Primer

When Shane Carruth unleashed Primer on the world, he arguably gave us the greatest time travel film of all time. Now it's available on Vimeo.

If you enjoyed Primer and you're wondering what Shane is up to now, you're definitely not alone. Many have cited the comments of Rian Johnson (Brick, The Brothers Bloom): "to all who asked: Shane is alive and well and has a mind-blowing sci-fi script. Let's all pray to the movie-gods that he gets it made soon" (via Twitter). While those are encouraging words from one of new favorite directors, those comments were made almost a year ago.

Within the last month, however, a movie blog called The Playlist acquired a copy of the script for A Topiary. The Playlist bloggers seem to think Shane's new project will live up to the hype, so here's hoping it finds the funding it needs to hit theaters.

The Goon

Eric Powell's The Goon is apparently getting the silver screen treatment with David Fincher (Se7en, Fight Club, Zodiac) producing and the voice talents of Clancy Brown (Highlander, The Shawshank Redemption, Carnivale) and Paul Giamatti (American Splendor, Sideways, Cold Souls).

Apparently this zombie comic adaptation is still looking for a studio. It shouldn't be looking for long, but I'm hoping it won't slide into obscurity like The Amazing Screw-On Head (which also bears the voice of Giamatti). If The Goon can find an audience, perhaps we'll begin to see a wider variety of cult comics hit theaters, too.

Cloak & Cipher

"New song. Quarry Hymns. Not to be confused with Corey Haim."

Land of Talk has a new album and a new tour.

These sweet pilgrims of sound also played Some Are Lakes during their Take Away Show (presented by Black XS Live Sound and La Blogotheque). And if you want to hear Elizabeth explain the story behind Some Are Lakes, there's a great version of the song that was recorded during a Yours Truly session.

Reign of Death

Matthew Savage has offered up a compelling short, Reign of Death, featuring Noel Clarke of Doctor Who fame. Although Reign of Death features elements of both scifi and noir, I think it shares more in common with steampunk than tech noir in that the technological advancements serve better as anachronistic icing on a 1940s cake rather than indications of a possible future. In this regard, the film reminds me of Penny Arcade's Automata which also debuted last summer (continued in pages two, three, four, five, and six).

If you're interested in making your own short film, there are two great behind-the-scenes videos on Vimeo: Jonathan Dunn's Making of Reign of Death and Linus Hofmann's Reign Of Death VFX Breakdowns.

Things I Like, Things I Don't Like

Before Jean-Pierre Jeunet gave us Amélie, he had already perfected the style of his character introductions many years before in Foutaises (known as "Things I Like, Things I Don't Like" in the UK and "Small Talk" elsewhere in Europe). While Jeunet's developing talent is the main attraction, it's also clear to see why Dominique Pinon continues to appear in all of the director's films.

Go see Jeunet's latest, Micmacs, if you can find it... And yes, Pinon's in there somewhere.

Coma

Coma, by Thomas Brush (aka wittyhobos), is today's featured game on Newgrounds.com. The art reminds me a little of new indie classics like Braid and Machinarium, but what really shines is the shareware engine written by Sophie Houlden (aka GirlFlash).

If you liked playing Coma, take Nevermore 3 (by Adam Westerman) for a spin; it uses the same engine. And if you're interested in making your own flash game, check out Sophie's latest engine, Edward.