New Documentary Are We Not Men? Digs Deep Into Devo

Are We Not Men?, an upcoming feature-length documentary about Devo, is a long-awaited filmic journey into the heart of one of the most fascinating bands — and art projects — of all time.

“We’re still waiting to get to where Devo was in 1979,” says Foo Fighters’ Dave Grohl in the trailer for the documentary, viewable above.

Directed by Andy Pemberton, Are We Not Men? was three years in the making. Now in post-production, the documentary features interviews with big-time celebrities (including Grohl, Tony Hawk and Iggy Pop) as well as rare archival footage and in-depth interviews with original band members — most notably Mark Mothersbaugh and Jerry Casale.

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10 Talking Points From The Dark Knight Rises‘ Data Dump

The Dark Knight Rises doesn’t arrive until July 20, but fans have plenty to ponder during the wait.
Image courtesy Warner Bros.

Until now, tech-noir auteur Christopher Nolan has kept the finer points of his highly anticipated The Dark Knight Rises on the down-low. Then came the nearly 50-page data dump.

We’ve sifted through The Dark Knight Rises‘ dense production notes, released earlier this week, and seized upon the intriguing data points below. From awkward politics and interesting technical details to geeky comics tangles, they help brighten the Bat-Signal shining on Nolan’s final Batman blockbuster, which opens July 20. Here’s some insight into what has, up to this point, been a purposefully shadowy operation.

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Observation Deck: The Science Fiction We Need

                    

Can sci-fi predict the future? Should it? In this week’s Observation Deck video, I try to think about changes in my favorite sub-genre, post-apocalyptic stories … because those stories have changed.

What used to be Mad Max knockoffs, largely, have mutated into skillful depictions of a world with a changing climate — the world of today, in other words. I’m thinking of Paolo Bacigalupi’s novels The Wind-Up Girl and Drowned Cities, and the new movie Beasts of the Southern Wild. They’re set in a time when all hope for saving the planet’s ecosystem is gone … yet the stories themselves somehow remain hopeful. How? No spoilers; click the video.

Artists Turn Junk Into Amazing Silhouettes

In their London studio, artists Tim Noble and Sue Webster use junk to create intriguing silhouettes.
Photos: Jonathan De Villiers

Shadows are typically two-dimensional tagalongs, mere byproducts of three-dimensional existence. But for Sue Webster and Tim Noble, the art’s not done till the shadow is cast.

The duo use unsightly objects—rat skeletons, scraps of wood, old bottles—to make sculptures that look like piles of junk. Then they hit the lights and the assemblages project hyperrealistic silhouettes, almost always in the likeness of the artists.

“One day we shone a spotlight onto a sculpture we were making and were fascinated by the shadow formed on the wall,” Webster says.

That was more than 15 years ago. Since then the London-based pair has crafted dozens of the eye-defying illusions.

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Video: ‘Pregnetheus’ Parodies Prometheus’ Most Shocking Scene

Pregnetheus,” a great-looking short video from James Lee Animation, plucks a little humor from the belly of Prometheus’ most shocking scene. (If you haven’t seen Ridley Scott’s enigmatic sci-fi flick, you should probably skip this animated amusement, unless you want the movie spoiled for you.)

[via Dread Central]