2010. While so far, 2010 reminds us mainly of burst oil pipelines, Chicago winning the Stanley Cup and to a lesser extent a bad sequel to Kubrick’s film 2001: A Space Odyssey, it also is the year of many great movie anniversaries. Sci-fi greats, horror staples and comedy classics all have something to toast to this year. After all, it may only be another 5 years before some studio decides to remake them minus the charm of the original. Take a look at some of the great classic cult movies celebrating their 20th and 30th. You are sure to find an old (or new) favorite to spend you next rainy day with.

30th Anniversaries

Friday the 13th (May 1980)

Spawning countless sequels including a remake in 2009, Friday the 13th has had us second guessing our desires to go to camp since it’s release. Featuring a cast of nobodies with the exception of a very young Kevin Bacon, Friday the 13th stands out as one of the most classic slasher horror movies of all time.

Premise: It is summer time at Camp Crystal Lake and it’s teen-aged counsellors are too distracted to notice one of it’s campers, young Jason Voorhees, drown in the lake causing the camp to shut down. Several years later, the camp reopens with a new set of counselors despite warnings from a local nut that the camp is cursed. Sadly the counselors should have taken his word as Jason Voorhees has returned and is seeking revenge on those who let him die.

Mad Max (April 1980)

Remember when everyone loved Mel Gibson? It’s hard but there was once a time when a baby faced Mel jumped symbolized the new road rebel in this Australian cult classic. Two sequels followed but neither held a candle to the original.

Premise: Set in a dystopic future in Australia, Mad Max is the story of a cop out for revenge after is family is murdered by a violent biker gang. A cop on the straight and narrow becomes the ultimate outback vigilante in this low budget but classic road story

Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back (May 1980)

Few film series have made the same impact as the original Star Wars trilogy and The Empire Strikes Back remains one of the most anticipated sequels of it’s time.

Premise: After the destruction of the Death Star in A New Hope, the rebel fleet has set up base on the ice planet of Hoth. After escaping yet another Imperial attack, our rag tag group of droids, princesses and desert farm boys is separated, sending Luke to find Jedi Master Yoda for more training and Han Solo and crew searching for a safe place to lay low after their escape. New friends, old enemies - Empire has it all

The Shining (May 1980)

Back in the days when Stephen King was at his best and Stanley Kuberick was at his most bizarre (yet awesome) comes the classic horror/thriller. the Shining. Standing out as one of Kuberick’s best films, not to mention jack Nicholson’s best performances, this film has been adored since it’s release, inspiring homages and parodies galore from other films and even cartoons such as the Simpsons.

Premise: Writer Jack Torrance has recently lost his job and has taken up a job as caretaker at the Overlook Hotel with his wife and young son during it’s off season. Totally isolated, the Torrance’s begin to experience strange events in the hotel especially young Danny who begins to have a telepathic connection called “shining” to the spirits lingering in the hotel’s halls. The strange hauntings of the hotel begin to affect the entire family and soon they all find themselves battling for their sanity.

Other 30 year Anniversaries of Note

The Blues Brothers (June 1980)

Created by SNL veterans John Belushi and Dan Aykroyd, this classic cult musical film features some of the best musicians of all time coupled with the great wit and humor of these two comedic geniuses. Featuring appearances by Carrie Fisher and John Candy, this film also stars legendary performers such as James Brown and Ray Charles. We’ll just pretend there was never a (sacrilegious) sequel.

Where the Buffalo Roam (April 1980)

Before Johnny Depp donned the fisherman’s hat and cigarette holder of the iconic Hunter Thompson (writer for Rolling Stone), Bill Murray took up the task of immortalizing Dr. Gonzo in his own way along with Peter Boyle as his lawyer Lazlo. While not the definitive film about Thompson, this movie features some hilarious moments and a young Bill Murray at the top of his game

Airplane! (July 1980)

Do you like movies about Gladiators? Sure you do. But even more you should love this classic pun comedy parodying the thriller film Airport. This film NEVER takes itself seriously and that’s why it remains one of the best silly movies ever.

20 Year Anniversaries

Total Recall (June 1990)

Believe it or not is has been 20 years since we first took our trip to Mars with Arnie. Based off the Philip K Dick’s short story We Can Remember It For You Wholesale, Total Recall had everything a good sci-fi flick needs: action, adventure, creepy aliens and a great plot twist. This film also won an Oscar for it’s impressive visual effects which still hold up pretty well even to this day

Premise: Set in the not-so distant future, Doug Quade is a construction  worker haunted by a reoccurring dream of a life on Mars with a mysterious woman. With his wife unwilling to nurture his curiosity and travel to Mars, Quade goes to Recall, a company which specializes in memory implants which make you believe you have taken a full vacation to the place of your choice that is so realistic, your mind can’t tell the difference. During his visit to Recall, something goes awry and Quade soon finds himself being chased by men who want him dead as the life he knew begins to unravel around him

Edward Scissorhands (December 1990)

A cult classic all it’s own and probably one of Tim Burton’s best, Edward Scissorhands was the ultimate unconventional fairytale. Back when Tim Burton was still writing original stories and Johnny Depp was just starting to shake off the dust from 21 Jump Street, Edward Scissorhands brought a wonderful world of unusual beauty to the big screen.

Premise: In a cookie cutter type neighborhood, a Mary Kay selling mother Peg ventures up to an ominous house at the end of the block hoping to sell her wares. There she discovers Edward, a young man who has scissors instead of hands, who has been left totally alone after the death of his father/creator. Determined to help, Peg takes him home and tries to assimilate Edward into her family and regular society.

Night of the Living Dead (October 1990)

Twenty two years after George Romero made zombies mainstream with the original, Night of the Living Dead was remade, shaking off the dated cheesiness of the original. While this film can still be cheesy in it’s own right, this reboot brings more horror and fear to the classic zombie movie that started it all. Thanks to the world’s love affair with the undead, Night of the Living Dead inspired several more “of the Dead” sequels such as Day of the Dead and Dawn of the Dead.
Premise: Zombies arise from the dead and try to eat people - nuff said

Tremors (January 1990)

While not one of those watch-over-and-over-again movies, Tremors was a great little film despite a simple premise. Starring Kevin Bacon in the original film, this creepy story of mysterious creatures under the ground surfacing to kill anything that moves inspired several sequels (which are painfully bad sadly).

Premise: When a small, isolated desert town begins to find human bodies littering it’s sands, the few inhabitants begin to band up against an unknown menace. They soon disover strange, tentacled beasts are the culperit and they can track anything based on any impact noise or tremor. It’s then a struggle to survive against these malicious creatures that can track any sound you make.

Other 20 Year Anniversaries of Note

Stephen King’s IT (November 1990)

This classic Stephen King creation had people fearing clowns for years. The menacing It known as Pennywise is an inhuman creature which feasts on children every 30 years and it’s up to the Lucky 7, a small band of kids, to destroy it. 30 years after their victory against IT, the murders resume and the remaining members of the Lucky 7 must team up in order to defeat the evil Pennywise and save future generations from it’s evil grasp. Still creepy to this day, IT is one not to miss

Flatliners (August 1990)

When a group of medical students decide to attempt to bring someone back to life after being brain dead for a short period of time, they begin to experience some strange events. As each one returns from their death experience, they all discover that their “sins” have come with them and are intent on torturing them for the wrong inflicted on them. This original thriller is unquestionably worth a watch.

Goodfellas (September 1990)

Unquestionably one of the best gangster movies of all time, Goodfellas stands out as Martin Scorcese’s ultimate look at the life of mobsters. With an all star cast featuring Robert De Niro, Ray Liotta and Joe Pesci (who won an Oscar for his performance), Goodfellas is a wild look into the real life of some of the most violent mobsters ever to take a bat to someone’s head. Based of the book by Nicholas Pileggi (who also wrote Casino), this true story film is nothing short of epic.

One of the best parts of Comic Con is always the artists, both the big names and the small. Stepping beyond just the pencil, pen and ink, digital artists have starting making their own name for themselves in the art industry. But my focus here is an artist who ties in well with my second favorite thing about Comic Con: Cosplay.

Spending the entire stretch of C4 (Central Canadian Comic Con) not only displaying prints of her work but creating masterpieces on any passers by, Lucie Brouillard is unquestionably one of the most memorable artists from Central Canadian Comic Con. A proud Canadian, Lucie has become renowned for her surreal work with human beings as her canvas, creating unforgettable works of art with only body paint and a passionate artistic vision. After the mobs of eager fans finally thinned from around her booth, I was able to not only chat with this talented artist but have her create a three section piece of artwork on myself. And during all this, Lucie was able to tell me a little more about herself and the craft she loves.

1) Where did you first begin painting/ studying art?
I have a College degree in Fine Arts and History of Arts from Champlain College in Lennoxville, Qc. I began doing some theatre makeup at 15 y.o.

2) What was it that made you decide to use the human body as your canvas instead of painting on traditional canvas?
Pure accident- I was back from one year in Europe, came back broke, settled in Montreal and during the Jazz festival, my friend offered me old crayons and suggested face-painting downtown. I went, tried my hand at it, and it was almost love at first feel. Never stopped ever since.

3) How long have you been creating body art? Since 1989.

4) What are some of the challenges in painting on people?
I am now so used to painting on skin VS on a flat surface that I find 2 dimensional stillness more challenging. Of course when I have a model who   squints, giggles and sways because of an excess of alcohol, that can be a little problematic! But luckily it happens very little. Lots of hair of course  gets in the way; we need smooth hairless skin.

5) What types of body paint to you use for your work?
Only water-based brands. I keep away from anything grease-based, as it smears and stains clothes. It never properly dries, while water-based theatre makeup does.

6) As the human canvas encounters elements that regular canvas does not (body perspiration etc), how do you ensure your work lasts on your models?
We can use sealers, but profuse sweating will still cause damage, so usually, models tend to be rather inactive-  they stroll, pause and keep a quiet pace. But pictures are taken soon after the work is done, to keep the image as perfect as possible.

7) You have been a world champion in both body and face painting. Tell us about your winning designs and the inspiration behind them.
In most serious competitions, themes are released many months before the event, so we have a long time to research, prepare and sketch. This last summer in Seeboden, Austria, where the World Championships are held, the two themes were very inspiring: “Poetry, the power of words” and “Spirituality: beyond the visible world”- exquisite themes. I depicted a history of poetry on one model head to toe, then this theme was also used for the   Face-painting competition, so I painted a huge bird of paradise on the face, then a young girl reading a book on the chest, in a grey and web-like favella.  My story was that the power of words, through poetry, is so strong that it means salvation from your immediate situation- the symbolic strong, colorful    bird of poetry picking up this young teenager and making her travel to other worlds, other environments where life is better, more inspiring. Ultimately, I  figured she was going to be “all right”
and able to get out of her favella through the many inspirations and aspirations poetry can evoke.

8 ) What would you say are the primary mistakes that rookie body painters make when first starting out?
That they presume they can paint without having a background in actual drawing or painting. We need a    data of images in our head/fingers to begin with, then the rest follows. Also, a fear of mixing colors together, sticking to them separately, like    number-painting. I think some of them might also be intimidated by their new canvas- painting on someone can be daunting, moslty when you must paint around  their more intimate areas

9) What is your favorite piece that you’ve painted so far? Probably my mirrored animals on Sabine in Seeboden in 2007. Perfectly symmetrical, vibrant colors, very alive and evocative of the balance  of nature.

10) Do you have any interest in doing different types of body painting more along the lines of special effects
makeup?
I simply do not have time at the moment. I am content with what I do now, I would love to be more able to paint what I see in my mind- at night    when I go to sleep and am preparing for a competition, I become in a trance and “see” all I could do, but it is so hard to transfer what my brain shows me in my head to actual painting.. There must be some way to work that out! What I would truly love to do more is to teach and give workshops.

11) Were their any particular artists that influenced your painting style?
I am quite a lonely builder and I always tried purposely to block from my mind the influence of other painters. I always knew   unconsciously that I wanted to invent my own style, and to do so to isolate myself from too many influences was important. It is also a question of pride,   to be able to feel like I owe nothing to no one. But of course we cannot help seeing what is around, plus we don’t re-invent the wheel every time we   paint…as a result many people must have influenced me, but not necessarily body-painters, and I cannot give names right now.

To see the evolution of Lucie’s design on yours truly, please check out the video below (apologies for missing audio at the beginning of the clip).

The Body Art of Lucie Brouillard

For more information on the art of Lucie Brouillard, please visit her website

Ah Comic Con. A chance for anyone, wherever they live, to nurture their inner geek and spend their time with with others just like them. A chance to check out a wide variety of graphic novels, cool collectibles and meet stars from their favorite Tv shows and movies. It doesn’t get much better than this! So in honor of so many Cons sprouting out all over the world and being the only Canuck in GEN, I wanted to bring our faithful readers a little taste of Central Canadian Comic Con aka C4 albeit a little late.

The History of C4

C4 started off as a small tradeshow in my hometown of Winnipeg, Manitoba; a town known by few and repeatedly referenced by Simpsons creator Matt Groening. Starting out in 1994, C4 began to grow by leaps and bounds, standing now as Canada’s fastest growing Con of it’s genre outside of Toronto. As the Con began to grow, it began to implement more and more draws to the public and has more and more people visiting it from the US every year. With the popularity continuing over the years, C4 was able to add some interesting guests such as Margot Kidder, Lou Ferrigno, Levar Burton, John de Lancie and Erica Durance. Between the great guest speakers ready to give their autographs to devoted fans, comics, videogames, cosplayers and local and international artists, C4 definitely has you covered.

Guests

C4’s guests this year were nothing short of retro awesomeness. First off, the original caped crusader, Adam West. Taking a break from voicing the mayor of Quahog on Family Guy, Mr. West delighted fans of all ages with his stories of the animated series which made him a household name once again and the Batman tv series that skyrocketed him to fame.

But no Batman is complete without a villian..or more correctly villianess. C4 was ecstatic to welcome the incomparable Julie Newmar. Best known as Catwoman from the Batman tv series (and my favorite Catwoman to boot), Ms Newmar is an incredible woman who’s career in film, dance and television is rivaled by few.

But from the mad streets of Gotham, we headed to the far reaches of Space with Dirk Benedict, star of Battlestar Galactica. This incredibly ranged actor not only dazzled audiences during his run on BG but in his many other film and stage rolls including Showboat and the campy tv classic The A-team.

But no con would be complete without the greatest sidekick of all time: Peter Mayhew of Star Wars. While his first film role was Sinbad and the Eye of the Tiger (insert sports training montage here), it was Chewbacca that brought Peter the frontlines. His role as the furry lovable wookie has made him a memorable favorite for any sci-fi or general movie fan, for that matter. Peter was a welcome addition to C4.

But it wasn’t just the tv and film stars that drew fans to C4, it was the artists and graphic novel writers. C4 is notorious for featuring local and budding artists from all over North America but it definitely does not shy away from the big names. Adding their names to the artist roster at C4 were Marv Wolfman, creator of Blade, and Tommy Castillo, an artist who touches everything geek with an impeccable skill of even making zombies look pretty. Well…not ‘pretty but..you know. Mr Castillo also joined fans of C4 on preview night for a special screening of the original Night of the Living Dead. Other big artist names added to the Con were: Bob Layton, Gordon Purcell, Marc Wolfe and Alex Milne.

Cosplay

Cons are where its at for Cosplay and honestly its probably one of the few places where we won’t be the only one slathered in body paint and adorned with wings and huge props. And being that C4 was held over the Halloween weekend, there seemed to be more Cosplayers than ever. C4 features two costume contests: Miss C4 (which chooses one female cosplayer with the best original or handmade costume) and the main costume contest for all goers. Some of the most impressive costumes remain to be Doctor Octopus, Bill the Butcher (gangs of new york), the flying monkey from Wizard of Oz and my personal favorite Indiana Jones played by Reid Fisher. This Indiana Jones not only knew how to crack the bull whips but also carried with him a handmade Grail diary - props to Indy!

The Artists

Aside from the big name artists showcasing their work, it was the local and lesser known artists that really made an impression at C4. Here are some of the artists who knocked it out of the park this year:

Reid Fisher: While his Indiana Jones costume was what made me stop by his display, it was his graphic novel (in the making) about Vimy Ridge that really made Reed stand out. Impeccable art style which truly captured the emotions of the men in the trenches, this graphic novel detailing the Canadian involvement in the first world war really hit home.

Lucie Brouillard: When you think about artists at a Con, body and face paint artists may not be what first springs to mind. But C4 was very fortunate to have this World Champion body and face paint artist not only feature her work at the Con, but create new original works on any passers by intruiged by her skill. Lucie’s ability to truly transform the human body into a work of art definitely made her a stand out artist (Check out my interview with Lucie Brouillard on GEN)

Amul Kumar: With digital art becoming more and more mainstream, it’s rare to find a digital artist that really stands out. Not the case with Amul Kumar. Not only an impeccable photographer, Amul’s skill with finding the beauty in the banal and enhancing it to a surreal level definitely made an impact with C4 goers. High intensity colors and beautiful artistry made him one of the best artists at C4.

Six Pines: Okay this is technically not an artist but I think Six Pines’ creation which they exhibited at C4 warrants them mention here. Six Pines is best known in my hometown for one of the best ways to spend your Halloween as this local couple yearly offers up an incredible haunted farm experience that keeps it packed all through October. But their crowning achievement was their recreation of the Ecto-1, the original car from Ghostbusters. Made to spec, this car was so impressive that even Ray Stantz, Dan Aykroyd himself, had wanted to autograph the dash board. But the creators of this Ghostbusters homage were such purists that the dash remained untouched. Six Pines created a booth for all Con attendees to get their picture taken with the infamous car as well, something I had to take advantage of!

The Round Up

Sadly much of my C4 coverage was limited or omitted due to techincal and copyright issues, but this was Central Canadian Comic Con in a nutshell. I plan to be back with a vengeance next year to give you the 411 on all things geek coming from C4 and donning my own great Cosplay costumes as well! For more on C4, check out the videos below

C4 Part 1

C4 Part 2

The cosplay community is chock-full of extremely talented cosplayers from all levels of experience and skill. It’s more than just being good at sewing. To really excel at the hobby, you need to know how to think outside of the box and take your creativity to the next level. Most cosplay costumes are not simple and require a lot of creativity to complete in order to look as authentic as possible. This month’s Cosplayer Spotlight celebrates one such cosplayer who faces every challenge with determination and amazing ingenuity! Read the full story

All congoers have seen a masquerade. But few have seen one like New York Anime Festival’s. Saturday’s masquerade winners didn’t just earn bragging rights and a certificate. The cosplay duo of Yaya Han and Anna Raper left the stage that night with round trip tickets to Japan, VIP passes to Tokyo’s International Anime Fair, and $1,000 in spending money.

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Many cosplayers and anime fans dream of visiting Japan one day, but at next weeekend’s New York Anime Festival, 60 will have the chance to win a free ride to the land of the rising sun.

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Another epic convention has passed, so how was it? The crowds were back, the guests were more incredible, and a world record just may have been accomplished. If you ask me, Dragon*con 2009 was a huge success. Not able to make it this year? Here’s just the tip of the iceberg of what you missed. Read the full story