From the ’60s-style promotional video for the Arboria Institute that opens the film to the final jarring minutes of the film, Beyond the Black Rainbow brings you under its control and lulls you into a visual and audio trance. During your immersive state of hypnosis, it might be easy to overlook the heady themes of writer-director Panos Cosmatos’ debut feature. Against a throbbing, psychadelic backdrop, Cosmatos tells a story of repression and contrition set in an alternate 1983 that will not be easily shaken from your memory. It’s a beautiful nightmare I didn’t want to end.

In a reticent organization called the Arboria Initiative, Dr. Barry Nyle (Michael Rogers) examines and treats a female patient named Alena (Eva Allen), who’s actually more of a prisoner. The institute’s stated goal is to explore the possibilities of the human psyche and find inner peace through the use of mind-altering chemicals. Part of Nyle’s research appears to be to track the evolution of Alena’s psychological evolution and telekinesis. That’s my theory at least. As the movie unfurls through flashback and Nyle’s interaction with his mother and Dr. Arboria, we see how truly disturbing their work is. It’s obviously  taking a hefty toll on Nyles as well.

There’s no explanation or clear exposition, which is fine by me. Cosmatos’ film is absolutely stunning and meticulous in its presentation. It’s not a movie you can throw on while throwing back beers with your boys. It demands your attention and if you commit to this film, you’ll be floored by how intensely hypnotizing it truly is. The film itself is a mind-altering narcotic – every aspect from the ambiguous performances to the ambient score hold you under a trippy sci-fi spell. Cosmatos’ ambition pays off in spades.

Newcomer Eva Allen delivers a great performance as Alena, but Michael Rogers (Hellraiser: Hellseeker) steals the show as the repressed Barry Nyle. When we first meet him, he appears in control of Alena and himself. Then Cosmastos and Rogers  flip the script and present us with a character deeply complex and tortured in a way through his work with Arboria. In the end, Nyle’s sheds his skin (in a manner of speaking) and transforms into a terrifying boogeyman that gave me the wicked bad willies.

There are some really funny moments in the film – Nyle’s disinterest in his mother’s leftovers was a great bit – and some terrifying ones too. I never thought someone licking glass would be anything but silly, but it made my skin crawl in BBR. Overall the movie never breaks you from its pulsing rhythm of sight and sound. The sound design melds into Jeremy Schmidt’s fantastic score – enhancing the hypnotizing effect of the meticulous visuals. And oh god, the visuals. Drenched in neons and the blackest blacks, the set and costume designs are incredible in their simplicity.

A lot of morons are writing Beyond the Black Rainbow off as an effortless homage to ’80s sci-fi and Kubrick. The influences are obviously there, but Cosmatos’ film is a beast all its own that’s going to have people discussing their conflicting interpretations for years to come. A simple plot enhanced with serious themes, BBR is an immersive feast and a brilliant addition to the lo-fi sci-fi horror genre. Stare into the glowing triangle and enjoy the trip!

Gather round. I wanna tell you about a YouTube titan, and conspiracy theory legend. TheIndustryExposed is that dude. His video series is on part 79! I have personally been following his work for many years. He has provided light on the subjects of the music business, and entertainment industry as a whole, concerning hidden messages, the occult, magic, and subliminal.

He references very specific examples, and glady spends more than enough time explaining how artists are involved, and/or indoctrinated into the illuminati for example. In the episode above, number 77, he delves into transhumanism, and Ray Kurzweil, one of the leading expects on the subject. This is basically the science of combining robots and humans. His work also brings to mind Lenon Honor, another YouTube living legend. Enjoy.

A cult movie that has only grown in estimation since it’s release, Paul Verhoeven’s fantastic adaptation of Robert Heinlein’s equally good satire Starship Troopers is one of the best popcorn movies ever, especially since it’s secretly really smart. Except it doesn’t care if you look at it that way or not: it just wants you to have fun and watch Doogie Hauser and Gary Busey’s kids fight with giant bugs that look like vaginas and staple removers. It’s the best! I like it so much, that I even like the two live action sequels (Hero of the Federation, and Marauder) even though they’re relatively objectively terrible.

This new, animated sequel, Starship Troopers: Invasion (also going straight to DVD, as with the other two) actually looks pretty damn fun though, and features Casper Van Dien (Rico!) and NPH, as well as being directed by Shinji Aramaki, who directed Appleseed and Appleseed: Ex Machina, the really cool early 2000′s manga adaptations. Though we don’t really see THAT much in this debut teaser, you can see some really strong visual design in the battlesuit, which latches on in a interesting mix of automated and manual motions. Plus there’s some stereotypically awesome motivational speaking that fits right into the world. Buy it this Summer, for the good of the Federation!

Why is this movie not out yet?! All I want to do is give them all of my monies and yet they make me wait until June 8th! So far away. I’m excited to see The Avengers and The Dark Knight Rises and Spider Man and stuff, but Prometheus is definitely my most anticipated movie of 2012. Each successive trailer or piece of viral marketing or image just gets better and better, and this new full length theatrical trailer is no different. It’s so good! I’ve watched it so many times already.

Just real quickly, you can see all kinds of good stuff in this trailer. We get the first dialogue we’ve heard thus far, from multiple characters including Noomi Rapace and Logan Marshall-Greene’s scientist/archeologist characters, who as far as I can tell are hired or funded by the Weyland Industries, represented by Charlize Theron’s Meredith Vickers, to investigate an ancient civilization on what we know as LV-426, using the ship Prometheus (captained by Stringer Bell!) and android Fassbender. I also see some drawings of the Xenomorph Queen, the Space Jockey out of his suit, the Derelict Spacecraft, the pilot room from Alien, and more. I want it!

One of the screeners they sent out to press prior to last year’s Fantastic Fest was the Canadian sci fi thriller The Corridor. I loved the hell out of it but never got around to writing about it because I’m only one man and I saw a lot of movies the month of the festival. Get off my back. This month the film is being released by IFC, so I figured I’d show it some proper Bloglin love.

The debut feature from Canucks Evan Kelly and Josh MacDonald, The Corridor is a  smart and wholly original trip into sci fi paranoid madness. Recovering from a psychotic breakdown after the death of his mother, Tyler Crawley heads to a remote cabin in the woods of Nova Scotia. As everyone knows, cabins in woods always lead to some sick shit. When Tyler suffered his homicidal burst of madness, he sort of tried to murder his friends – slashing one n the face and stabbing another through the hand. So what better way to make amends than with a little getaway in the woods?

The awkwardness and absurdity of going to a remote cabin with a man who tried to kill you isn’t lost on Tyler’s friends. A few even admit that they only came along out of a sense of obligation. Trust and unease constantly see-saw within the group, and tensions increase when Tyler admits that he may be hallucinating again. He comes across a phantasmal “corridor” in the woods. At first Tyler believes it’s just one of his hallucinations, but once his friends step inside the corridor, shit gets spooky.

The group gradually gains telepathic powers, portals are opened in their minds that lead to the subconscious. This, as you probably guessed it, isn’t fun when the subconscious belongs to someone with homicidal rages in their history. The Corridor never offers any answers as to what the corridor is or how it got there. Could it be alien? A military experiment? Obamacare? This adds some great mystery elements to the film, plus any attempt to explain the film’s supernatural elements would ruin a lot of the terror we experience alongside the group.

The sense of foreboding in the film is masterfully built up by Kelly and MacDonald, with some scenes that are downright unsettling. It’s a smart sci fi (a rarity these days) that holds some great ideas and a few moments of surprisingly shocking gore. Things sort of fall off the rails for a minute once the boys gain their powers and begin to play with them. It all just happens so damn fast and it takes a while for the pacing to settle down again. That’s really my only complaint. The Corridor is well-acted, well-shot, and a downright chilling entry in the lo-fi sci fi camp. You’re going to wanna keep your eye on the future of Kelly and MacDonald collabo films.

The IFC website just says March 30 for a release, but no info on whether it’ll be On Demand or in select theaters – either way, definitely check out The Corridor!

Bjork really is one of the coolest people in the universe. How come? Because when she explains how TVs work, you listen. I like her accent. I always have. She just has this way of making everything sound wondrous, spiritual and cool. Like you just want to listen to her tell you about Quantum Physics all day long. I wish Bjork was my science teacher back in the day.

In this video, she is kind enough to dispel some of the rumors about Television. She talks about hypnotism, and the way TV can infiltrate your brain and fill you with subliminal messages. She carefully removes the back of the TV set and shows us the little city inside. An Icelandic poet scared Bjork of TV, but a Danish book is helping her understand and process the fear.

I felt a great disturbance in the force last night. Ralph McQuarrie, conceptual artist behind many of the designs of the original Star Wars films as well as other George Lucas/Steven Spielberg projects, passed away at age 82. When Lucas was just a young man trying to tell a story, McQuarrie was the first artist he hired to execute his vision of a space opera that would change the world.

The Academy Award winner is responsible for the design of some of cinema’s most enduring characters, including Chewie, C3P0 and R2, and, most famous of all, the sublimely iconic Darth Vader. He also envisioned interiors of the Death Star, as well as the desolate surface of Tatooine. This man was quite literally a dream maker, sculpting worlds and figures that would define the world’s imagination for generations. His legacy is staggering, and he will be missed.

Could I possibly be more excited for Ridley Scott’s Prometheus? No, probably not. But he and co-pilot Damon Lindelof sure are trying their hardest, dropping this totally out of nowhere viral (god I hate that word…) marketing video in honor of the TED Conference and in anticipation of the movie’s June 8th release date. If Scott is really still trying to convince people that this isn’t an Alien prequel (and I mean… come on bro. Come on), then this TED Talk from the future isn’t going to help any.

I had just recently (like a couple days ago) that Guy Pearce would be cameoing in the movie and… well… here ya go. And he’s head of the Weyland corporation, which will (sometime before the events of the original film) become Weyland-Yutani, and dispatch the Nostromo in the first place. Continuity! Easter eggs! Fun! Guy Pearce is pretty fun and evil in this little short. Can this movie just please, please come out now.

I’ve written before about the awesome replica steampunk weapon manufacturer Dr. Grorbort’s, a subsidiary of WETA who’s been bringing their colonial-cum-intergalactic firearms to comic book conventions for years. As far as I can tell, they’re the best of the best in their field. This being WETA, they’ve also established quite a rich world around the products, with a specific tone and look all it’s own. The universe is just begging for its own fiction.

Though this doesn’t come from WETA themselves, it does come with their hearty seal of approval. The Deadliest Game is a short film created by 11 students from New Zealand’s Media Design School, and it’s really cool. The cgi isn’t impeccable but its pretty damn good, and the aesthetic and creature design is really spot on. Not to mention, like most Grordbort products, it’s also really funny. I wanna hunt space monsters…

Via io9

Cost of Living is a new 10 minute short directed by BenDavid Grabinski and starring Bret Harrison (from the underrated Reaper), and Superman himself, Brandon Routh (who’s secretly pretty damn funny). So they are working late as security guards at this monster factory right, and one thing leads to another and they get to use officially issued tactical assault rifles, talk shit about L.A and wear sweet vests. Aren’t all minimum wage jobs like that?

Naturally, since they work at a place that clones Warewolves and Zombies, there isn’t much to do but exchange witty banter with your co-worker over machine gun smoke. Mary Elizabeth Winstead, who you may know as Ramona Flowers in Scott Pilgrim,  does the voice for the factory’s computer system. Well played Grabinski!