Still in movie poster mode and continuing on from Mondo here’s short but sweet entry focusing on another of my personal favorites that I’d filed for posting and then – as is often the case – completely forgotten about.

The art in question is this Bob Peak example of fantastical, illustrative master craftsmanship, produced for the 1966 big screen musical adaption of Arthurian myth and legend. Despite starring possibly one of Ireland’s finest ever exports, the late, great Richard Harris and Vanessa Redgrave I’m not sure the movies really regarded as a classic, however the promotional artwork with it’s strong Gustav Klimt overtones almost certainly is!

Renowned American Illustrator Bob Peak (May 30, 1927 – August 1, 1992) made a name for himself after working on the poster for the classic 1961 musical West Side Story and upon this initial success Peak’s career took flight eventually spanning 25 years and more… Within this time frame Peak became pretty much the Hollywood’s default first choice, responsible for creating iconic artwork for classics like Rollerball and Apocalypse Now, so then it’s pretty much fair to say he also redefined the genre along the way.

**

Star Trek fans will also be familiar with Peak’s work for it was he that created all promotional art for the first 6 Star Trek Movies, James White AKA signalnoise.com ran a post on those over on his always excellent blog, check that post out here: http://blog.signalnoise.com/2009/12/10/star-trek-movie-poster-artwork/

I’ll run a further posts on Bob soon, as I’m very much of fan of his Excalibur Artwork, in the meantime you can read a little more about his career here on Wikipedia or for a much broader selection of art and info check out his official site http://bobpeak.net/

A final note – the Image comes via the art and design blog BurningSettlersCabin.com curated by by Sean Adams. There’s another great article here on the Camelot Poster Artwork and Leo & Diane Dillon’s “The Fox” which I’ve also featured… Anyway do check out the full article: http://www.burningsettlerscabin.com/?p=5081

Here’s a special feature I had planned to run before my break, but managed to trash a bunch of email and thus the interview! all I can say is an extremely big thumbs up for Jobs and krew for OSX’s Time Machine – without doubt it’s greatest asset…

So then for this piece I’ve grabbed just a taster selection from the Mondo back catalog, I’ll add some notes on those in a moment, then run the Q&A kindly supplied by Mondo’s creative director Justin Ishmael. First up though here’s some background information….

Mondo is the collectible art boutique of the Alamo Drafthouse. If you’re not familiar with the theater, it’s a world-renowned cinema eatery and has been named the “best theater in America” by Entertainment Weekly. The Alamo Drafthouse is based in Austin, TX and there are currently 10 theaters in Texas and Virginia, with plans to expand nationwide. The Alamo Drafthouse derives its reputation from it’s incredible programming. Mondo creates the poster artwork for special Alamo Drafthouse events (see the examples from the nationwide Rolling Roadshow tour, a yearly event where Alamo Drafthouse goes on the road to show famous movies in famous places — http://trailers.apple.com/trailers/events/rollingroadshow/). And in addition to creating posters for Alamo Drafthouse screenings/events, Mondo also has acquired licenses for properties like Star Wars, Star Trek and Universal Monsters. They work with artists across the world to create original works of art that are screen printed, hand numbered and limited to small quantities for collectors.

See more (and buy) at www.mondotees.com or for all the latest news check their excellent, regularly updated blog.mondotees.com

Some quick notes then on the featured posters here; 3 of the greatest Sci-Fi Movies ever made and one the strangest (no prizes for guessing which that is!).

Top: “The Empire Strikes Back” 1980, Directed by Irvin Kershner. Without doubt the greatest of the Starwars Trilogy, absolutely love this interpretation by Tyler Stout so cool it actually includes Boba Fett not once but three times, superb!.

2nd top: “The Holy Mountain”. This beautifully rendered screen print by Florian Bertmer perfectly captures (or suggests) the tone of this  nightmarish, psychedelic extravaganza, directed by Alejandro Jodorowsky in 1973.

3rd top: “The Thing” By John Carpenter 1982. More astonishing artwork from Tyler Stout this time for perhaps my favourite ever Sci-Fi Movie, well it’s this or Aliens. Love the composition here, featuring every member of the films all male cast, would absolutley love a copy of this, but alas, it’s long since sold out!

Bottom: “Alien” an extremely sinister interpretation of Ridley Scott’s 1979 sci-fi/horror masterpiece, this poster lovingly crafted by Australian Ken Taylor, also available in glow in the dark inks!

** Interview **

Q: How longs Mondo been going and when/How did you get involved?

We’ve been going for about 5 years or so. I took over at the beginning of 2009. There are three of us that run the company creatively. Myself, Rob Jones and Mitch Putnam. We all come from different backgrounds so it really helps with deciding what projects we take, what artists we get, etc.

• What’s your day to day role with Mondo involve?

My day to day is pretty time consuming. I am technically the creative director, but I run the backend and all of the social networking stuff, number all of the posters, negotiate all of the deals, talk to studios, etc. We all wear many hats at Mondo as we’re a relatively small company.

• What’s been the highlights of 2010 for Mondo? any favourite pieces?

Well, 2010 has been a breakout year for us. We really got on some good projects like Universal Monsters, Star Trek, Star Wars, etc. We also go to work on some big movies like IRON MAN 2 and SCOTT PILGRIM. Personally, I think it’s cool when we get to spotlight smaller movies like THE HUMAN CENTIPEDE or MONSTERS. Most of the general public doesn’t know what those movies are because they’re not getting advertised during commercials of TWO AND A HALF MEN or whatever, so I like to think that we can help spread the word by doing a poster for them. I also really love the Universal Monsters series. I have a DEEP love for those films, so it’s really cool to open your inbox and see an image you’ve never seen before for something that is so iconic and recognizable.

•  And what’s lined up  for 2011

Well, 2011 as it stands right now looks like it will be bigger than 2010. We have A LOT of projects lined up right now and a lot of things pending. One of the most exciting things is the Director Series we just started with Guillermo Del Toro. We have about two or three other big name directors lined up right now, so it will be a fun thing to do every once in a while for 2011. Plus, we’ve signed some new contracts for licenses…it’s just a lot of secret things that I can’t share. haha

•  Any particular type of SciFi/Horror/Fantasy that you feel particulary drawn too or aligned too (personally)?

Those are my favorite genres, which is weird because I was born in ’84 so I really grew up in the 90′s and watched nothing but action movies. My grandfather is the one that got me into sci fi movies. I remember the first time I watched PLANET OF THE APES so clearly. The scene where they catch Heston in the net and he says the “Get your paws off me” line I said “WOW” aloud. That was such a happy day for me.

I didn’t start watching horror until I was a junior in high school. Now it’s full blown. One of my favorite movies is a mixture of sci-fi/ horror and it’s called THE DEADLY SPAWN. I actually got a half sleeve tattoo of it a few years ago because I like it so much. I highly recommend that one.

Some of my faves are the POTA series (especially Conquest), DUNE, ALIEN PREDATOR, LOGAN’S RUN, INVASION OF THE BODY SNATCHERS ’78, GALAXY OF TERROR, EQUINOX, etc. I could go on and on. I have to say that some modern sci fi movies have been really amazing. MOON is one of my all time favorites now and I also really enjoyed DISTRICT 9 and MONSTERS.

I really like to follow movies because of who did the special effects or designed things. Rob Bottin (The Thing), Dennis Muren (Equinox, Dragonslayer) , Richard Edlund, Moebius, Giger, Rick Dunn, John Dykstra, Syd Mead, and on and on. They are some of the coolest people on the planet. These dudes are my rock stars. It’s kind of like how some people would’ve thought Axl Rose was an ultra badass back in the day, I think that way about Muren and these guys. If they had posters, they’d be up on my walls. I watched a live streaming conference with Dennis Muren one time online and it was like two hours long. I would LOVE to meet these guys some day.

Oh, and Harryhausen….but, that could take an interview up all by itself.

•  Do you have (or what would be your) a wish list of other artist you’d like to work with and why? (living or alive)

Nobody knows this, but we were talking to Frank Frazetta about a year ago. We were really close to making something happen. I was really sad when the word came through that he passed away. I really loved and respected his work. Actually, as I type this I have a Death Dealer ring on that I bought from his gallery. I also want to work with Moebius and Dan McPharlin. You’ve profiled Dan a lot on the site and also Moebius. We’ve got projects in mind for both of them, so it’s just a matter of getting ahold of them and pitching it. Moebius is legendary. Better writers have dissected his work, so I won’t go too deep, but I love Arzach. I found the paperback with all of them collected and also started buying the original Heavy Metal books. I think I have 1-10 right now. Someday, I’ll buy the Metal Hurlant versions, too. That art was so amazing and to this day still holds up. I would be blown away if the dudes doing the new HEAVY METAL movie did an Arzach story. How nuts would a Fincher directed Arzach movie be?

Dan McPharlin was a guy that I liked, but just figured it was some art from the 60′s or 70′s. Then, I downloaded THE SWORD’S album and saw the cover and made the connection. We have about three things off the bat that we would immediately put him on that he would be 100% perfect for. His landscapes are gorgeous and I love what he does with his characters. There is a piece in particular where it’s a spaceman riding a horse with a helmet on. It’s one of my favorite images of his.

• Finally can you point readers in the direction of obscure SF/Horror/Fantasy they might of missed?

So, the main movies I watch are sci-fi and horror and I highly recommend these seldom seen gems.

THE DEADLY SPAWN
FORBIDDEN WORLD aka MUTANT
GALAXY OF TERROR
LIFEFORCE
THE HIDDEN- Drop everything and watch this…now.
SORCERESS
FIRE AND ICE (Buy the Blue Undergound disc for the awesome Frank Frazetta doc called Frazetta: Painting With Fire)
TIME MASTERS
MOEBIUS: REDUX
EQUINOX (Directed by SFX god Dennis Muren)

If you’d like me to give more detailed little snippets of why I like these, I’d be happy to, but seriously….all of these movies are AMAZING!

** Many thanks Justin! oh and I totally agree there on The Hidden!

Ian Albinson over at the excellent artofthetitle.com got in touch with me the other day asking me to help identify the original artists and books that were used in the title sequence of the 2009 Jared Hess (Napoleon Dynamite) Comedy “Gentlemen Broncos“. You can view a movie of the the whole sequence here: http://is.gd/dbKfK

In total of 24 books were used by production designer Richard A Wright in creating the title sequence, and I’ve included a small selection here. A few of the designs look familiar, but I must confess I don’t actually know for sure and wondered whether any readers can help out?

Some notes on the featured images:

Top: This looks either like a Frank Frazetta or possibly Peter Andrew Jones – not sure though!

2nd Top: I was thinking this has an echo of Peter Elson ? looks like a 70′s cover

3rd Top: A really well rendered painting, an older cover I think – early 60s’?

4th Top: This reminds me somewhat of StarWars concept artist Ralph Mcquarrie – late 70′s?

5th Top: No idea here! cool though…

6th Top: Again this looks slightly older – a 60′s cover?

7th Top: I’m pretty sure I’ve seen this one browsing through the extensive Flickr Sci-Fi-Books Pool but alas I didn’t favourite it.

Please do post a comment if you are familiar with any of the covers featured above or from the movie.  Also, do make a point to check out Ian’s site – a superb read & inspiration resource: http://www.artofthetitle.com/

Finally here’s a link to the trailer for Gentlemen Broncos staring the excellent Sam Rockwell http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qdpFpfIBkXc

A selection of imagery scanned from “The World of the Dark Crystal” a 2003 compendium of conceptual art, design and illustration produced for Jim Henson’s 1982 fantasy movie masterpiece “The Dark Crystal”.

For those of you not familiar with the story of the Dark Crystal – it’s a powerful and dramatic tale of a lost world and Jen, a young ‘Gefling’ who set out on perilous quest against sinisterm dark forces. 28 years after it’s original release the award winning Dark Crystal is firmly embedded as a true cult classic and even to this day a is a tour de force in special effects featuring breathtaking animatronics and puppetry… The whole film just oozes quality – there’s never been anything quite like it since – a remarkable odyssey suitable for adults and children alike, although I have to be honest, parts of it still freak me out!

I’d really like to write more here but I’m once again I’m a little time restricted, I think I’ll post here and then revisit again soon – anyway I’m guessing that most of you a familiar with the film. If not – wow! – your in for a treat! I recommend the 25th Anniversary Edition DVD with excellent special features http://is.gd/cTgLX or the BluRay version http://is.gd/cTgXX

The award winning design as shown here is the work of Devon based English Fantasy Artist Brian Froud, who in addition to producing of 20 illustrative book has also lent his considerable fantasy artist talent to several other famous film projects including as Labyrinth (1985) and Peter Pan (2003).

Ok so some notes on the Images I’ve featured from top to bottom (some spoliers here!):

Top: A conceptual sketch of an ‘Ur-Ru’. The Ur-Ru are the ying to the Skeksis yang, Ur-Ru represent light and good, the Skeksis dark and evil. Each Ur-Ru is inextricably linked to it’s Skeksis counterpart, both share a divided soul and are part of the higher being known as the ‘urSkeks’. This omnipotent super-race was violently spilt apart in an attempt to harvested the full power of the planets three suns known as “The Grand Conjuction”

2nd Top: A conceptual sketch of a ‘Skeksis’. For me creature and costume design doesn’t get much better than Skeksis – it’s not that the regal/Afghan hound looking Ur-Ru aren’t beautifully designed too (they are!) – there’s something memorably horrific about the Skekis, their shrill voices and bloated, twisted bodies wrapped inside fantastically elaborate but rotting clothing!

3rd Top: A perfect example of the fallen decadence – “skekEkt the Ornamentalist who made clothes above all for himself, rich fabrics that dripped jewels, the death of a 100 birds for 1 cloak. He first discovered the art of anointing the skin with a paste of clotted blood and diamond powder, to restore the sparkle of youth.”

4th Top: Another superior sketch, check the ruff, ruched sleeves and carefully balanced Tri-Spectacle action! “skekOk the Scroll-Keeper kept the record of the Skeksis; he was the smallest finest-featured, least honest of them all. He wrote and and rewrote his accounts, and kept changing them one or another of his shifting allies, The truth was soon lost.”

5th Top: A close up detail sketch of Skeksis head. A fair visual description would be to say the Skeksis are a kind of avian reptile, perhaps like an Archaeopteryx but also taking the most heavy visual cue from the Vulture .

6th Top: The contorted chaos of “The Castle of the Skeksis”.

7th Top: A design for the floor plan of the Crystal Chamber, the symbols of the original 18 urSkeks can be seen around the edge whilst the crystal hangs above the inner ring…

8th top & Bottom: Concept drawings for Jen the Gelfling, his costume and accessories – love the man bag!

***

For more on Brian Froud visit his official website: http://www.worldoffroud.com/ or read more about him over at Wiki http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brian_Froud

And finally, for nostalgia purposes here’s a youtube video of the original 1982 trailer…

***

The stunning Barbarella, as visualised by the late Tim Hildebrandt an America illustrator who worked with his brother Greg (as “The Brothers Hildebrandt”) producing art  for many famous film, book and comic franchises; StarWars, Tolkien and Harry Potter and many more.

Check out “The Brothers Hilbert” official site for a full sample of their collective portfolio http://www.brothershildebrandt.com/ and of particular interest there is this really slick set of Star Wars Illustrations http://www.brothershildebrandt.com/starwars.htm

Many thanks to Sérgio for the lead on this, I’ll definitely be posting more Hildebrandt art…

Also if you fancy a quick brush up on Barbarella, if only to remind yourself of just how amazing Jane Fonda looks in the sumper-camp 1968 classic! check the original trailer here http://www.imdb.com/video/screenplay/vi3858367257/

Here’s something I’ve not featured for a while, a bandwidth-crunching animated GIF!

This frenzied loop is ripped from Neill Blomkamp’s magnificent “District 9” (2009), for my money the best allround, accessible Sci-Fi flick since Jim Cameron’s “Aliens” (1986). The great thing about District 9 is that it’s a Sci-fi film that spans way beyond the confines of just one genre, it’s an absolutely fascinating blend of docudrama, social commentary, cutting edge Sci-fi, and (sporadic) breakneck action – add to this the very finest Peter’s Jackson “splatterhouse” FX then lace with wry black humour – superb! I also think a very good indicator for it’s greatness is the fact that most of my friends enjoyed it, and (unlike myself) most of them aren’t geeks!

I’ll say nothing about the featured footage, just in case you’ve still not seen it! anyway you should – available at Amazon http://bit.ly/bwBWiO << treat yourself to the Blu-Ray I reckon….

This expertly crafted clean and striking design is one of the original promotional posters for the 1978 Horror sequel Damien: Omen II – the follow on from the 1976 original classic “The Omen”.

I saw this years ago as a kid and found it pretty freaky, in that weird way that only 70′s horror can be – something to do with everyone wandering round in flares? – though I actually kinda think all paedophobic horror (Village of the Damned etc) is genuinely creepy! Check the original trailer here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Az86iKhWAjk

So there you go, a really cool poster,  and I’ll add that the Raven is one of my favourite birds -  slightly off topic, but Crow’s actually have a high level of intelligence having been observed to fashion and use tools and even play tricks on one and other!  Here’s quite an interesting read if you have 5 mins: http://www.physorg.com/news168701856.html and another one on avian intelligence in general…

One last thing, can any type spotter’s identify the two Serif font’s use here? not sure whether the title is an actual font or rather just a distressed version of an existing cut….

This freaky spectral beast is a special effect from the 1992 movie Pet Sematary 2, sequel to the the original 1988 film Pet Sematary that was in turn based on Stephen Kings 1983 novel.

(SPOILERS!!) (SPOILERS!!) The basic premise is that the Pet Sementary in question is actually built near to a certain other type of burial ground (wonder what that might be) and (gasp!) burying a dead pet there will in fact resurrect it, only of course the reborn pet is not exactly the same as the old one… I’ve not seen either film  (I have read the book) so didn’t recognise this when I originally spotted it via FFFFound, when backtracking through my bookmarks and came across it’s source; the absolutely awesome kindertrauma.com and that’s really what this post is about….

If you’ve even the slightest bit interested in Film Horror from the 70′s / 80′s / 90′s particularly of the B-Movie variety, then I wholeheartedly recommend a good peruse through kindertrauma.com – a lovingly devoted site to all those slightly obscure films you might just remember being tucked away at your local video store…

Check out http://www.kindertrauma.com “Your Happy Childhood ends here”

The angry clouds of Jupiter swirl beneath a retro Von Braun-esque rocket, and a mysterious cylindrical object – Rendezvous With Rama as imagined by UK Illustrator Kevin Hauff. This piece was commissioned by The Radio Times for the BBC 4 dramatisation of Arthur C. Clarke’s classic 1974 Novel.

The story concerns humanity’s first contact with an alien intelligence, when in 2244 a large cylindrical object of unknown origin ermerges from the void of deep space speeding through the solar system on slingshot navigation of the Sun. An Intercept mission is hastily organised and launched, the job of the astronauts to approach the giant craft and board it before it races back to the beyond….

All in all an excellent imaginative novel that was followed by a series of entertaining though perhaps not entirely necessary sequels. Rendezvous with Rama also spawned a point and click CD-Rom adventure/logic puzzle game from the mid 90′s [Link to Rama at Mobygames.com] and has long been rumoured to be about to enter the pre-production phase for a Hollywood adaptation – alas nothing yet! However I did come across this nicely done short film by Aaron Ross, check that here: http://ow.ly/klyc

Read more about Rendezvous with Rama at Wiki: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rendezvous_with_Rama

See more of Kevin’s excellent Illustration at his portfolio site http://www.kevinhauff.com/ and blog http://kevinhauff.blogspot.com/

** Addendum: 1st sept

An excellent 3d rendering of the world inside Rama: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zBIQCm54dfY cheers for the link Preston!

A rarely seen Millenium Falcon-centric Poster produced in for the 1978  dubbed Japanese version of the George Lucas classic.

Spotted via a fav Flickr User Kielbryant – check out his excellent ‘The Star Wars’ set for more assorted goodies http://is.gd/2aQg1