American Beauty

One of the most well-remembered mastheads has got to be this one:



This is one of a small and select group of mastheads known as the boner-busters. (yes, only by me - I like to group things.) If you sit down to have some private time with the most heavily-rewound portions of your video collection, and suddenly have an animated Harry Knowles superimpose itself over Mena Suvari, then I know my efforts have not been wasted.

It has been pointed out to me, by the way, that this masthead is ridiculously inaccurate: in the film, this fantasy appears to Kevin Spacey on the ceiling above him, and so the rose petal should be drifting gently TOWARDS the viewer. If you also noticed this, then you should feel free to 'pin a rose on your nose' at your earliest convenience.

Raiders of the Lost Ark

So this one I am both proud and ashamed of in equal measure. (Now I know how my parents must feel.)

Though you shake your head and say, "Surely it cannot be?!" still I assure you that this head was intended to be a send up of Raiders of the Lost Ark.



The odd swinging-back-and-forth head at the open is meant to be Harry watching a spectre move. Instead, it just looks like the laziest of junk. I apologize profusely. Then the spectre itself is just a wisp of smoke, and then, suddenly, an oddly elaborate face-melt animation. What the?

Did I not have reference material? Of course I did.
Did I not reference it? ...I'm thinking, notsomuch.

How could such an iconic and easily-recognizable scene be botched so badly? Search me! Say what you want, but at least I own my suckiness.

On the other hand, I defy you to say the melt is not cool. HA! You've been defied. Not so nice, is it? You may counter by saying, "Cool, perhaps, but also not particularly true to the source material"

And if you do?

Then I say, "Well-played."

Chicken Run

I'm a bit late this week - Good Friday threw me.

Here's my slightly-more-dimensional than usual (which is to say: it has shadows) tribute to Aardman Animation in general, and Chicken Run in particular.



Harry has since re-skinned this animation so that it's an Easter egg being laid (lain?) giving him a yearly holiday masthead to throw up on the site. Yearly, at least, until I get around to animating one based on 'the Passion of the Christ.'

I get giddy at the thought of the talkbacker outrage that will result from such a thing. GIDDY, I tell you!

Men In Black

Look how cute!



There's a lil' Harry inside! With tentacles, even!

the Faculty

For those who don't know, Harry Knowles (renaissance man) played a role in 'the Faculty.' His character has a boo-boo, and as a result is nursed by Salma Hayek.



I had intended this masthead to basically cover all of the scenes in which he appeared, but it has since been brought to my attention that I forgot the iconic slow-mo-walking-with-water-cooler-bottle-on-shoulder shot.

How is it that I didn't remember such a scene?

Clearly: I'm ignorant.

Gladiator

Cast Away

This is one of those ones that people never really seemed to figure out. I can't say I really blame them.



It doesn't really have much to do directly with the movie. Harry's hair grows, he gets thinner and more haggard. But because his hair is growing, it's not all that clear that he is actually getting thinner.

Yeah, it's just meh.