Don’t get too excited now…
This is a FAN-MADE Trailer, but nonetheless, it’s awesome. Plus it shows that a Green Lantern movie must be made! Enjoy:
PS: Dear Warner Bros. judging by this trailer, Nathan Fillion seems like a nice fit for Hal Jordan! Make this happen!
Egon & Dönci/ dir. Ádám Magyar/ 2008/ Hungary
How does one make a movie an experience? When a movie stops being about story, plot, and characters and the focus is so much about the visuals, the sights and the sounds that we, as an audience, really don’t give a damn about the story.
That’s what Egon & Dönci attempts to do. This quirky Hungarian animated feature (apparently Hungary’s first CG animated movie) has no dialogue whatsoever, and uses gestures and sounds to communicate its characters thoughts and ideas, a technique that is not new by any means to the animation field, but still powerful when done right. Continue reading
$9.99/ dir. Tatia Rosenthal/ 2008/ Australia/ Israel
It’s that time of year, the Seattle International Film Festival (SIFF) has started and I am planning on seeing all the animated features at SIFF this year. So I decided to take off early from work last Thursday and head to small theatre at the end of Broadway, the Harvard Exit. The first animated movie I saw was $9.99.
I have wrote this before, but stop motion is a bitch and I give much credit to those animators who are working in that medium. I also appreciate a film maker who is willing to take a chance and make an animated movie that is NOT geared towards children. $9.99 is an all stop-motion animated film that is not for children. Right from the spectacular opening scene, you know that $9.99 is not filled with cuteness and fairytales, but is filled with real people with real life problems. Continue reading
Up/ dir. Pete Docter/ co. dir. Bob Peterson/ 2009
I don’t how Pixar does it, but they keep churning out quality movies one after the other. It’s an animation studio dynasty. It’s kind of like in the 90’s when Disney could do no wrong and churned out hits like The Little Mermaid, Beauty & the Beast, Aladdin, & The Lion King. It’s a new golden age of feature animation, and plenty of us are just enjoying the ride. Eventually this ride is going to end. Odds are against the Pixar folks that they’ll make a clunker of a movie one day. However, Up will not be that clunker (and with my luck, the clunker will be if/when I work there =P).
Up tells the story of Carl Fredrickson, a bitter elderly man. After being forced to give up his home and head to a retirement home, Carl decides to finally act on a lifelong dream that he and his late wife Ellie had of adventuring to Paradise Falls in South America. Carl ties thousands and thousands of balloons to his house in order to fly away and head towards South America.
The premise doesn’t sound like much, but the execution of the storytelling, combined with the emotion and sincerity of the characters come together to make yet another Pixar masterpiece. (Hit the jump for the rest of the review) Continue reading
Battle for Terra/ dir. Aristomenis Tsirbas/ 2009
The Terrans are inhabitants of the planet Terra — a place that promotes peace and tolerance, having long ago rejected war and weapons of mass destruction. But when Terra is invaded by humans seeking a new home due to an environmental catastrophe, the planet Terra is plunged into war and chaos.
Since this movie was NOT produced by either Dreamworks or Pixar, Terra seemed to have that indie vibe to it, which appealed to me. I was hoping for an entertaining movie that focused more on the effects of war and the struggle to survive and resist as opposed to the usual “dialogue, action, conflict, action, cute characters, action, dialogue, then happy ending.” But this trailer had me a little worried and disappointed:
They should have just watermarked the word “cliche” to this trailer. If there was drinking game where you took a shot every time a cliche came up, within a minute you would be gone! BTW, in the future when I get to my short-film class, if I have the dialogue “It has begun…” in it, feel free to punch me in the face.
Despite all this, I decided to give Terra a chance and I made the trek to the movie theater. And while, yes, it was very formulaic, slow paced and a little bland, the subtle sociopolitical commentary throughout the film kept me entertained. (Hit the jump to read the rest of the review) Continue reading
There is a start up animation company from Pennsylvania called “More Frames” that has produced some dope animation. Their latest is this beauty, it’s the animated music video for Brooklyn’s Ill Bill feat. Immortal Technique (one of my favorites) & Max Cavalera. The song is called “War is My Destiny.” Watch it here:
“War Is My Destiny” /Ill Bill feat. Immortal Technique & Max Cavalera/ 2009
Right from the opening with the dude dropping from the sky, this video had me on the edge of my sheet. I’m glad that “More Frames” was able to do the whole video as an animated piece. As much as I would’ve like to see Ill Bill, Immortal Technique, & Max Cavalera on screen, I think for art and story purposes, keeping it all animated was a great idea. There really isn’t much color to this piece, which works since this is all about the bleakness of war and revenge. Of course the color that does stand out is that red bloodshed (as it should be!). The character designs are nice and simplistic, which makes things easier for the animators (more muscles and lines = more work!), and the action scenes are nicely paced. Plus, I enjoyed the song too. Good work “More Frames” I will look for your name in the future (since I may be looking for a job =P)
At first I thought this was a clever spoof, but I think this is officially Nintendo. If it’s official then it’s brilliant. If not, it’s still pretty funny! Oh and I am super stoked for the new Punch-Out thats coming out for the Wii.
Piston Hondo! LOL! Hey he’s just doing his jab…
EDIT: Just checked out the official punchout.com site, the dude’s name is ACTUALLY Piston Hondo!
Les Triplettes de Belleville/ dir. Sylvain Chomet/ 2003/ France
Les 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
A Melancholy Rest in Power to Manong Al Robles, who passed away this past weekend.
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:
Even 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
Philippine American Writers and Artist, Inc.
Art of the Cartoon 