Author Archives: Cimaxion

The Thomas Beale Cipher

by Cimaxion | 1 Comment

This excellent short film was made by Andrew S. Allen, utilizing a form of rotoscoping that creates a flat paper cutout look. The story follows the strange and suspenseful activities of a Professor White who sets out to decode one of the famous Thomas Beale ciphers which supposedly reveals the location of an enormous stash of gold that has remained a secret since 1820.

The director is also a founding member of the Short of the Week web site which has more information about the film.

There’s screening and press information at ThomasBealeCipher.com.

Paul Starr – 1964 Science Fiction Puppet Series

by Cimaxion

Humorous, cheesy and somewhat difficult to sit through!  It’s got robots that are Dalek imitations, Gerry Anderson-style figures, vehicles and headquarters! This is the 1964 pilot episode for a puppet science fiction TV show that never aired. Paul Starr featured Ed Bishop, the actor who later played Commander Straker in the classic 70s UFO series, in the lead role.  The show was created by Roberta Leigh who had already produced Space Patrol.  In this episode, atomic power plants on Mars begin to explode and Paul Starr must investigate a threat to take over the red planet.

Know No Truth – A Film About a Painter by Joe Martino

by Cimaxion

This beautiful film by Joe Martino features painter Landon Richmond working and talking about his perspective on the pursuit of one’s art and expression. It’s a very direct and moving film. I agree with every word that comes out of the painter’s mouth. And I like the way he says it without a trace of pretension or irony. He’s interested in facing the darkness in his art and he recommends this fearless approach as a general principal. You have to be able to look directly at anything.  Richmond also acknowledges the place that chaos occupies in his work – the willingness to not necessarily understand where it is that you are going but to go nonetheless.  I really enjoyed hearing this painter’s words today and will keep them in mind for quite some time.

You can see lots of Landon Richmond’s paintings and a web comic at KnowNoTruth.com.


Maybe One Day Everything Will be Beautiful – by Landon Richmond

Road to the Stars – 1957 Soviet Space Vision with Stunning Special Effects

by Cimaxion | 4 Comments

Excerpt 1 – First Men in Space:

The film is in Russian but you absolutely do not need to know Russian to enjoy it!  Unfortunately, I can’t find the entire film, only these three excerpts.

Pavel Klushantsev’s 1957 film, Road to the Stars, features astoundingly realistic special effects that were an inspiration and obvious blueprint for Stanley Kubrick’s 2001: A Space Odyssey ten years later.  The film is an extended form of science education, building upon existing 1950s technology to predict space exploration of the future.  The sequences with astronauts in zero gravity are incredibly realistic.  The second excerpt from the film features the construction of and life aboard a space station in earth orbit that is not only convincing but also beautiful.  There are several scenes with space station dwellers using videophones that anticipate the famous Kubrick videophone scene.

Excerpt 2 – Space Station:

Excerpt 3 – Moon Landing: