E-ink and flashing eyes light up magazines

It's been a few months since I was flashed by a magazine -- and I'm not talking about the new Sports Illustrated swimsuit issue.

Back in September, I wrote about Esquire magazine's flashy (literally) cover for its 25th anniversary. The gimmick was called electronic ink, or e-ink, and included flashing, battery-powered images.

The UK magazine Total Film recently had its own "Amazing Flashing Cover" -- with two LED lights as the red glaring eyes lit up when you "Press Here" above the cover photo from "Terminator Salvation." (Not only did they go to all the trouble of creating this oddity, but on the flip side of the cover, where the battery was taped in place, it asked that readers help the environment by disposing of the battery responsibly.)

Jan. 09 was the 12-year-old magazine's 150th issue and began, editor Aubrey Day notes, with "Ransom" and "Space Jam" sharing the cover of Issue No. 1 -- George Clooney wasn't even an A-lister back then and "we'd be lucky if we got 10 mintes (sic) at a round table with Maria Bello."

The glossy mag has come a long way, and the flash of the cover reflects the in-your-face style of the eye-popping design inside. And the copy is all very British. Example in a wish list for "things we want to see before issue 200": "Blu-ray must be successful, because we don't want/can't afford/can't be arsed with another format war. Boffins, plese stop fiddling with ways to watch films at home until 2030 -- when we can either all watch holo-movies or will have been apocalypsed by the credit crunch anyway."

Huh?

For list lovers like me, they gave their all in a list of the 150 greatest performances in film, with Jack Nicholson's McMurphy of "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest" beating out Robert De Niro as Raging Bull Jake La Motta for No. 1. Then, out of the blue, there was a maze that would lead Mark Wahlberg to Peter Jackson and a "career-saving" part in "The Lovely Bones."

Why? Just because. Any outrageous idea, and Total Film will totally go for it.

Oh, and did I mention that in its most recent issue, Total Film features Hugh Jackman talking up Wolverine in its comic book special?

Here's something very un-Wolverine like: The first official pic, courtesy of ABC, of Jackman as he prepares for Oscar hosting duties: