I made my first Blade Runner pistol when I was 18, while living in Hell's Kitchen, NYC. I stared at the VHS version on pause and made sketches. Put it together from toys and model kit parts. It's lovely and terrible. (Years later the internet would teach me that the six dollar plastic gun I bought on Canal Street in NYC and cannibalized for the grip was created by Edison Giacattoli, a legendary toy gun designer.)

Whether or not you've heard Dan O'Bannon's name before, you're a fan of his work on Dark Star, Star Wars, Alien, Lifeforce, Screamers and Total Recall. He passed away yesterday, but his legacy on lives forever.

Probably O'Bannon's biggest contribution to science-fiction movies is his work on the screenplay of Alien, which started life as his script Star Beast. According to Empire Magazine, O'Bannon's script was the movie's first draft, although others later worked on the screenplay. And Empire says he brought over several of his colleagues from Alejandro Jodorowsky's abortive film Dune to Alien.

But prior to Alien, O'Bannon was co-writer and visual effects supervisor on John Carpenter's loopy Dark Star. And he also played Sgt. Pinback, as seen in the clip above. And O'Bannon worked on the original Star Wars, helping to craft those great computer graphics of the Death Star plans and the attack run — and according to this poster at IMDB, he's also in the movie, as one of the technicians in the Rebel Base during the Battle of Yavin.

Doesn't matter if you aren't into science fiction. That's not really the point. SF is a vehicle for a rich and complex story and not the story itself.

Happy 25th Birthday, Buckaroo Banzai - Adventures of buckaroo banzai in the 8th dimension

No matter where you go, you'll find that it's still the 25th anniversary of cult classic The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai Across The 8th Dimension, released on this very day in 1984. Shall we go ahead and destroy Russia now?

Slave Leia pillow fight.

That is all.

Gizmodo

You've probably seen the new phenomenon with your own eyes: A cineplex IMAX that doesn't have the monster screen you grew up with in science-museum IMAX theaters. Here's the what, the how and the why.

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Basically, IMAX used to build their own massive theaters in their own buildings. But now, in order to expand, the company has made a deals with major theater chains like AMC in which they'll provide and install their proprietary mix of projectors, screens, speakers and hardware if the theater will foot the bill for the necessary structural renovations.

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This conversion process, which has a patented geometry, includes installing a screen that's only slightly bigger (as little as 10 feet wider than before), but this screen is coupled with the removal of several rows of seats which allows it to be scooted roughly 30 feet closer to the audience, creating a sort of sitting too close the TV effect with a screen that, I was told, is perceived as 75 feet wider than before.

Paul Newman, the Academy-Award winning superstar who personified cool as an activist, race car driver, popcorn impresario and the anti-hero of such films as "Hud," "Cool Hand Luke" and "The Color of Money," has died. He was 83.

Newman died Friday after a long battle with cancer at his farmhouse near Westport, publicist Jeff Sanderson said. He was surrounded by his family and close friends.

Okay, I can't resist one more.

US actor Roy Scheider, best known for playing the police chief in the Jaws movies, has died at the age of 75.

As well as starring in the first two shark thrillers, Scheider received two Oscar nominations during his career.

He was up for best supporting actor for The French Connection in 1972 and best actor for 1979's All That Jazz.

Twenty-five years after "Blade Runner" was panned by critics and pulled from theaters, British director Ridley Scott savors revenge with the final cut of the science-fiction film now considered a cult classic.

Presenting the new version of what he considers his most accomplished movie, Scott recalled the difficulties he had when he first pitched the work to Hollywood.

"I was a new kid on the block in Hollywood, so driving to those studios every day was a magical mystery tour. But it was hard, the whole process of making the movie became quite difficult," he told reporters at the Venice film festival after a press screening.

"I wasn't used at that point in my career to having too many cooks in the kitchen, and I think there were many people who started to get involved.

"So out of it came a hybrid version of what I'd originally intended. Consequently ... we had a bad opening, bad previews, confused previews. I was killed by some critics ... then I thought it would be gone away for ever," Scott said.

MythBusters' Adam Savage takes a look at how Blade Runner's F/X hold up after 25 years. As far as I'm concerned, Blade Runner remains the single best science fiction film ever made.

You have to remember, Blade Runner was made years before digital effects became common. Today, CGI [computer-generated imagery] is becoming a mature art form, but even now there are times you just can't beat doing some effects like these "in camera." Most of these cityscapes are a combination of models and traditional matte paintings. For the aerial shots they used a set about 12 ft. wide, and those towers you see belching fire are about 12 in. high. They're made of etched brass and model parts and use thousands of tiny, grain-of-wheat light bulbs like you'd find in a dollhouse. They filmed some of the fireballs in the parking lot behind the studio, and for others they used stock footage from the 1970 Antonioni film, Zabriskie Point.

It's arguably Moore at his best. Sharp, witty, and with facts undeniably on his side. Gone are most of the "gotcha" moments from previous films. What's left is a sad, eloquent, and accurate portrayal of an industry more interested in profit than actual health care.

Stream it on the internets, see it in the theatres, but whatever you do... make sure to see this film. Talk about it with your parents, grandparents, children, friends – hell, even chat up a stranger about it. Ask them about how well their health care needs are being met.

Music: "This Will Be Our Year" by The Zombies

h/t FDL