Author: Robert

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In 1979, Penthouse founder Bob Guccione produced a big budget feature film about the Roman emperor Caligula starring Maclolm McDowell, Teresa Ann Savoy, Helen Mirren, Peter O’Toole, and John Gielgud. Scripted by Gore Vidal and filled with graphic sex and violence, it was a critical and box office disaster but has garnered cult acclaim over the years. (Original trailer below.) Now, archivist Thomas Negovan and Shadow of the Vampire director E. Elias Merhig have located all of the original footage and are recutting the film into a 40th anniversary edition titled Caligula MMXX. Over the course of their research, they found this bizarre TV commercial produced for a line of Caligula action figures that, of course, never made it into production. Negovan tells Dangerous Minds:

A company named Cinco Toys pitched Guccione, who never met a deal he didn’t like, on them getting a license to do a line of action figures. Star Wars action figures were making millions and apparently they pitched him pretty hard for this. Caligula‘s budget was twice that of Star Wars. They made a handful of prototypes for action figures. They even went so far as to make a spec TV commercial to woo Guccione to let them do this, which is extra insane. They made it like he (Guccione) would be (star) in the commercial himself and had someone do a VO as if they were Bob. And there it was on the shelf with the various drafts of the script. There was a 3/4” tape and a VHS of the same commercial with Cinco labels.

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Ever wonder how the Space Needle’s rotating glass floor works? CGI animator extraordinaire Jared Owen gives us an inside look at Seattle’s most iconic structure.

The Space Needle is located in Seattle Washington. It was built in 1962 just in time for the World’s Fair. The top looks like a Flying Saucer and is meant to inspire people to look towards the future. The Space Needle is icon to Seattle just as Eiffel Tower is to Paris, France. Around the Space Needle there plenty to see and do as well. The bottom of the building has a large spiral ramp that tourists get to climb on their way towards the elevators. The top of tower has the observation level with an outdoor deck, a service level, and The Loupe which features a revolving glass floor. The center of the tower has supports for the 3 elevators and the stairs which are mostly used for emergencies. The Skyline level is for private events at the Space Needle.

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This is exactly how I’ve felt while cooped in my house these last few weeks and yes I mean “exactly.”

The 2-minute film was created by AJ Jeffries, a 3D illustrator and animator based in Norwich in the UK. The only description or explanation given for it is this: “A horse struggles to exist.” That feels like it’s vague or underselling, after watching this mesmerizing cartoon several times over, I think it’s actually perfect.

Horse [AJ Jeffries / Vimeo] Read the rest

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Sean Kaen, @oddnmacabre on Twitter, posed the challenge ‘let’s make some Godzilla movies!” and the results are unusually amusing due to the one rule: replace 1 word in any movie title with “Godzilla”.

Godzilla, Actually.

— lawprofblawg (@lawprofblawg) March 28, 2020

Indiana Jones and the Temple of Godzilla

Actually that sounds awesome!

On one side you have an aged, grumpy, ill-tempered, feared being who likes to smash things…

And on the other side a giant lizard.

— Robert Ropars (@robertropars) March 27, 2020

A Godzilla Runs Through It

— Alexander Occasionally-Cortical (@Trolletariat2) March 28, 2020

Four Weddings and a Godzilla

— Peter de Sève (@peterdeseve) March 29, 2020

The Englishman Who Went Up a Hill But Came Down a Godzilla

— E.Z. Hart (@hartez) March 28, 2020

Heather offers “Extremely Loud And Incredibly Godzilla.”

I know I’ll never get to watch “Remains of the Godzilla”, but there’ll always be the whale on Florence beach. And then I can found the Dead Godzillas Society. Read the rest

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#ASonnetADay

A post shared by Patrick Stewart (@sirpatstew) on Mar 31, 2020 at 1:06pm PDT

“Having spent so much of my life with Shakespeare’s world, passions and ideas in my head and in my mouth, he feels like a friend—someone who just went out of the room to get another bottle of wine,” Patrick Stewart once said.

On Instagram, he’s now delivering a daily fix of the Bard. See them all at @sirpatstew on Instagram.

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It has led me to undertake what follows. When I was a child in the 1940s, my mother would cut up slices of fruit for me (there wasn’t much) and as she put it in front of me she would say: “An apple a day keeps the doctor away.” How about, “A sonnet a day keeps the doctor away”? So…here we go: Sonnet 1.

A post shared by Patrick Stewart (@sirpatstew) on Mar 22, 2020 at 4:28pm PDT

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A post shared by Patrick Stewart (@sirpatstew) on Mar 28, 2020 at 12:35pm PDT

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If you’re charting the fortunes of a business, one glance at the right columns can instantly detail that company’s health. If you want to see their current roster of customers, a spreadsheet can bring those clients into sharp focus.

Make no mistake — the world of business is still dominated by the all-powerful spreadsheet. It’s still a defining business tool, one users can get to know inside and out with training like The 2020 Ultimate Microsoft Excel Certification Training Bundle.

The package collecting 10 courses jammed full with more than 40 hours of training unlocks everything a new Microsoft Excel user needs to start exploring, managing and analyzing data in this business industry staple.

First, a trio of courses guide first-timers through three levels of Excel knowledge, starting with basic terms and ideas before moving to templates, databases, and ranges, then the most advanced Excel tools like macros and creating your own Excel operations with VBA programming.

Meanwhile, another three courses dig into some of Excel’s most valuable functions, including productivity tools like keyboard shortcuts and data validation; data visualizations to create data-driven maps, templates, forms and other dynamic visuals; and pivot tables for grouping and displaying your data in every conceivable way.

Additional training covers powerful data modeling and business tools like Power Query and Data Analysis Expressions, how to use formulas and functions at all levels, and advanced tips for handling critical data processes like password protection and tracking changes.

From Excel newbies to hardcore veterans, there are tips and strategies here to help users of any level extract even more meaning from all their Excel explorations. Read the rest

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You know what you’re gonna get and the master delivers. The recital begins at 6:08.

While Jimmy is in quarantine, he checks in with the great Samuel L. Jackson at his home. Sam talks about canceling his trip to Italy with Magic Johnson, Jimmy wanting to be a part of their annual vacation, watching “Tiger King” with his daughter, the go-to meal he likes to cook himself.

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This is a compilation of security- and dash-cam footage of auto accidents with one of the vehicles digitally removed, thereby becoming “invisible”. It is remarkably creepy and unsettling, like one of those science fiction blockbusters that starts with an ingenious and terrifying disaster/invasion/escape scene but then becomes normal and boring for the rest of the movie. Read the rest