Director Name: Ridley Scott

Director:
- The Duellists (1977)
- Alien (1979)
- Blade Runner (1982)
- Legend (1985)
- Someone to Watch Over Me (1987)
- Black Rain (1989)
- Thelma & Louise (1991)
- 1492: Conquest of Paradise (1992)
- White Squall (1996)
- G.I. Jane (1997)
- Gladiator (2000)
- Black Hawk Down (2001)
- Hannibal (2001)
- Matchstick Men (2003)
- Cinema16: British Short Films (2003)
- All the Invisible Children (2005)
- Kingdom of Heaven (2005)
- A Good Year (2006)
- American Gangster (2007)
- Body of Lies (2008)
- The Kind One (2010)
- Robin Hood (2010)
- Untitled Alien Prequel (2011)

Future Projects:
- Red Riding
- Untitled Reagan/Gorbachev Project
- The Killing Sea
- Untitled Tony Scott Project
- Brave New World
- In Vitro
- The Forever War
- Town House
- Untitled Monopoly Project
- Untitled Gucci Biopic
- The Passage
- Stones
- Child 44
- Factor X
- Purefold

Awards:
- 1991: Oscar for Best Director – Thelma & Louise
- 2000: Oscar for Best Director – Gladiator
- 2000: BAFTA Award for Best Direction – Gladiator
- 2001: Oscar for Best Director – Black Hawk Down
- 2008: Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Miniseries – The Andromeda Strain

Short Bio:
Born in South Shields, Tyne and Wear, Scott grew up in an Army family, meaning that for most of his early life his father — an officer in the Royal Engineers — was absent. Ridley’s older brother, Frank, joined the Merchant Navy when he was still young and the pair had little contact. During this time the family moved around, living in (amongst other areas) Cumbria, Wales and Germany. After the Second World War the Scott family moved back to their native north-east England, eventually settling in Teesside (whose industrial landscape would later inspire similar scenes in Blade Runner). He enjoyed watching films, and his favourites include Lawrence of Arabia, Citizen Kane and Seven Samurai. Scott studied in Teesside from 1954 to 1958, at Grangefield Grammar School, Stockton and later in West Hartlepool College of Art, graduating with a Diploma in Design. He progressed to an M.A. in graphic design at the Royal College of Art from 1960 to 1962.

He was assigned to design the second Doctor Who serial, The Daleks, which would have entailed realising the famous alien creatures. However, shortly before he was due to start work a schedule conflict meant that he was replaced on the serial by Raymond Cusick. At the BBC, Scott was placed into a director training programme and, before he left the corporation, had directed episodes of Z-Cars, its spin-off, Softly, Softly, and adventure series Adam Adamant Lives!.
In 1968 Ridley Scott and his brother Tony Scott founded Ridley Scott Associates (RSA), a film and commercial production company. Five members of the Scott family are directors, all working for RSA. Brother Tony has been a successful film director for more than two decades; sons, Jake and Luke are both acclaimed commercials directors as is his daughter, Jordan Scott. Jake and Jordan both work from Los Angeles and Luke is based in London.

Read more on Ridley Scott brought to us by OBS staff-member Chris here.

thanks to scifiwire.com!

What Ridley Scott’s Alien prequel will be and won’t be

What do you think of the Alien prequel? Is Anthony Hopkins good for the role of the Asgard King? What do you think of Charlize Theron in Mad Max4? Are you a fan of The Last Airbender?

From movies.ign.com

With James Cameron’s long-awaited return to genre film-making, Avatar, hitting screens just two months from now, we’re starting to get a sense of what the top-secret film is going to look like. And one thing that seems certain is that the alien world depicted in the film, Pandora, is poised to join the ranks of sci-fi’s best designed and most epically memorable planets.

That’s got us thinking lately about the coolest worlds of genre cinema. We’ve seen a lot of alien landscapes and futuristic planets over the years, but which ones are the major worlds that have been most influential in sci-fi film?

Avatar’s Pandora

Filled with fearsome creatures and hot, blue, alien cat-women, Pandora is the kind of place where you can fly on a pterodactyl, inhabit your own personal Thundercat avatar, and lead the charge to save an entire race of honorable and noble creatures. And then there’s Cameron’s reportedly groundbreaking technology which he developed to create this world and its inhabitants… suffice to say, we’re there in December.

Alien’s LV-426

The galaxy’s largest graveyard (second to New New Jersey) is where the Space Jockey’s ship kinda sorta crashed, carrying hundreds of Alien eggs waiting to facehugger John Hurt’s character. It’s also the site for Weyland-Yutani’s “Building Better Worlds” terraforming project to go all sorts of eff’d up when colonists become human incubators for the Alien Queen’s kiddies.

Read the rest HERE

ETHAN GILSDLORF FINDS INNER GEEK AND WRITES BOOK!

From boston.com

Ethan Gilsdorf’s life looked pretty sweet: He was a freelance travel journalist based in Paris. But when he found himself obsessed with “Lord of the Rings” figurines, he wondered.

When he moved to Somerville, unearthed his old Dungeons & Dragons maps and started hunting orcs in the parking lot, he worried that his teenage fandom would swallow him back up.

Rather than hide from the questions, Gilsdorf decided to face them head-on. It would be a quest! The result is the frequent Globe contributor’s first book, “Fantasy Freaks and Gaming Geeks.”

Outwardly, Gilsdorf explored a range of popular sci-fi diversions. Inwardly, “[I’m] trying to make peace with this part of me,” Gilsdorf said recently at the anything-but-nerdy Diva Lounge, wearing a T-shirt from the band Harry and the Potters. (You’vegot to give the guy credit for including ‘70s-era photos in the book.)

He went to a D&D convention honoring the game’s recently deceased creator, Gary Gygax. He donned medieval garb for Pennsic, the Society for Creative Anachronism’s summer camp out. He LARPed, he WoWed. Eventually he tromped around New Zealand to see the LOTR movies’ gorgeous scenery.

Read more HERE

I love all the worlds of Sci-fi! Especially Star Wars, but Avatar’s world looks amazing, so beautiful it’s scary.  I lovethe idea of this new book, because a lot of people go through what Ethan did,  and help everyone realize it’s ok to have a little geek in ya

What do you think of Sci-fi worlds, which are your favorites? Will you read ‘Fantasy Freaks and Gaming Geeks’? Is your inner geek waiting to be busted out?

The second artist I want to introduce to you is H. R. Giger. I guess we all know his works – but maybe not him.

Artist Name: Hans Rüdiger Giger

Date of Birth: 1940

Where From: Chur, Switzerland

Short Bio:
He is recognized as one of the world’s most well known artists of Fantastic Realism and he achieved international fame with his work on Ridley Scott’s movie ‘Alien’. For his designs of the film’s title creature and its otherworldly environment H. R. Giger received the 1980 Academy Award for ‘Best Achievement for Visual Effects’.

He studied architecture and industrial design at the School of Applied Arts in Zurich and by 1964 he was producing his first artworks. By discovering airbrush he also found his own unique freehand painting style. That was the beginning of the creations of many of his most well known works – the surrealistic Biomechanical dreamscapes.

Work in Movies:
- Dune
- Alien
- Alien 3
- Poltergeist II: The Other Side
- Kondom des Grauens
- Species
- Batman Forever
- Future-Kill
- Tokyo: The Last Megalopolis

Giger’s Bar

LP-/CD-Cover, Videos:
- The Shiver – Walpurgis
- Emerson, Lake and Palmer – Brain Salad Surgery
– Magma – Attahk
- Island – Pictures
– Debbie Harry – KooKoo
– Celtic Frost – To Mega Therion
– Dead Kennedys – Frankenchrist
– Pankow – Freiheit für die Sklaven
– Steve Stevens – Atomic Playboys
– Atrocity – Hallucinations
– Sacrosanct – Recesses for the Depraved
– Danzig – Danzig III: How The Gods Kill
– Carcass – Heartwork
– Hide – Hide Your Face
– Dr. Death – Somewhere in nowhere (Birthmachine)
– Böhse Onkelz – Dunkler Ort

PC/Games:
- Dark Seed
- Dark Seed 2

Read more about H.R. Giger and his work HERE.

What is it about this month, that makes you dust off your old VHS tapes and play those wicked scary horror movies?? Oh yea, because it’s October, the month for Halloween. I’m a big fan of scary flicks, have been since around the age of 7 (maybe that is what is wrong with me), I grew up watching the classic zombies, serial killers, monsters, and even the once frightening vampires. This month is most exciting for Halloween, but also because our favorite spooky movies play on TV, so you curl up on your couch with popcorn and hopefully a viewing partner and watch a few of those terrifying movies…

In honor of this gruesome pastime, OBS staff members have complied Top 10 or Top 5 lists. These aren’t your basic Top 10 list of scary movies, no we like to get a bit more interesting and dive head first into the genre that scares the daylights out of you. We got lists ranging from Best Stephen King movies that make you fear clowns to villains that still make you feel uneasy about visiting a place in Texas, to those movies ‘based on true events’, that make you want to never step into a dark forest again…

Part one will consist of two Top 10’s and two Top 5’s , that you will want to watch this Halloween season. Some are meant to terrify you, others are meant for shear entertainment and fun for the holiday!!

Top 10 Horror Movies of All Time – NIKKI:

1. Texas Chainsaw Massacre
What can I say about this movie? Its just amazingly gory, creepy and twisted. All things I prize in a horror flick. Loosely based on one of the creepiest serial killers of all time: Ed Gein.

2. Psycho
A classic, creepy and intense thriller. Hitchcock was the master of suspense!

3. Night of the Living Dead
“They’re coming to get you Barbara…” The first and probably best zombie movie ever made; its ominous and terrifying without special effects.

4. The Exorcist
Everything about this movie makes the hairs on the back of my neck stand up. Its just a really, really scary movie.

5. Evil Dead
This movie combines creepy and scary events and effects with humor. Its a riotously good time.

6. Jaws
How could I make a list of the best without the movie that made everyone want to stay in during the summer?

7. Poltergeist
Carol Ann! Walk into the light! I wanted to after I watched this one.

8. Friday the 13th
Everyone went to camp as a kid. Here is what happens when it all goes wrong!

9. Nightmare on Elm Street
One, two Freddy’s coming for you…Did you sleep after you watched this movie? I sure didn’t.

10. Alien
Equal parts futuristic Sci-Fi thriller and biting your fingernails, screaming out loud horror. Just a brilliant movie all around.

Top 10 Scariest Stephen King Movies – Nikki:

1. It
Who isn’t scared of clowns?! This movie still gives me nightmares-I will NEVER watch it again!

2. Pet Semetary
This is an oldie, but goodie. There are so many creepy elements in this movie. Its just a classic!

3. Misery
This movie is more a cautionary tale than it is a horror flick. Its the perfect example of “Im your biggest fan” gone really, really wrong!

4. The Shining
This movie was shot well and is so hauntingly strange in all the right ways. It also has the best actors and acting of any King movie.

5. Cujo
Don’t we all get a little bit scared of St. Bernard’s after this movie? Sure, they seem sweet and cuddly…but couldn’t they all become vicious killers like Cujo?

6. Nightmare on Elm Street
What’s more scary than the inability to do something as natural as sleep. How long can the human body go without sleep… and when you inevitably do he will be there waiting for you.

7. Cat’s Eye
I added this one because it was the first scary movie I saw as a child and boy did it scare me! I still check under my bed every night to make sure nothing is there!

8. Carrie
What happens when the girl who always gets picked on goes crazy…Its great!

9. Silver Bullet
A classic werewolf movie; among the very best!

10. Children of the Corn
Children gone wild, right? MALACHAI!!!

Top 5 Paranormal Phenomenon That Could Be Real – ROSE

1. UFO’s
With rumors about Area 51 and books from the past about alien abductions and landings like Communion or Beyond a Pal Horse, it makes it hard not to believe.

2. Vampires
Well, not exactly what we consider vampires, but maybe a different sort, that needs to drink blood to survive. Hasn’t there been medical documentation? Or is that just a gossip?

3. Ghosts
Who hasn’t had a brush with what they think to be a ghostly spirit? Lights flickering, divine intervention, the list goes on.

4. The 5th Dimension
There are so many unexplored regions of science, anything is possible.

5. Exorcisms
How do we really know what can be accomplished in the name of faith?

Top 5 Halloween Themed Movies – NIKKI:

1. Nightmare Before Christmas

2. Halloween

3. Its the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown

4. Hocus Pocus

5. Trick R’ Treat

*Remember this is the Halloween edition, we will have 3 more weeks of fun spooky Top 10/5 lists, so keep an eye out

I love scary movies, and some of these are my favorites along with their sequels. It’s tradition for friends and I to watch spooky movies during this month, and I bet we will be watching some of these picks!!

Are you a fan of horror movies? Which ones are you favorites? Did you agree with the list, or did we miss something, please let us know!!

by Fred Topel on scifiwire.com

Aaron Eckhart told a group of reporters that he was scheduled to begin filming the alien invasion movie ‘Battle: Los Angeles’ today; the film portrays the fight between marines and aliens in the City of Angels.

“We’ve got a great shooter, and he’s going to do it like Black Hawk Down meets Alien,” Eckhart said in a group interview on Tuesday in Beverly Hills, Calif., where he was promoting the romantic drama Love Happens. “So it’s going to be real marine stuff. He’s going to film it in a very documentary style.”

To play marines, Eckhart and his co-stars spent three weeks in boot camp. Eckhart flexed his muscles to demonstrate his commitment to authenticity.
The day before principal photography began, Eckhart was confident that ‘Battle: Los Angeles’ has an edge over the likes of Independence Day and War of the Worlds.

“It’s going to be no ordinary aliens movie, I guarantee you that,” he declared. “It’s going to be outrageous. This movie’s going to be so great. I go out on a limb in saying that.”

‘Battle: Los Angeles’ is slated for release in February 2011.

To read more HERE

Sounds interesting – let’s see if we’ll get more infos next time, because Feburary 2011 is far far away. Do you think Aaron Eckhart is a good choise for a role in an alien-action-movie?