Art

Review: Les Triplettes de Belleville

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Les Triplettes de Belleville/ dir. Sylvain Chomet/ 2003/ France

Triplets_of_Belleville-PosterLes Triplettes de Belleville (English: Triplets of Belleville) is the story of Madame Souza and her son, Champion, who is an aspiring cyclist. During the Tour De France, Champion and 2 other cylclists are kidnapped by the French Mafia and brought to Belleville. Madame Souza heads to Belleville, where she meets the Triplets of Belleville,  a trio of aged starlet singers, who helps Madame Souza rescue her son.

Okay, so from that synopsis this movie sounds pretty bland, but believe me, this movie had me transfixed to the screen. If you thought Wall-E was bold for having the first 40 minutes with no dialogue, Les Triplettes de Beville has NO dialogue! The whole story is told through pantomine, facial expressions, body language  and music and it is a masterpiece to behold. Continue reading →

Filipin@s: Al Robles

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A Melancholy Rest in Power to Manong Al Robles, who passed away this past weekend.

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Community Activist and poet, Manong Al was most known for his work with the I-Hotel community. Here’s the trailer for Manilatown Is In The Heart, which followed Manong Al Robles:

filipin1fall-of-i-hotelEven though this site focuses alot on animation, cartoons, comic books, and video games, this site deals not only with the things that are related to cartoons and animation, but also the things and people that inspire me to keep doing my art, to keep learning, and to keep me focused on the community and the people. 

That is why I highlight Manong Al. His narraration, presence and poetry in the documentary The Fall of the I-Hotel directed by Curtis Choy was one of the big reasons why I decided to get my degree in American Ethnic Studies at the University of Washington and soon after, begin my work with the community. This was the catalyst that helped me finally gain enough confidence to call myself an artist. This in turn, eventually lead me down the path of becoming an animator so that I could share stories of the people, of the community through the medium of animation. 

Manong Al did so much for the community through his actions and his words. I hope I do half as much with my actions and my animation. And I hope we all remember the life of a great man.

Rest in Power Manong Al Robles…

Other Tributes to Manong Al Robles:

Prometheus Brown’s The Fall of the I-Hotel Review

Hyphen Magazine

Philippine American Writers and Artist, Inc. 

League of Filipino Students – SF State

thaswassup

“Birthday Boy” dir. Sejong Park (2004) Korea

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Birthday Boy/ dir. Sejong Park/ 2004/ Korea

birthday_boy_pBirthday Boy takes place in 1951 during the Korean War. It follows a young boy named Manuk (not Manok… if you don’t know ask a Filipino), as he plays war games while living, ironically, in a war torn village. He longs to be a soldier, and on his birthday he receives a special present.

Birthday Boy, while only minutes long, is a compelling film, and one that really makes you think about the effects of war. Everything in this short just comes together beautifully. Sejong’s animation, especially on Manuk’s facial expression and poses, is awesome. The sound design which is gentle and subtle, match perfectly with the mood and setting of this short. Sejong Park does a masterful job of showing the innocence of Manuk while at the same time showing the devastation and ravages of war. You can’t help but feel some sorrow as Manuk, totally oblivious of the war-torn world around him, plays war games and longs to be part of the same world that has caused all the havoc that is around him.

See this Oscar nominated short here:

Vodpod videos no longer available.


Review: Renaissance

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Renaissance/ dir. Christian Volkman/ 2006/ France

Taking place in the futuristic Paris of 2054, Renaissance is the story of Karas, a policeman with controversial methods, as he tries to solve not only the abduction of a young researcher and scientist Llona Tasuiev, but her connection to a secret project from the uber-corporation Avalon. 

The visuals and art style of Renaissance is what made me want to see this movie. I make it no secret that I enjoy the noir-ish, high contrast black and white art styles of Sin City and MadWorld (which I still have yet to play). And make no mistake, Renaissance is GORGEOUS! Beautifully animated, with a flair and style I have never seen in animated films. 

The director, creators, and writers tried to come up with a story and feeling that mixed steam-punk, sci-fi, mystery, crime drama, and thriller all together. Too bad, all that came out was another cliched police crime drama. With dialouge like this:

Bislane (Llona’s sister): “Why are you in the police force if it is so destructive and corrupt?”

Karas: “Because it’s the only world I know”

I couldn’t help but groan. (Hit the jump to read the rest of the Review) Continue reading →

Chambre 217

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Chambre 217/ dir. Vincent Desbiens/ canada/ 2009

Here’s a film that caught my eye about a week ago. The 2D animation is beautiful to look at. Everything seems to have a nice progression to it as well. Director Vincent Desbiens art style works perfectly with this animated piece. In fact, it reminds of the bold days of MTV, when they used to show cutting edge animation on their Liquid Television series…aww memories.

It’s a fun look into the mind of the man inside chambre 217. My only critcism (its a criticism I have of alot of animated pieces), is that I wish there was more of a message and substance to the film. But I can’t really ask for that in every animated piece… can I?

But it’s definately eye candy though!

Rhythm Heaven (video game)

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Rhythm Heaven/ Nintendo DS/ 2009

rhythmheavenI like to think of myself as a gamer, but between work, school, runnning, training and working out, other things art related, and kickin it with the homies, I haven’t sat down and played a game in months. Gone are the days when I could spend hours gaining experience points in Final Fantasy VI, Secret of Mana, or Chrono Trigger, or spend quality time trying to beat Dr. Wily, Metal Gear, or whatever video game villain you want to throw in.

That’s why I am more inclined to play games that are in small doses, and Rhythm Heaven is perfect for me. I can play it for 5 minutes and be alright with it if I wanted to, I can’t say the same for a game like Resident Evil 5.

Rhythm Heaven is the english version of Rhythm Tengoku which was a popular DS game in Japan. The premise is simple, in each of the many mini-games you either flick, tap, hold or slide to the rhythm of the beat. The more on rhythm, the better you do. Just like I said on my twitter, this game taught me that I have no rhythm. I don’t want to get into a full review because IGN does it so much better:

I just want to add that I am a big fan of the art and animation style of this game. Yes, it is very simplistic, but the art and animation get their point across and to me seem very polished. The style also works very well with the great soundtrack that was produced by Tsunku, who is a prolific Japanese record producer. I know that my big dream is to make animated films, but after playing this quirky little game, I wouldn’t mind trying my hand at video game animation.

BTW, I still have NO rhythm…

Bootleg Classics: Speedy Gonzales (film)

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Some of my favorite cartoons while growing up were Transformers, He-Man, ThunderCats, and Ninja Turtles. I even enjoyed watching Jem, Strawberry Shortcake, and Rainbow Brite with my older sister. But between those shows there were always several Looney Tunes shorts to fill out the Saturday Morning Cartoon lineup. Of all the Looney Tunes characters, there was one that resonated with me the most.  That would be the one “brown” Looney Tune character out of the whole bunch, Speedy Gonzales.  This Bootleg Classic is the best of the Speedy Gonzales shorts, and the Academy Award win proves that.

Speedy Gonzales/ dir. Friz Freleng/ 1955

speedy_gonzales_titlesBackground:

From 1930 – 1969, Warner Bros. had a cartoon series called Looney Tunes, that consisted of animated shorts that showed at movie theaters.  These animated shorts featured the popular characters such as Bugs Bunny, Daffy Duck, Porky Pig, Elmer Fudd, Sylvester, Tweety, Marvin the Martian, Taz, Wile E. Coyote, the Road Runner, Foghorn Leghorn, Yosemite San, Pepe Le Pew, and many others. The Speedy Gonzales short featured the newly redesigned Speedy Gonzales, and was the first meeting between Speedy and Sylvester the Cat.

The Film:

There are a group of mice who are starving and are trying to get cheese from the AJAX cheese factory. The only problem is that there is a cat, Sylvester, who is gurading the the factory and the cheese. Other mice have attempted to get past Sylvester and get the cheese, but all of them have been eaten and died in the process.

Then one of the mice has a  brilliant idea to enlist the services of “the fastest mouse in all Mexico” Speedy Gonzales. After telling their plight to Speedy, Speedy agrees to help.speedy_gonzales2

Then some hilarious confrontations between Speedy and Sylvester occur, with Speedy always ending up the victor. Eventually, Sylvester decides to blow up the whole factory so nobody will get the cheese, but the plan backfires as all the cheese lands near the hungry mice.

Speedy then says “I like this pussycat fellow; he’s silly!” and the short ends.

To watch this Academy Award winning short and find out WHY it is a Bootleg Classic, hit the jump…

Continue reading →

SakuraCon 2009

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It was the first time I ever hit up SakuraCon. I meant to do it years ago when I was really into anime, but never got the opportunity. Glad I went this year, as the atmosphere itself is exhilarating and once again I find inspiration to keep on doing what I’m doing. 

I mean look at all this:

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Now times that by 1000. I would say about 60% of the attendees were dressed up  in some way. That’s some dedication.

Oh one note: There is a fine line between between “cute”  and “um no, that shit does not look right on you.” I have to hand it to these cosplayers though, they have that “I don’t give a fuck I’m wearing this” mentality. I think SakuraCon is their safe haven. 

I was at SakuraCon Friday only! If you’re in the Seattle area, it goes on through Sunday. If you do go, can I suggest just chillin in one of the many anime theatres. I watched a lil bit of Giant Robo and Hajime no Ippo, that was great. Or maybe you could visit the classic console games room and play some NES, Sega, or even Atari 2600 games! Lastly I suggest you hit up the Artist’s Alley, one of the more inspiring moments was just watching those artists sketch away, which makes me think I need to get a table for SakuraCon next year. 

Who’s down for next year, SakuraCon 2010?

Progress…?

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In the midst of a busy week of work and the first week of school, I decided quickly sketch out a comic. It’s crudely done (once again not the greatest artist in the world), but whatever. It deals with the question “How far have we progressed in 12 years?” I think the comic answers that:

progressAww…progress…look how far we’ve come.