Over on the Adult Swim games website, there is a brilliant homage to that uniquely ’80s intersection of rainbow fantasy and dancefloor melodies — Robot Unicorn Attack! The gameplay is simple, but sort of addicting (for about 10 minutes), but what makes me want to keep playing is the brilliant use of Erasure on the sound track. Oh, and if you do well, silver dolphins will join you in your star-bursting blaze of unicorn glory.

Do check it out.

And if you get hooked on the song, it’s “Always” by Erasure and it can be yours in seconds for 99 cents.

Director Werner Herzog isn’t just a brilliant filmmaker — he’s also one of the most amazing film subjects when he delivers his vivid blend of nihilism and naturalism in a soothing monotone. This reading/interpretation of Curious George isn’t really Herzog, but it does an amazing job of capturing his mad genius (especially the bit about the fishes in the lungs).  I hope you enjoy this as much as I did, and if you haven’t experienced Herzog’s films yet, go and watch Fitzcarraldo– it’s a gorgeous and haunting 2oth centry fable.

Bonus Link: What’s on David Bowie’s iPod these days?

It’s time to celebrate the season, Gobblin style!

There’s a new trailer out for Alice in Wonderland that finally hints at the direction the story is taking (previous trailers have shown characters from AiW and Through the Looking Glass as seen through Burton’s lens, but mostly out of context). It’s hard to tell if the movie’s a liberal retelling of Looking Glass, or a wholly original story, but this trailer makes it clear that the Queen of Hearts is the “Red Queen” and that Alice has been to Wonderland before. (Note — if you know more about the script, don’t spoil it in the comments, please!) Certainly there’s more action here than in any previous Alice retelling. Having Alice be the champion who has to save Wonderland seems a little odd, as the denizens of Lewis Carrol’s world seemed to universally live by nonsense rules rather than any sense of good and evil, but I don’t want to judge before seeing the movie. In any case, the visuals and the casting are fantastic and I’m terribly excited to see the movie next March. Between this, Clash of the Titans, Black Death, How to Train Your Dragon, Season of the Witch and The Lightning Thief, the first quarter of 2010 is going to be quite the season for fantasy!

There was a window there in the late ’90s early ’00s when anime was the epitome of cool. Not in an otaku way, but truly universally cool in the way that Marlon Brando or James Bond or Don Draper are cool. Really, can you get any cooler than Spike Spiegel or FLCL? Not really.

Anyway, an independent animator named Kousuke Sugimoto appeared out of the ether courtesy of youtube a couple days ago with a couple of videos. This one seems to be getting the most buzz, but I prefer this earlier effort, rough edges and all. I guess I just have a soft spot for monkeys. Thought I’d pass it along.

Elsewhere in the world of independent animation videos to share, here’s a slightly frightening (but still beautiful) short that uses children’s primers as a springboard. This one, titled Rabbit, was nominated for a BAFTA in 2006, so it isn’t exactly new, but it’s new to me (hooray friends + internet!)

Okay, this one’s for Mandy and the other Bowie fans. The Letters of Note blog dug up Bowie’s hand-written and very cute response to his first ever American fan mail from back in 1967. It shows that even at 20, he was quite the charming gentleman. Anyway, thought you guys would enjoy. Here’s an excerpt:

When I called in this, my manager’s office, a few moments ago I was handed my very first American fan letter – and it was from you. I was so pleased that I had to sit down and type an immediate reply, even though Ken is shouting at me to get on with a script he badly needs. That can wiat (wi-at? That’s a new English word which means wait).

And since once can never look at too many pictures of Bowie:

Hello, friends! It is me — Skub! Thank you, Mr. Jake, for letting me use your blog. I will try not to make it stinky. King Toby has told Skub many stories about humen holly-days. We Goblins have holly-days too! Holly-days are fun! There is Grand Toothing Day, where every goblin boy and girl takes a spikey yawbroke bat and tries to knock out the teeth of other children. The best part is, they get to keep any teeth they collect! Then there is Fast Fist Fest in which for two glorious minutes, we goblins are allowed to punch as anyone we want, as hard as we want! Actually… Goblin Holly-days are not very fun at all. Except for the Saint Glottin’s Day Feast!

Saint Glottin’s Day celebrates the life and death of Glottin, the greatest goblin eater to ever live! On the day of his great gorging, Glottin cleaned out every goblin pantry with his gobbling. Then, when he was out of proper food, he created a great deep fryer in the castle moat, and started dipping furniture, weapons and tasty looking neighbors into batter before frying them to a crisp! Glottin’s great gorging went on for 83 hours, at which point, he choked on an umbrella and died. In celebration of Glottin’s amazing run, there was much rejoicing, but then the joy turned to tears once everyone realized that there was no more food, and thus begun the Hundred Winter Famine.

Now we goblins have learned to live by Glottin’s example that when food is plenty, we eat our brother’s portion before he can, and when food is scarce, we eat our brother. So lived and died St. Glottin, and so do we.

And now, a recipe for humens! In the Labyrinth, there is a creature called the Sloggroat. It is very big and very smart. It is so smart, that it’s brain fills its entire head! (Goblin brains sort of roll about the head, like a marble, and sometimes fall out.) Some goblins say that Sloggroats are a noble race, with a culture to rival the greatest humen civilizations! All Skub knows is that Sloggroat brains are delicious! They are so chewy and purple! Skub made Sloggroat Brains for Toby, and Toby said “I know this dish! It’s Collie-flower!” Of course I was hurt at having my delicious dish compared to any kind of flower, but even though Toby is brave and smart, he does not always know about goblin feelings. Anyway, if you want to have a taste of Goblin gourmet cooking, then here is a recipe for you!

Roasted Sloggroat Brains (with garlicks)

1. Pre-heat oven to 400*
2. Extract Brain from 1 Sloggroat Head*
3. Chop Brain into yummy pieces
4. Smash 6 garlick cloves and chop finely
5. Mix up brain chunks and garlicks with 3 tabulspoons of EVOO** and sprinkle with salt
6. Spread on a cookie sheet covered with foil
7. Roast for 1 hour, stirring bits every 15 minutes for even browning and coverage
8. Eat!

*If Sloggroth Heads are unavailable at your local market, use a purple cauliflower head (which is not actually a head, because it does not have eyes or a mouth).

** EVOO is “evil” said with a warlock’s lisp. This is a spell which invokes a Grease Golem who will proceed to slime your dish with oil. If you are incapable of summoning evil beings, instead substitute olive oil.

Official Labyrinth merch is pretty limited, what with a pair of action figures, a handful of plush toys and the occasional T-shirt. But thanks to etsy, you don’t have to attend the Labyrinth of Jareth to get handmade and one-of-a-kind Labyrinth swag. With a disclaimer that none of these Labyrinth goods are “official” and that availability could change at a moment’s notice, here’s a survey of what’s up for offer on Etsy right now:

I’ll start with the plushies since I’ve got a soft spot for soft things.

I already own the licensed Didymus plushie, but this hand-made version, crafted from the finest materials, puts him to shame:

Read more…

This video isn’t particularly new, but it’s new to me and would certainly be of interest to Labyrinth fans. So impressive… Simultaneously beautiful and creepy. Just watching the puppet and her handlers move suggests a rich fantasy world.

Still busy working… New Labby talk soon!

In the meantime, for all you Henson fans: