alex Allmont, featuring dozens of mechanisms built in Lego Technic that generate slow acid house music. Powered by an algorithm that recreates the distinct, programmed squelched 4/4 beat, different parts of the mechanisms are triggered to layer complexity to the track and modulate simple bass patterns. Over 6 minutes you'll witness the functions of all the various systems of this curious device, which was commissioned for the UK's Audiograft festival.

I Am Alone, Walking On The Straight Road

Masanori Okamoto created this rather curious papercraft animation piece to commemorate the work of Taneda Santoka, one of Japan's most famous Haiku authors. While on an initial viewing I was a tad perplexed by what I saw, witnessing a man having a drink and slowly exhibiting all the subtle mannerisms an inebriated individual would, I slowly came to realize what this was all about. Aside from being a technically impressive short by Okamoto, who setup an experimental system for emoting with a cutout paper method, the short embodies everything that Santoka himself lived for.

Savoring the moment. Enjoying one's saké. Realizing that there is no destination, only the journey. Santoka embraced an unusual pursuit of achieving enlightenment, choosing to walk to achieve his own version of Zen. Over the course of 28,000 miles walked by foot he would record his thoughts and perceptions regarding everything he encountered on his way, which would ultimately immortalize him as one of Japan's literary treasures.

The Making Of A Popeye Cartoon (Circa 1938)

Taken from the Fleischer Studio archives, this short featurette goes in depth into the type of work that animators went through back in the day to create Popeye's 'Aladdin and His Wonderful Lamp.' It's so old school that it kind of hurts, featuring sweatshop-like environments critically dependent on impeccable consistency, individually photographed frames, hand mixed paint for the cells and many other techniques which in retrospect seem like a huge headache. At the end of the day though you can't help but appreciate what these pioneers accomplished, paving the way for our modern, digitalized processes.