By the way, if you’re subscriber to our Digital Bits Patreon page, I’ve shared a new My Two Cents: A Video Blog update today with information on this title and several more 4K catalog releases, so you should definitely subscribe and check it out if you can. Keep in mind, it’s a great way to support our work here at the website, and we really do appreciate it very much.
Now then… a couple of days ago, I learned that the amazing film poster artist Tony Stella had done an absolutely stunning piece of art for Peter Weir’s Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World (2003) which many of you will know is one of my favorite films. Here’s that art (in two versions, a one sheet and a UK “quad” style version)…
Upon discovering this, I immediately shared my enthusiasm for it on social media. This is one of the greatest pieces of art for this film I’ve ever seen, and I would love to have it hanging in my home theater.
And no surprise, my post went viral on X and elsewhere—the art is stunning! I even reached out to Stella privately on his website here, hoping to learn more about the work.
So imagine my shock upon learning, yesterday afternoon, that it appears Stella has just passed away. Friends of the artist began sharing word of this on social media yesterday, and it is—I’m very sorry to say—apparently true.
Stella was just 45 years old. And he was one of the greatest artists of his generation, whose work has graced the covers of many a Blu-ray and 4K release from the likes of Arrow Video, Vinegar Syndrome, and more.
The details of his passing haven’t yet been revealed, and it was obviously sudden and a shock to his family and friends. I imagine we’ll learn more soon.
But today, our thoughts are with his family and friends in this difficult time.
I can only hope that, when the dust settles from all this, someone will produce a definitive coffee table book of his work. Because I simply can’t think of anyone who deserves it more. And I also hope, perhaps selfishly, that he was aware of my enthusiasm for his work in those last days. Because… my goodness. I’m still in awe of his talent.
Also today, news broke this morning that the legendary media mogul Ted Turner has passed away at the age of 87.
Turner was an extraordinary and influential figure in the modern media landscape, having revolutionized cable television in the 1980s and 90s (with TBS and TNT), 24-hour cable news (with CNN), and of course the film industry as well—he purchased MGM and Hanna-Barbera, he created Turner Classic Movies and Cartoon Network, etc. His influence has been great and his shadow long. Whatever you thought of the man, we live in a media world that has his fingerprints all over it. You can read more here at CNN, here at The NY Times, and here at Variety, among many other places today.
And finally, to bring all of this full circle… this morning brought this: It turns out that one of the most extraordinary images taken by the Artemis II astronauts on their recent journey around the Moon—possibly the most iconic image since the Apollo 8 “Earthrise” image in 1968—is even more extraordinary than we imagined.
The so called “Hello World” shot, seen here in still form…
… was but one of thousands of images taken during the mission and just released by NASA, including many more taken during that same sequence. And when animated, they reveal something extraordinary—you can see the Earth moving through space, the aurora dancing in its atmosphere, flashes of lightning in its thunderstorms, the glow of the Moon on Earth’s oceans, and—amazingly—constellations of satellites in Earth orbit, glinting in the sunlight on either side of the planet.
What a truly wondrous and amazing world we live on!
I highly recommend that you watch this video from Hank Green on YouTube on this subject today—the whole thing is worth your time, but the amazing bit starts around 6:40. (And thanks to our own Stephen Bjork for calling my attention to it this morning.)
See what I mean? Talk about cognitive whiplash.
“It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of Light, it was the season of Darkness, it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair.” –Charles Dickens, A Tale of Two Cities
Timeless words that are clearly as true today in 2026 as they were in 1859 when the world first read them. There is, I suspect, a lesson in there for all of us.
That’s all for now. Stay tuned…
- Bill Hunt
(You can follow Bill on social media on Twitter/X, BlueSky, and Facebook, and also here on Patreon)