Fan Made Tagged Articles at Cinematical

Does anybody remember movie novelizations? They've made a bit of a comeback in recent history, but whoo boy was I a fan of them back in the '80s. Of course, as an adult that love has turned into nostalgia, and to this day, my Lost Boys novelization holds a prominent location on my bookshelf. But I'm not the only one with a soft spot for those books, because over at Spacesick they have won my heart by creating the "I Read Movies" series. Granted, these books don't exist (and how I wish they did), but you have to love these retro covers they've created for everything from Shaun of The Dead to Ghost Dad.

We do plenty of poster launches around here, but sometimes it seems like we just don't see the same effort being put into our movie one-sheets like we used to. You know you're in trouble when fictional book covers are more impressive than your average studio marketing campaign. But before I start to sound too much like a crotchety grandpa, I'm going to focus on the positive and that's where the fans come in. Take a look around and you'll see some pretty awesome work being done, so we can only hope that some of that creativity rubs off on actual studio releases.

Check out some of our favorites in the gallery below.

Oh, man. There are usually two groups of items on Fan Made: geeky-embarrassing and geeky-awesome. And my friends, this one-of-a-kind Bill Paxton pinball machine falls squarely into the latter category.

Corona's Coming Attractions steered us towards this pet project of one Benjamin J. Heckendorn, a pinball machine mod that takes its cues from Paxton's whole filmography, with references ranging from True Lies and Titanic to Apollo 13 and Aliens (and I heartily agree with the Corona-made suggestion that Paxton's Hicks Hudson better be the one saying "Game over, man!" when all is said and done).

On his own blog, Heckendorn explained that he's been cracking away at this since 2005 and hopes to have the machine done in time for the 2010 Midwest Gaming Classic in Milwaukee, WI. Check out his site for more photos and videos; we've included one of the latter after the jump.

(...man, he even made room for a Vertical Limit reference!)

I wasn't much of a collector when I was a kid. I could never keep a toy in it's package perched high on a shelf. In fact, usually the packaging would last about as long as it could take me to wrench my new She-Ra, Jem, or Barbie from their cardboard cage. But the one thing I did collect were trading cards, E.T. trading cards to be exact. But that was a long time ago, and those cards have long been misplaced (and I won't even dwell on the fact I had the complete set), so you can imagine the overload of nostalgia I experienced when I saw The Improbably Movie Cards over at Automatic Lifestyle Dispenser. Because, what these fine folks have done is made movie collector cards in that classic 80's style, but the catch is that these cards are for films that no person in their right mind would want to collect, and the results are pretty funny -- if not a little bizarre.

So how bad it could it be? Well, if you thought a Silkwood card might be in 'dubious' taste, wait till you get a look at the Schindler's List "Nazi's on The Move" card. Dispenser also made collector cards for good old Alvy and Annie, Sara Goldfarb, and even Charlie Meadows. But no trading card pack would be complete without the stickers, and luckily they have thought of that too, and we get collectible stickers of Colonel "The Horror" Kurtz, and Anton "Friendo" Chigurh. Unfortunately, these cards only exist online, but I don't think I would be the only one out there who would kill for their very own set of Annie Hall trading cards.

It seems like you can't swing an Ewok without hitting some kind of fan-made Star Wars art, toy, or collectible, but have you ever wondered what would have happened if the Rebels had started a grass-roots movement rather than mounting up and chucking an explosive down the thermal exhaust port of the Death Star? Well, Derrick Jensen has and the result is a funny video called If 'Star Wars' Was Made By Environmentalists. In *Jensen's video, the activist and author of A Language Older Than Words takes us through the 'original screenplay' for the sci-fi fantasy classic as it was written by a group of environmentalists ... and Eco-Tours to Endor are only the beginning.

The video takes plenty of jabs at the Left's inability to come to a decision, and the absurdity of trying to stop a murderous force with harsh language and touchy-feely slogans. But keep in mind that Jensen is what you could call a hard-line 'tree-hugger', and his philosophy is based on the idea that civilization is inherently unnatural and based on violence. But don't let that scare you off; there are jokes a-plenty for Star Wars fans, including relegating Luke, Leia, and "some robots" into minor characters and Vader's inability to produce accurate paperwork. But no matter what side of the political spectrum you fall on, the beauty of this particular video is that you don't need to share Jensen's views to find it funny, you just need a healthy appreciation for absurdity.

After the jump: a world where Ewoks sell designer coffee and Luke and Leia are only background...

*CORRECTION: The video was created by Frank Lopez of Submedia

The history of the movies is packed with tales of the 'little filmmakers that could'. Starting as far back as Ed Wood, right up to people like Robert Rodriguez, or The Blair Witch masterminds, there are tons of stories about filmmakers who defied the system and made movies on their own terms. After watching the short film, Manifest Destiny, I'm convinced that Darrell and Doug Waters could be the latest success story to add to the list. The sci-fi short is the first film by the Waters', and low-budget doesn't begin to describe it. Frankly, it doesn't get more cost-effective than shooting the whole thing in a garage using medical equipment you bought off eBay -- and may I just say, ewww.

The short film chronicles a supremely creepy alien autopsy and was inspired by 70's and 80's horror sci-fi like Invasion of The Body Snatchers and The Thing. The film manages to be scary and kind of sad at the same time, and I can only assume that these two guys will be using this short as a calling card for a feature deal. Considering it was made with props from eBay by two guys no one has ever heard of before, you'll have to admit, the results are pretty impressive.

Well, usually this works the other way around, but for once, a modern film is getting a classic update...at least when it comes to the trailer, anyway. This time, a dedicated fan by the name of whoiseyevan has made a trailer for the Ghostbusters movie that could have been...if it had been made in 1954. Taking over the roles made famous by Harold Ramis, Dan Aykroyd, and Bill Murray are crooner Dean Martin as Dr. Ray Stantz (Aykroyd), Fred McMurray as Dr. Egon Spengler (Ramis), and who else but Bob Hope could fill Murray's coveralls as the smart-a**, Dr. Venkman?

All those classic 'busting' touches are there, which is probably what made this fan-trailer such a success. Then again, I might be biased because they managed to work in one of my favourite lines from the film in one of the title cards. So even if you aren't impressed with the result, you have to hand it to whoiseyevan and his knowledge of spook and spectre movies from the 40s and 50s. Heck, he's even got a line of dialogue with Martin calling himself a Ghostbuster! Now that's what I call a happy coincidence.

After the jump: Ghostbusters 1954 Vs Ghostbusters 1984...

Forget saving money in this bad economy. Why not go for broke and drive around in the style of those infamous Ghostbusters 25 years after the first hit theaters?

Production Weekly's Twitter pointed to a car auction at eBay for an Ecto-1 ride. Not just any vehicle -- one from Universal Studios. Bidding has ended for the item, but even though the highest bid is ranked at the pricey $45,100.00, the reserve has not been met, so this puppy could go back onto the market. The 1959 Caddy is in a museum right now, and I'd surmise that that's the only place for it -- save for a few very special and slow rides around the block. Expensive, one-of-a-kind cars do not make for relaxing rides. The horror of getting keyed, dinged, or crashed is surely scarier than any old ghost.

But if that's too rich for your blood, do you know that you can grab decent replicas? There's a 1968 Cadillac in Virginia that has a Buy It Now price of $9,500.00, and a 1973 model in North Carolina whose starting bid is listed at $7,500.00. The former is a carefully restored Caddy sticking to the outer ghost-busting particulars, and the latter comes with high-tech rider perks inside like a TV/DVD/VHS system.

Do you love Ghostbusters enough to grab an Ecto-1?

What has the combination of YouTube and inexpensive editing software wrought? For one thing, the opportunity for fans to fashion their own movie trailers, recutting footage to honor or, more commonly, ridicule well-known films. The practice has become so commonplace that online video sites are now jam-packed with fan-made, recut trailers that should never have left the privacy of their creator's computer. To help sort out the good from the bad (and the ugly), our friends at Urlesque have compiled a list of "The 10 Best Recut Movie Trailers."

They date the phenomenon back to 2006 and the recut trailer for The Shining, transforming Stanley Kubrick's horror picture into a "fuzzy, family-friendly comedy replete with a Peter Gabriel song to give the whole thing some 'extra polish.'" Their Top 10 includes one that goes the opposite direction, from family-friendly comedy to horror picture (Toy Story), as well as a couple that rescue romantic comedies by emphasizing their more hair-raising possibilities (When Harry Met Sally, Sleepless in Seattle), along with a few surprises. Head on over to Urlesque to watch all ten.

Of course, centuries before motion pictures were invented, the Greeks were parodying epic literature. The first movie parody may have been 1922's Mud and Sand, starring Stan Laurel. Fan-made or recut trailers are simply the latest variation on a theme. Thanks to technology, industrious fans now can crank out amazing, funny, clever, or silly recut trailers almost as soon as the originals appear.

What are your favorite fan-made / recut / remix trailers?

Most fan-made projects can't hold a torch to the impressive world of Easter Peeps and dioramas. There's something about those marshmallow chicks and bunnies that were just made for the world of Hollywood. For the second year in a row, The Washington Post has held their Peeps contest, and once again, the world of film is heavily, wonderfully, and comically represented. The people that send in these recreated scenes -- they've got some serious talent ... and time on their hands.

Would Ghostbusters have been as eerie if the gigantic Stay Puft monster was actually an enormous Peep with no mouth? And I think the Coens were missing out when they made No Country for Old Men with humans instead of Peeps. There's just something about marshmallow and bloody gore that goes together. But these are only the tip of the iceberg -- other movies that got the Peeps treatment this year: The Wizard of Oz, Full Metal Jacket, Mars Attacks, The Birds, A Christmas Story, Amadeus, Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon, and Casablanca.

After a few years of these killer recreations, I'm thinking that Hollywood should dump those competing Easter bunny projects and direct their attention to the Peeps. Check out some of our favorite movie-related Peep creations in the gallery below, then view the rest over at The Washington Post.