Lauren Davis

The Boxtrolls‘ Timelapse End Credits Show How Much Work Stop-Motion Is

When you sit back and watch a stop-motion movie, it’s easy to forget that each tiny movement is controlled by an animator’s hands. But this hilariously philosophical sequence from The Boxtrolls’ end credits shows the animator at work, reminding us how much he moves so that the puppets can move. Note the changes in the…

This Fantastic Fan Film Is The Critters Reboot We Want

The horror film series Critters is coming back as a web series, and director Jordan Downey wants to work on the reboot. So he decided to make his own Critters fan film as a pitch, and we’re sold. Downey directed Critters: Bounty Hunter with producer Ricky Fosheim, director of photography Kevin Stewart, creature effects from…

Philosophers And Scientists Answer “What Scientific Idea Should Die?”

Each year, Edge Foundation founder John Brockman poses an interesting question to thinkers in a wide range of fields: psychology, theoretical physics, evolution, cognitive science, and more. This year’s question was “What scientific idea is ready for retirement?” And here are some of the answers. Jesse Dylan put together this video, featuring answers from Jerry…

Thank God This Version Of Toy Story 3 Never Saw The Light Of Day

Before Pixar sent Andy to college and the toys to daycare, a possible version of Toy Story 3 had a malfunctioning Buzz Lightyear shipped off to Taiwan, where the other toys go to rescue him. And, well, we’re darn glad that we ended up with the tear-jerking Toy Story 3 we got. A little Disney/Pixar…

This Week’s TV: A Goofy Medieval Musical From Tangled‘s Songwriters

It’s the week that we ring in the new year with endless TV marathons (while resolving only to watch the best TV in 2015). But we’ve also got a new show coming out this week, a musical about true love and revenge from a legendary Disney composer, and his lyricist collaborator on Tangled. Today Breaking…

Why Team America Suceeds As Satire Where The Interview Fails

The “Let’s kill Kim Jong-un” move The Interview has drawn inevitable, and not always favorable, comparisons to another movie that skewers North Korea, Team America: World Police. But why do people hold up the South Park creators’ often crudely funny film as a bar The Interview fails to reach? In yesterday’s discussion of The Interview,…

The Weirdest Questions People Asked Librarians Before The Internet

Before we had Google for all of our embarrassing questions, Pinterest for craft inspiration, and Craigslist for all of the odds and ends of life, more people relied on public librarians to field all manner of questions. And the New York Public Library still has records of some pretty odd ones. If you’re not already…

This Latte Art Stop-Motion Film Was Made With 1,000 Cups Of Coffee

This adorable short film may be a commercial for a food product, but it’s also a rather cleverly executed piece of animation. The characters were carefully placed on 1,000 individual cups of coffee, turning food and beverage into a love story. The commercial is for Ajinomoto General Foods’ Maxim Stick drink flavoring. And there’s a…

How To Start Your Own Micronation

Have you ever wanted to be king of your own nation? Do you want to test out a political experiment with a few dozen of your closest friends? Consider setting up your own micronation for fun, social experiments, and profit. Photograph: His Excellency President Kevin Baugh of the Republic of Molossia. Photo by J. Stephen…

Why Wonder Woman Has Trouble Understanding Mortal Holidays

Religious celebrations on Themyscira must be a lot more interesting. The always delightful Texts from Superheroes has brought us another round of holiday goofiness as superheroes deal with their culture and personality clashes. Head over to Texts from Superheroes to find out what Superman gave his fellow Justice League members and relive some of the…

We’re All The Questing Robot In This Bleak Existential Film

A robot’s quest for meaning unfolds with beautiful despair in the short film We Were Not Made for This World. Let the stark and lovely visuals wash over you as you listen to the tale of the robot’s search for the beings who created him. Colin West McDonald directed this short, adapted from the comic…

Watch The 2001 Intro With The Original Score That Kubrick Rejected

It’s hard to imagine that 2001: A Space Odyssey would have its incredible cinematic impact without that classical soundtrack. But director Stanley Kubrick originally hired a composer to score the film, only to abandon the score in postproduction. Kubrick tapped Alex North, who had scored a number of classic films, including Kubrick’s own Spartacus, to…

This Comic Will Make You Say “How Sweet” And “Ew, Gross” All At Once

Cartoonist Laura Park delivers a short comic about the spirit of giving that is both incredibly poignant and disturbing. The horrific sweetness is making us shudder. [via Super Punch]

10 Story Decisions Scifi And Fantasy Writers Ended Up Regretting

There are writers who disown entire books after they’ve written them, but sometimes writers like their stories on the whole, but feel a twinge of regret over one a small (or not-so-small) detail. Here are a few decisions that the writers, in hindsight, wished they had thought through a little better. https://gizmodo.com/10-great-authors-who-disowned-their-own-books-1571934580 Spoilers for various…

Genderqueer Fisher Accidentally Steals A Selkie’s Skin In This Webcomic

If you’ve been looking for a webcomic that features gender nonbinary characters and relationships outside of the heteronormative while telling a rich fantasy story, look no further than Sfé R. Monster’s Eth’s Skin, set in a world of floating townships, pesky fairies, and selkies with magical skin. In a magical version of British Columbia, Eth…

Even if you’re not in the UK, you can listen to the Good Omens radio play online. BBC Radio 4 has the first two episodes of the adaptation of Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchett’s apocalyptic comedy are available for streaming, and will be for the next four weeks

An Astronomically Correct Rendition Of Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star

Saturday Morning Breakfast Cereal creator Zach Weinersmith, MinutePhysics‘ Henry Reich, and illustrator Chris Jones bring us the version of Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star that every kid should grow up learning. Kids don’t have to “wonder what you are.” Science explains it all. Reich performs the music in this video, but if you want to make…

The Best Science Fiction And Fantasy Short Films Of 2014

In the span of mere minutes, short films can introduce us to fascinating ideas, dazzle us with mind-blowing visuals, and introduce us to strange and mysterious people. Here are the short films that we simply couldn’t get out of our heads in 2014. Top GIF from Wanderers. There were so many great shorts this year…

Jim Henson Used To Make Hilariously Violent Coffee Commercials

Before the Muppets, Jim Henson made a series of funny but disturbing commercials for Wilkins Coffee starring a pair of puppets. When one puppet refused to drink the coffee, the other puppet would shoot him, brand him, drown him, and punish him in all manner of other violent ways. The puppets were named Wilkins and…

Man Reenacts Up By Tying 90 Helium Balloons To A Lawn Chair

It’s not as impressive as lifting a house into the air, but daredevil Erik Roner had a miniature Up moment when he was lifted 8,000 feet into the air with the help of 50 tanks of helium and 90 enormous balloons. Roner also brought a gun with him so that he could pop the balloons…