Lauren Davis, Author at Gizmodo

Cold Souls’ Soul-Extracting Ideas Never Quite Warm Up

Cold Souls set out an ambitious task: tell a Charlie Kaufman-style tale about a company that extracts and leases human souls. But, tragically, the result is a film more interested in explaining its ideas than telling a compelling story. Paul Giamatti plays a fictionalized version of himself, that we’re supposed to understand as a composite…

Movies Lauren Davis

“The Walking Dead” Prepares to Shamble onto AMC

AMC is looking to develop a show around The Walking Dead, the comic book series about a group of survivors who try to adjust to life after the zombie apocalypse. Does this mean that zombies are the new Mad Men? Variety reports that the cable station is close to inking a deal with Frank Darabont,…

io9 Lauren Davis

Spray Paint Superheros Get a Street Art Sensibility

Artist Anthony Lister uses spray paint and channels street art to explore the imagery associated with heroes and villains. The results include a gender-bending Robin, a crucified Captain America, and Batmen and Wonder Women of unusual shapes and sizes. Lister is known in the Low Brow art movement for both his paintings and his installations,…

io9 Lauren Davis

Miyazaki’s Fishy Love Story Celebrates the Spirit of Adventure

Hayao Miyazaki‘s latest film Ponyo may be inspired by “The Little Mermaid,” but amidst its stunning underwater scenes and raging storms, it’s less a tale of romantic love than of strong, self-sufficient characters eager for new adventures. Miyazaki doesn’t hesitate to show us his underwater vision, a dreamy land of shimmering squid, inquisitive fish, and…

io9 Lauren Davis

Your Lunar Oxygen Supply Will Come From Moon Rocks

One of the many obstacles to establishing a base on the moon is determining how to supply oxygen to lunar residents. But a team of scientists have found a way to extract oxygen from the moon’s greatest resource — rocks. The absence of oxygen-bearing atmosphere on the moon has been a great challenge to the…

io9 Lauren Davis

Mammal-Eating Plants Found in the Philippines

It’s no Triffid, but a new species of giant pitcher plant discovered in the highlands of the Philippines has a hunger for mammalian flesh. Fortunately, they’re mostly interested in insects and rodents — at least for now. During a recent expedition to the Philippines’ central highlands, a group of botanists discovered several unusual and previously…

io9 Lauren Davis

Watch Whales from Your Living Room Inside the Bering Strait Tunnel

Powered by ocean currents and geothermal technology, an imagined tunnel spanning the Bering Strait lets you travel from Alaska to Russia while enjoying rich underwater views and the hospitality of a city built beneath the sea. Dozens of architectural firms submitted ideas to the International Ideas Competition for the Bering Strait Project, creating conceptual structures…

io9 Lauren Davis

Survive Zombieland with Skillets, Paper Towels, and the Buddy System

Woody Harrelson and Jesse Eisenberg are back with more offbeat tips for surviving the zombie apocalypse. In four new promos, they explain how to take down zombies with household items, the zombie herding instinct, and the importance of paper towels. After seeing the first Rule for Surviving Zombieland, I hoped we’d be seeing more from…

Movies Lauren Davis

Portraits From the Steampunk Planet of the Apes

Chet Phillips imagines an alternate Victorian Era that’s not only filled with rayguns and steam-powered contraptions, but also shows that technology being operated by furry-faced monkeys. Phillips’ series “Steampunk Monkey Nation” is available on Etsy for $18 a print, or $8 for the entire pack of collectible cards, each containing the respective monkey’s bombastic name,…

io9 Lauren Davis

Which Marvel Villain is Signed for Three Movies? Plus Captain America Meets Raiders Of The Lost Ark!

Captain America concept art is heavy on the gadgets, and disaster leads to an intimate moment between two True Blood characters. Plus, plenty of tidbits from Lost, Eclipse, Stargate Universe, FlashForward, Heroes, Eureka, Smallville, and Chuck. Spoilers enrich our lives! Captain America: The Incredible Hulk director Louis Leterrier says he’s seen the concept art for…

io9 Lauren Davis

Saturn’s Mysterious Splattered Moon

Iapetus may be Saturn’s most enigmatic moon, with an unknown dark material splattering most of the surface and a strange ridge that makes one side of the moon resemble a walnut. Astronomers hope the Cassini spacecraft can unlock its mysteries. Iapetus travels in a tidally locked orbit with Saturn, always showing the same face to…

io9 Lauren Davis

How to Write a Science Fiction Novel, Onion-Style

Today’s mock dispatch from The Onion explains how Gabriel Fournier wrote his sure-to-be-hit novel The Eclipse Of Infinity by attributing every plot advancement, character development, and conflict resolution to a vaguely defined concept called “quantum flux:” And, of course, there’s something I call quantum flux, which is like the binding force behind everything in the…

io9 Lauren Davis

Support the Forces of Cobra with Your Footwear

Battling the G.I. Joes requires cunning, tenacity, and the proper footwear. Fortunately, Nike is offering a trio of sneakers that let you declare your allegiance to Cobra while providing excellent traction and arch support. After releasing three sets of Transformers II-themed shoes earlier this summer, Nike is planning to release these sneakers, each based on…

io9 Lauren Davis

An Evil Steve Jobs Lords Over Robert Rodriguez’s “Shorts”

In seven new clips from Robert Rodriguez‘s family comedy Shorts, we see the chaos a wish-granting rock can bring: booger monsters, cognitively ascended infants, and super-strong miniature aliens. But they’re no match for James Spader as an evil Steve Jobs. In the first clip, we see Spader as Mr. Black motivating (and periodically firing) the…

io9 Lauren Davis

Needlepoint Samplers Put the Whedonverse in Stitches

For needlework that goes beyond alphabets and aphorisms, some cross stitchers are turning to Joss Whedon for inspiration, stitching up samplers featuring quotes and characters from Buffy, Firefly, and Dr. Horrible. Cross stitch aficionado and Whedon fan Beefranck assembled this collection of samplers, a few of which came out of a Buffy-themed needlepoint swap. Now…

io9 Lauren Davis

“Wanted” Director Hunts a Superpowered White Whale

Timur Bekmambetov will be revisiting superpowered assassins with his sequel to Wanted, but he’s already looking to his next project, a contemporary adaptation of Moby Dick. But this being Bekmambetov, his whales and whale hunters will have their own superpowers. Universal Pictures bought Bekmambetov’s reimagining of Herman Melville’s classic last fall, and the director promised…

io9 Lauren Davis

Which BSG Star Might Join Caprica? Plus Fringe Restarts with a Bloody Bang

Today we’ve got your guides to the Fringe and Chuck season premieres, a few new superheroes from Kick-Ass, and a Caprica casting rumor that will leave you scratching your head. Plus, more from Pandorum, FlashForward, Smallville, V, and Vampire Diaries. Kick-Ass: The Kick-Ass trailer from Comic Con is grainy, but offers a look at Red…

Television Lauren Davis

Monster Models Look Ready for Face-Eating Mayhem

Naturalist and modelmaker Andrew Scott creates sculptures of Lovecraftian horrors, alien embryos, and brain-sucking critters so eerily plausible that you half expect to find them on your next space mission — or simply rooting through your garbage. Scott makes realistic, incredibly detailed models of trilobytes and insects from PVC, and lectures on arthropods, evolution, and…

io9 Lauren Davis

Heath Ledger’s Final Film Gets an Acid Trip Trailer

The first trailer for Terry Gilliam’s The Imaginarium of Dr. Parnassus explains little more about the plot behind Heath Ledger’s final bow. But it does offer glimpses of the flying jellyfish, neon motels, and Christopher Plummer-shaped balloons filling Gilliam’s world. In the film, Christopher Plummer plays Dr. Parnassus, a traveling showman who, a thousand years…

Movies Lauren Davis

The G.I. Joe Remake You Really Wanted

If you’ve ever sat around and reenacted scenes from G.I. Joe with your toys, Paramount’s viral movie is for you. The Hasbro toys star in an affectionate parody of the cartoon — right down to the public service announcement. Paramount released The Invasion of Cobra Island as viral ad for film. It features the high-tech…

io9 Lauren Davis

Lauren Davis

Cold Souls’ Soul-Extracting Ideas Never Quite Warm Up

“The Walking Dead” Prepares to Shamble onto AMC

Spray Paint Superheros Get a Street Art Sensibility

Miyazaki’s Fishy Love Story Celebrates the Spirit of Adventure

Your Lunar Oxygen Supply Will Come From Moon Rocks

Mammal-Eating Plants Found in the Philippines

Watch Whales from Your Living Room Inside the Bering Strait Tunnel

Survive Zombieland with Skillets, Paper Towels, and the Buddy System

Portraits From the Steampunk Planet of the Apes

Which Marvel Villain is Signed for Three Movies? Plus Captain America Meets Raiders Of The Lost Ark!

Saturn’s Mysterious Splattered Moon

How to Write a Science Fiction Novel, Onion-Style

Support the Forces of Cobra with Your Footwear

An Evil Steve Jobs Lords Over Robert Rodriguez’s “Shorts”

Needlepoint Samplers Put the Whedonverse in Stitches

“Wanted” Director Hunts a Superpowered White Whale

Which BSG Star Might Join Caprica? Plus Fringe Restarts with a Bloody Bang

Monster Models Look Ready for Face-Eating Mayhem

Heath Ledger’s Final Film Gets an Acid Trip Trailer

The G.I. Joe Remake You Really Wanted

Source Code for Anthropic’s Claude Code Leaks at the Exact Wrong Time

SpaceX Starlink Satellite Malfunctions, Breaks Apart in Orbit

‘The Super Mario Galaxy Movie’ Stinks

‘Scream 4’ Is Back, and on Tape

Iran Threatens to Attack U.S. Tech Companies Starting April 1

Amazon Clears Out Netflix-Licensed Nebula Capsule 3 Mini Projector at 32% Off, Dolby Audio Home Theater for Less

Anker 160W Laptop Charger Briefly Returns to Black Friday Pricing in a Last-Minute Amazon Spring Sale Deal

The New ‘Backrooms’ Trailer Is Packed Full of Endless Dread

Logitech Wireless Keyboard and Mouse Combo Falls Under $25, a Budget Bundle Deal in the Final Hours of Spring Sale

Liquids Crack With an Audible Snap, Study Finds

AirPods Max 2 Review: Still Ridiculously Expensive and Ridiculously Nice

DJI Osmo 360 Review: The Best 360 Camera for the DJI-Pilled

Aqara Smart Lock U400 Review: Hands-free Unlocking at Its Best

MSI Prestige 14 Flip AI+ Review: A Solid 2-in-1 Laptop With Some Glaring Flaws

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