Charlie Jane Anders, Author at Gizmodo

7 cool special effects ILM created for The Last Airbender

The Last Airbender will carve a new path in visual effects, showing you things no movie ever has: water tentacles and gusts of fire. We visited Industrial Light and Magic, and saw what every other movie will be copying soon. Whether Airbender satisfies fans of the classic Nickelodeon cartoon, and whether it succeeds in being…

io9 Charlie Jane Anders

Hear the garage-band bootlegs of Tom Waits and William Burroughs’ Black Rider

The devil offers you a gun full of magic bullets. The only catch? One of those bullets will betray you. That’s the premise of The Black Rider by Tom Waits, William Burroughs and Robert Wilson. Someone’s posted the garage-band bootleg. Here’s how From This Swamp, the Lovecraftian and Dystopian Music blog, describes the Black Rider…

Books & Comics Charlie Jane Anders

The first Star Wars art you ever fell in love with

Yesterday, we celebrated the vivid, multi-faceted concept art that went into creating the Star Wars saga. But now the L.A. Times has posted the sharp, stunning first draft of the very first Star Wars movie poster, by the Brothers Hildebrandt.

io9 Charlie Jane Anders

Casting news for X-Men: First Class, Fright Night, Terra Nova, Battleship, Spider-Man, Being Human and Walking Dead!

There’s a thrilling new Predators TV spot and a supercool Korean Inception poster. There’s casting news/rumors for X-Men: First Class, Fright Night, Battleship, Spider-Man, Being Human and Walking Dead. There are Transformers/Cowboys And Aliens set pics. Plus a Supernatural shocker! Predators: Another new TV spot gives a nice glimpse of a Predator materializing out of…

Television Charlie Jane Anders

100+ amazing pieces of Star Wars concept art

You can’t celebrate the awesomeness of concept art without paying special tribute to Star Wars. Ralph McQuarrie’s paintings for the original trilogy inspired every concept artist today, and the prequels and video games’ art was eye-popping. Here are our favorites. The original trilogy Almost every concept artist we’ve interviewed this week for io9’s concept art…

io9 Charlie Jane Anders

Original Trilogy concept art

Ralph McQuarrie Original Trilogy Ralph McQuarrie Original Trilogy Ralph McQuarrie Original Trilogy Ralph McQuarrie Original Trilogy Ralph McQuarrie Original Trilogy Ralph McQuarrie art Via StarWars.com Ralph McQuarrie art Via StarWars.com Ralph McQuarrie art Via StarWars.com Ralph McQuarrie art Via StarWars.com Darth Vader, via RostAARGHHH on Flickr. Storyboard, via RostAARGHHH on Flickr. via RostAARGHHH on Flickr.…

io9 Charlie Jane Anders

Clone Wars concept art

Mandalorians, via StarWars.com Serape, via StarWars.com Captain Rex concept art, via StarWars.com General Grievous concept art, via Star Wars.com

io9 Charlie Jane Anders

Star Wars: The Force Unleashed and other video games

Chris Voy The Force Unleashed Lucas Arts The Force Unleashed Lucas Arts The Force Unleashed Lucas Arts The Force Unleashed Lucas Arts The Force Unleashed Lucas Arts The Force Unleashed Lucas Arts The Force Unleashed Lucas Arts The Force Unleashed Lucas Arts The Force Unleashed Lucas Arts The Force Unleashed Lucas Arts The Force Unleashed…

io9 Charlie Jane Anders

Doctor Who is at its best when it’s nasty

Torchwood’s Chris Chibnall returned to Doctor Who with a two-parter about reptiles, betrayal, death and tragic love. And in the process, he showed us that a certain level of viciousness is part of what makes Doctor Who great. Spoilers ahead! So first of all, sorry I didn’t recap part one of this two-parter last week.…

Television Charlie Jane Anders

R.I.P. José Saramago, author of Blindness and Seeing

José Saramago, Nobel Prize-winning author of the subversive, savage novels Blindness and Seeing, along with many other great books, has died at age 87. His fables and weird tales have one thing in common: the question “What if?” [NPR]

Books & Comics Charlie Jane Anders

Heads up, New Yorker! Here’s a “writers under 40” list that includes SF authors

Many of us were left scratching our heads when the New Yorker’s list of 20 great writers under 40 included no genre authors whatsoever. Now Britain’s Telegraph newspaper has come up with its own list — that includes science fiction. The Telegraph’s article about its own list of 20 British authors under 40 notes that…

Books & Comics Charlie Jane Anders

Wayne Barlowe doesn’t bring weird creatures to you — he drags you to their world

Wayne Barlowe is more than just a god of concept art. He’s a fantastic creature designer, whose creations have enlivened Avatar and Hellboy, and his work spawned a Discovery Channel movie. He talked to us about beautifully monstrous apparitions. It’s hard to overstate the influence of Wayne Barlowe, whose illustrations have appeared in hundreds of…

io9 Charlie Jane Anders

Important life lessons I learned from Syfy’s The Phantom

You have nothing better to do this Sunday than watch Syfy’s attempt to reinvigorate The Phantom, one of the dorkiest superheroes of all time. Right? What if I tell you the villain tries to destroy the world using Flickr? Spoilers… Yes, really. The villain of The Phantom, Rhatib Singh of the villainous Singh brotherhood, is…

Television Charlie Jane Anders

Wayne Barlowe art

From Hellboy: The Art Of The Movie. Copyright Wayne Barlowe and Sony Pictures. Via Parkablogs. From Hellboy: The Art Of The Movie. Copyright Wayne Barlowe and Sony Pictures. Via Parkablogs. Analog Magazine cover. Daggerwrist, from Barlowe’s Darwin IV Expedition book Daggerwrist, from Barlowe’s Darwin IV Expedition book From Barlowe’s Darwin IV Expedition bookhttp://www.flickr.com/photos/3632924… Bladderhorn, from…

io9 Charlie Jane Anders

Toy Story 3 has something other summer movies don’t: storytelling.

In Pixar movies, our consumer crap loves us. Whether it’s toys, cars or trash robots, Pixar plays to our fantasies that our mass-produced semi-durable possessions have deep inner lives. But Toy Story 3 takes this theme to a new place. Oh, and there are spoilers in this review. TOY spoilers! Toy Story 3, out today,…

Movies Charlie Jane Anders

Find out who’s playing X-Men’s Beast, and who’s spawning the Planet Of The Apes. And glimpse The Hobbit’s Shire.

There’s exciting casting news for X-Men: First Class and the Planet Of The Apes prequel. Find out how The Last Airbender’s special effects bend the elements. Plus Doctor Who, Predators, The Hobbit, Akira, Supernatural, Chuck, Torchwood and True Blood spoilers! X-Men: First Class: The cast of this mutant coming of age film continues to gel.…

Television Charlie Jane Anders

Exhibit A for concept art that’s cooler than the finished product

When you look through Miles Teves’ online concept art portfolio, it’s hard not to feel sad about how cool Terminator 3 and Terminator Salvation, plus a Dune movie, could have looked. And his design for Spider-Man’s Goblin is clearly superior. Teves is not shy about saying that his concept art for some of the most…

io9 Charlie Jane Anders

No power in the ‘Verse can stop this River Tam statue!

Check out this amazing animated River Tam maquette, going up for sale tomorrow from Quantum Mechanix, makers of our favorite Firefly scwhag. Pile of Reaver corpses sold separately. Quantum Mechanix describes their statue, which goes on sale tomorrow at 10 AM PST: River is captured in the midst of battle with the Reavers, her pose…

io9 Charlie Jane Anders

How to break in as a Hollywood concept artist: Artists share their secrets

Working as a concept artist is one of the coolest careers you could possibly imagine. You get to paint pictures of spaceships and heroic battles, and imagine strange new worlds. How can you get in on this action? We asked a ton of our favorite Hollywood concept artists for their advice on breaking in, and…

io9 Charlie Jane Anders

Miles Teves art

Skynet Tank, from Terminator Salvation. Copyright Miles Teves and Warner Bros. Apocalyptic Vampire, from a canceled project Hunter-Killer from Terminator Salvation. Copyright Miles Teves and Warner Bros. Hunter-Killer from Terminator Salvation. Copyright Miles Teves and Warner Bros. ATV from Terminator Salvation. Copyright Miles Teves and Warner Bros. Black Terminator from Terminator Salvation. Copyright Miles Teves…

io9 Charlie Jane Anders

Charlie Jane Anders

7 cool special effects ILM created for The Last Airbender

Hear the garage-band bootlegs of Tom Waits and William Burroughs’ Black Rider

The first Star Wars art you ever fell in love with

Casting news for X-Men: First Class, Fright Night, Terra Nova, Battleship, Spider-Man, Being Human and Walking Dead!

100+ amazing pieces of Star Wars concept art

Original Trilogy concept art

Clone Wars concept art

Star Wars: The Force Unleashed and other video games

Doctor Who is at its best when it’s nasty

R.I.P. José Saramago, author of Blindness and Seeing

Heads up, New Yorker! Here’s a “writers under 40” list that includes SF authors

Wayne Barlowe doesn’t bring weird creatures to you — he drags you to their world

Important life lessons I learned from Syfy’s The Phantom

Wayne Barlowe art

Toy Story 3 has something other summer movies don’t: storytelling.

Find out who’s playing X-Men’s Beast, and who’s spawning the Planet Of The Apes. And glimpse The Hobbit’s Shire.

Exhibit A for concept art that’s cooler than the finished product

No power in the ‘Verse can stop this River Tam statue!

How to break in as a Hollywood concept artist: Artists share their secrets

Miles Teves art

Study Challenges Popular Theory on Why Primordial Bugs Were So Darn Huge

Ewan McGregor and Anne Hathaway’s Mystery’s Sci-Fi Film Has Its First Trailer

Scientists Just Found the Salt Limit That Pushes Your Heart to the Breaking Point

White House Social Media Just Had Its Covfefe Moment

Roborock F25 Ultra Steam Wet Dry Vacuum Is Now at Its Lowest Price, but Only During the Spring Sale Window

This $450 Semi-Dumb Phone Is Barely Even a Phone

Startup Successfully Ignites World’s First Fusion Rocket

Shokz OpenDots One Earbuds Hit Their Lowest Price Yet Across All Color Options, Including the New Ones

INIU Portable Power Bank Is Small in Size and Smaller in Price for Amazon’s Big Spring Sale (45W, 10,000mAh)

Humans Were Already Dog People 16,000 Years Ago, DNA Suggests

Sonos Play Review: Call It a Comeback

Sonos Era 100 SL Review: The Cheapest Way Into Wired Sonos Sound

Asus ROG’s Massive Swift OLED Gaming Monitor Epitomizes Excess in the Best Way

The Ikea Varmblixt Smart Lamp Fills a Donut Hole in My Life

Nothing Headphone A vs. Headphone 1: Which Pair of ANC Wireless Headphones Wins?

Asus ROG’s Cetra Open Wireless Gaming Earbuds Might Be Better Than Wearing a Headset

Nintendo’s Talking Flower Is Annoying as Hell. I Love It

Level Lock Pro Review: As Good as a Secret Smart Lock Gets

Apple Studio Display XDR Review: It Looks So Good, I Wish It Were an iMac

RayNeo Air 4 Pro Review: My Eyes Love These Video Glasses, but My Nose Disagrees