13 posts tagged “film”
today i saw what is now one of my new favorite stop motion works, komaneko: the curious cat, at the sf international animation festival. it is the first major japanese feature-length stop motion film and is quite endearing.
Komaneko is a burgeoning animator. She creates puppets and sets, then films them stop-motion style. She has a series of adventures with her friends Radi-Bo, a ghost and a Bigfoot-like creature whom she tries to document with her 8mm camera. Featuring a sweet soundtrack with little dialogue, except a few strategically placed “meow, meow, meows,” Komaneko: The Curious Cat depicts new friendships, creativity and the conflicting emotions that accompany a childhood filled with wonder. Director Tsuneo Goda has created Japan’s first major stop-motion animated film. It is a delicate, beautiful and undeniably cute work enlivened through brilliant technique.
i need distraction. i need the seratonin flowing. just when i needed the porny, seductive sounds of 5.1 surround DVD-A, i catch a citation in one of my millions of computer UI windows open this morning that there is a plaid 5.1 DVD i hadn't known about, a collaboration with bob jaroc: Greedy Baby.
Developed over 4 years, Greedy Baby has evolved out of a relationship between Plaid and filmaker and animator Bob Jaroc, touring and continually developing their live audio-visual show to audiences from Buenos Aries, to Tokyo, Istanbul, London’s Imax and beyond.
The creation of this new album and dvd was made with tracks and video passing back and forth, inspiring and informing either parties in creative exchange.
Greedy baby is a moody body of work that is at times angry and haunted and other times, warm opulent and lively. This is a true creative exchange so darkness (inspired by these dangerous days) in the animation is fleshed out with light in the music and visa versa, so a balance is struck.
For this soundtrack Plaid's music is very rich, with a classic soundtrack feel, Plaid's electronics fleshed out with thoughtful arrangements with strings, choral voices, thembe and bossa piano. What is more the album was written in 5.1 surround sound specifically for the audio visual experience, which makes it a unique piece of work and an incredible experience for the eyes and ears.
the album isn't simply a 5.1 implementation -- the album was written for 5.1. swoon. shipping from the UK couldn't be too quick.
i <3 michel gondry, even if i see trailers like this:
from the independent release, colma: the musical.
"Children of Men" envisages a world one generation from now that has fallen into anarchy on the heels of an infertility defect in the population. The world's youngest citizen has just died at 18, and humankind is facing the likelihood of its own extinction. Set against a backdrop of London torn apart by violence and warring nationalistic sects, "Children of Men" follows an unlikely champion of Earth's survival: Theo (Owen), a disillusioned ex-activist turned bureaucrat, who is forced to face his own demons and protect the planet's last remaining hope. [imdb.com]
the production values on this one are remarkable, not to mention the social commentary -- homeland security buses shuttling refugees (detainees) into mandated holding slums. the horrifying depiction of war, terrorism, and freedoms curtailed became that much more real to me; i recommend this as a must-see for all americans, especially in living in this bush administration era.
excellent excellent film. see it now or when it is released next month in the states.
So you know you are a nerd when you go to a Halloween party and everyone gathers around a computer to watch a movie about protein synthesis. Ok, it's a really funny movie about protein synthesis, from 1971, full of stoned flower children rolling around in the grass. You must see it. You can pretty much skip right through the first part with the chalkboard explanation [skip to 3:10]. Keep an eye out for the puffs of smoke representing GTP hydrolysis-- my favorite touch.
