Well, now ... Tomm Moore’s Brendan and the Secret of Kells is a film I’ve been aware of for quite some time but my thanks go out to regular Twitch reader The Oriental Nightfish (why don’t we have any readers called Steve? Or Tom? Heh ...) for pointing out that there is an initial teaser for the film. Now, director Moore has pointed out that this is not a formal trailer, per se. There’s still a lot of compositing work to be done and the proper trailer will be much longer and a bit more polished when it arrives but this is something he knocked together to show of the look of the film. And it looks rather good.
The film is a France / Belgium / Ireland co-production about the monk behind the famous Book of Kells and it features some very impressive artwork and a fairly unique style. Todd likes. You’ll find the teaser below the break.
Continue Reading "An Initial Teaser For BRENDAN AND THE SECRET OF KELLS"...
REMINDER: Hayao Miyazaki’s Ponyo On The Cliff will be screening at the 65th Venice International Film Festival on August 31st (event listing). From all accounts so far of the film it seems Miyazaki explores new ground this time around with details so intricate and dense that anything less than seeing it on film on the big screen would be a crying shame. It even lead to a member of KineJapan wondering if even Blu-Ray would be able to represent its multitude of details and artistic touches. At the moment from everything I’m hearing, Summer 2009 would be the earliest Disney would release it in the US. Some additional images for Ponyo at the link below.
Synopsis:
This is the story of Ponyo, a little fish from the sea who struggles to realize her dream of living with a boy named Sosuke. It also tells of how five-year old Sosuke manages to keep a most solemn promise.
Ponyo On The Cliff places Hans Christian Andersen’s The Little Mermaid in a contemporary Japanese setting. It is a tale of childhood love and adventure.
A little seaside town and a house at the top of a cliff. A small cast of characters. The ocean as a living presence. A world where magic and alchemy are accepted as part of the ordinary.
The sea below, like our subconscious mind, intersects with the wave-tossed surface above. By distorting normal space and contorting normal shapes, the sea is animated not as a backdrop to the story, but as one of its principal characters.
A little boy and a little girl, love and responsibility, the ocean and life - these things, and that which is most elemental to them, are depicted in the most basic way in Ponyo On The Cliff. This is my response to the afflictions and uncertainty of our times.
- Hayao Miyazaki
My thanks goes to “Innocent_Eyes” from the Astro Boy Online forum for uncovering some images from Imagi’s upcoming CG animated feature film Astro Boy. In the forum is a snapshots of the character model of Astro and some concept art which were perhaps photograph from either Comic-con or Siggraph 2008. I have taken the liberty of enhancing and rescaling the snapshots with Photoshop for a clearer view. There is a few slight difference I notice from this one and the work-in-progress screenshot from a year ago but nothing too drastic. Other than that, the CG model is staying true to the original design by Osamu Tezuka. So what do you think of this interpretation of Astro?
Oh you lucky, lucky people. The first wave of titles for this year’s edition of the Toronto After Dark Festival was announced today and you are in for a treat this year! Festival director Adam Lopez and his team, including our lord and master Todd, have put together another fine selection of films for your viewing pleasure and horror and wonder. These titles will already be familiar to Twitch viewers and if you haven’t had the chance to catch yet you can do so in October.
In its first wave of film titles revealed for 2008, Toronto After Dark Film Festival is proud to announce a selection of eight outstanding new horror, sci-fi, action and cult feature films that will have their Toronto Theatrical Premieres at the festival this October 17-24. The initial lineup includes a number of critically acclaimed and award-winning films from around the world including the much-anticipated new sci-fi horror musical REPO! THE GENETIC OPERA, Sundance selection revenge thriller RED based on Jack Ketchum’s novel, cult horror action movie TOKYO GORE POLICE, celebrated vampire feature LET THE RIGHT ONE IN which won Best Picture at the Tribeca Film Festival, and Oscar-nominated animator Bill Plympton’s dark and twisted modern fairytale, IDIOTS & ANGELS.
For more information on the complete lineup of films at this year’s Toronto After Dark Film Festival, to watch trailers, or to buy advance festival passes which are now on sale, visit the festival website.
All eight title descriptions after the jump. We’ll see you in the dark!
Continue Reading "Toronto After Dark 2008: First wave of titles announced!!!"...
The French make some of the most beautiful DVD-packaging in Europe, and my home would be full of them if I wasn’t so terrible at speaking or understanding French. For they hardly ever deign to put English subtitles on their movies. I always hope they’ll use Dutch ones so you can cover the whole Belgian market but alas, that business model has apparently no merit.
It’s not just the French either: many European distributors just don’t believe in an international market.
Because of this, I often check the far East to score decent versions of European movies on DVD. Want the Scandinavian puppet epic “Strings” English-friendly, in widescreen and with decent sound? Go to China!
So even though I was delighted to see Michel Ocelot’s recent stunningly beautiful movie “Azur et Asmar” get a UK release, old habits die hard and I checked our friendly Asian affiliate as well.
“Azur & Asmar” was championed and distributed in Japan by Studio Ghibli, and the Ghibli Museum even held an exhibition of Ocelot’s art for the movie! This made him pretty well-known in Asia amongst animation fans, so lo and behold: the Koreans had copied one of the French special editions, adding English friendliness to a killer French packaging!
I just couldn’t resist buying it and after watching it several times I couldn’t resist writing a review either.
We like us some Ocelot here at Twitch: Todd already gave his pretty spot-on review last week, and GhibliWorld.com’s Peter van der Lugt had a very extensive interview with the man himself.
But if you’re curious what (else) I thought about “Azur & Asmar”, or are interested in this specific edition, then read on after the break!
Continue Reading "AZUR & ASMAR KOREAN Limited Edition R3 DVD Review"...
Now here is a real treat, people.
GhibliWorld’s Peter van der Lugt (friend of our site and occasional contributor) visited Michel Ocelot in his studio in Paris, and had a loooong talk with him about, well, all things animated. So if you have any interest in the subject, head over to GhibliWorld.com and read!
Michel Ocelot is of course the creator of “Kirikou and the Sorceress” and recently the absolutely stunning “Azur et Asmar”.
Amongst the many things being discussed are a short movie Mr. Ocelot created which plugs a big gap in “Azur et Asmar”, and the inspiration for it was…
...but that’s too cool a story to ruin.
Birdsong (El Cant dels Ocells)—Albert Serra, Spain. Stunningly shot using only natural light, El Cant dels Ocells is a contemplative reinterpretation of the Biblical journey of the Three Wise Men in search of the newborn Messiah. With a cast of non-professionals performing an improvised script, Albert Serra’s second feature builds on his ongoing interest to cinematically express real time through the exquisite exploration of earth and sky. At The Greencine Daily, Dave Hudson gathers the critical response from Cannes08, where El Cant dels Ocells screened in the Directors’ Fortnight. Robert Koehler reviews El Cant dels Ocells for Cinema Scope and—though not available online—in the same issue Mark Peranson (who portrays Joseph in the film) diaries on his participation with the project. At l’Humanité, Jean Roy declares “this contemplative, sensitive film takes us on a quest for the essence of cinema.” Duane Byrge drivels alliterative disdain at The Hollywood Reporter, describing the film as “tiresome twaddle” and “pretentious piffle.” North American Premiere.
Continue Reading "TIFF08—VISIONS"...
Just as a reminder that animation pretty much everywhere in the world other than here in North America is not reserved strictly for children, here comes a trailer for Argentinian feature Boogie El Aceitoso. Based on characters created by famed Argentine comic author Fontanarrosa, the film follows the adventure of a surly, misanthropic hitman out to prove that he is still number one despite the rise of a younger rival. Violence? Check. Bloodshed? Check. Ball scratching? Check. And that’s just the trailer, which you can find below the break in the Twitch Player.
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At last year’s Toronto International Film Festival, my favorite tennis match was between the Discovery and Masters programs, which I wrote up for Greencine. I’m tempted to replicate the sport this year.
As indieWIRE noted when they recently interviewed Cameron Bailey, the Discovery program has doubled this year—26 titles up from 13—and there’s a noticeable increase in American fare—7 films up from 2—but, notwithstanding, it’s still an eclectic mix of regions, with 18 countries being represented overall. When asked the reasoning for the increase in slots, and what Bailey’s general thoughts were regarding what emerging filmmakers are up to, he responded: “Well this one is by design. Discovery was one of the sections I wanted to work on this year and I’m really proud of how it’s turned out. I wanted Discovery to be the place that people go to discover new talent at our festival where we show what we consider to be some of the most exciting new voices in cinema from all over the world. To do that I took off some of the restrictions we had on the program in the past in terms of the premiere status and distribution status. We had quite a number of limitations on what was eligible for our Discovery section in the past. That’s changed and as a result I think this is really just a great showcase for new talent in the movies.”
It’s certainly where I intend to catch some of the festival darlings from Cannes08: Better Things, Hunger, Snow, Tony Manero and Tulpan. And, of course, I couldn’t be prouder of SF homeboy Barry Jenkins’ Medicine for Melancholy for being included in the line-up. If removing some of the program’s previous restrictions accounted for that, I’m all for it because it puts Barry in the running with the other 25 feature-length Discovery titles to be eligible for the Diesel Discovery Award chosen by the Festival press corps, which consists of over 1000 accredited media from around the world. I can honestly say, however, that I doubt I’ll catch much of the U.S. fare, presuming these indies will travel Bayside in due course. I’m more prone to take a chance with Zift from Bulgaria, or The Paranoids from Argentina, or the Israeli/Australian animation. Or maybe I’ll just let myself be creeped out by Tale 52 from Greece? Ultimately, it comes down to the calendar.
Continue Reading "TIFF08—DISCOVERY"...
With the full line-up for the 2008 Toronto International Film Festival officially announced, I can finally begin to effectively obsess. And with 312 films from 64 countries screening at TIFF08, including 249 feature-length films, 76 per cent of which are world, international or North American premieres, and 61 of which are feature directorial debuts … well, needless to say, there’s a lot to obsess about.
Never let it be said, however, that I am not methodical in my obsessions. I begin with a preliminary review of the Contemporary World Cinema sidebar, with special thanks to Bay Area filmbud Carole Rutherford whose raids on IMdb and Wikipedia got me motivated. I also shout out to my Evening Class cohort Michael Hawley, the Twitch and Row Three teams, Dave Hudson at The Greencine Daily, Darren Hughes at 1st Thursday, the crew around Girish Shambu’s water cooler, and Anthony Kaufman at indieWIRE for their welcome recommendations. This will be a slightly amoebic entry that gains mass as recommendations pour in. That being said, recommendations welcome!
Off the cuff—being an avid supporter of Spanish cinema—I’m intrigued by José Luis Cuerda’s Blind Sunflowers (Los Girasoles ciegos), primarily because it features one of my favorite Spanish actresses and spooky Simón from The Orphanage (Maribel Verdú, Roger Príncep). Also, I found Juan Carlos Tabío’s Strawberry and Chocolate both sexy and hilarious so I’m primed for more sensuous laughs with Horn of Plenty. And after the visually stunning Bonbon El Perro, I’ll look through any cinematic window with Carlos Sorin.
Having seen both Ramin Bahrani’s Man Push Cart and Chop Shop, I’m keen to his compassionate observations of marginalized lives and anticipate that Goodbye Solo will not disappoint. With a cast that includes Juliette Binoche, Jérémie Rénier and the incomparable Edith Scob, I’m curious what kind of B-movie vibe might be present in Olivier Assayas’s most recent L’Heure d’été (Summer Hours). Impressed with last year’s Jar City, and appreciative of his production credits on The Amazing Truth of Queen Raquela, I’m inclined to check out Baltasar Kormakur’s Brúðguminn (White Night Wedding). As a board member on The Global Film Initiative, I’m steeped in Indonesian auteur Garin Nugroho (Of Love & Eggs, Opera Jawa) and am anxious to follow through with Under the Tree to monitor his strengthening creativity. Upon Anthony Kauffman’s recommendations, I’ve become interested in Two-Legged Horse and Treeless Mountain; the latter especially because Girish Shambu introduced me to So Yong Kim’s In Between Days, which I very much enjoyed.
I could roost fully in the World Cinema selection and will have to make some difficult decisions to sample TIFF08’s multiple sidebars.
Continue Reading "TIFF08—CONTEMPORARY WORLD CINEMA"...
Chalk this up under “Holy crap, where did this came from?”
Have you ever complained that there is hardly any originality in recent animation? Well, Aleksa Gajić’s Technotise: Edit and I (Technotise: Edit I Ja), the first Serbian animated feature film, looks far from being unoriginal, both in style and substance. Based on Aleksa’s own graphic novel series he written and drew himself, the film was in production for several years before its finally completed. Over at the official site, there is some artwork, sound bites from the voice cast and a downloadable trailer. Wikipedia has the skinny on this under-the-radar animation as followed:
The plot is set in Belgrade in 2074. The main character is Edit, a female psychology student. After her sixth failure at the same university exam, she decides to have the chip installed to help her pass. From that moment, her life changes and unusual things start happening to her.
In technical terms, the film is combination of four kinds of animations. The main aesthetic model for the film was Japanese anime, realistic drawing with static scenes, with emphasized atmosphere and with authentic artistic expression. It was completed over an 8 year period using classic 2D, improved 3D and vector animation.
Its expected to premiere in November. You’ll find the two trailers below after the jump.
Continue Reading "Two Trailers for Serbian Sci-Fi Animated Film TECHNOTISE: EDIT AND I"...
We posted some teaser trailer from the Disney & Yash Raj Films co-production Roadside Romeo a while back and now the full theatrical trailer for the Bollywood animated film has arrived. Anyone who seen a Bollywood film would know that usually there is a boy-meets-girl scenario with some romantic song & dance sequences. This is no exception but the only difference is its done completely in CG and while its no Pixar from a visual standpoint, it does have Disney involved which means spectacular musical numbers when considering their track record. You’ll find the full theatrical trailer and three teasers below after the break.
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Yes, it’s a bit of viral marketing for the upcoming Babylon AD but you know what? If all viral marketing was this much fun we’d link to a whole lot more of it. It’s an animated Vin Diesel laying waste to this season’s summer blockbuster in very amusing fashion. You’ll find it below the break in the Twitch Player, but be aware that the language is rather salty.
Continue Reading "Do Not F@$% With Vin Diesel."...
Just when you thought it was safe to close the book on George Lucas’ galaxy far, far away, a new “Star Wars” film is arriving in theaters. Granted, prior to having seen it, this latest entry in the saga had a few things going against it. First and foremost, although it is “Star Wars”, thereby assuring my interest (on some level) as a lifelong fan, it is “The Clone Wars” – a once enigmatic period of Star Wars history that has since been well covered in a wide variety media. The best of those efforts, Genndy Tartakovsky’s “Clone Wars” animated shorts, were considered by many to be superior to the prequel trilogy which spawned them. Those shorts did a wonderful job of bridging the gap between Episdes II and III.
Now, three years out from the conclusion of the live-action “Star Wars” films, the once-cool notion of yet more gap bridging lacks much of the appeal it once had. We know how it all turns out, with Anakin going bad, and the war itself revealed to be a power-grabbing sham. Yet, Lucas is convinced that the fan appetite for more Clone Wars tales is ripe to the point of justifying a new computer generated animated television series. To release the feature length premiere episode of the series to movie theaters, at first glance, simply seems to be yet more commercial opportunism. So, despite all of this, is “The Clone Wars” worth a trip to the multiplex? In a word, yes.
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[Abiding by the Twitch-O-Meter rules of conduct and fair play this post will remain up top for one day. Further posts about far more interesting things are below this. Scroll down!]
Well, Day 5 of the Olympics came and went and my country still hasn’t won a freaking medal. While other sport powerhouses like Togo and Tajikstan have managed to get at least one medal our Canadian athletes are failing to bring home the hardware.
The Olympics are funny in a way when it comes to their Dream Teams. Since 1992 every Summer Olympics the focus is on the USA Men’s basketball team – though it is interesting to note that the Toronto Raptors up here in Canada have the most players from any NBA team on Olympic teams! Then starting in 1998, when the cold winds of winter come whipping through our lands, everyone in Canada pretty much goes mental when the Canadian Men’s Hockey team plays.
So is it any coincidence that I am reading Douglas Adams’ The Salmon of Doubt this week and there is a section of that book called The Dream Team. The first selection is his Dream Film Cast: Sean Connery as God, John Cleese as the Angel Gabriel, and Goldie Hawn as Mother Theresa’s younger sister, Trudie. With a guest appearance by Bob Hoskins as Detective Inspector Phil Makepiece. I’ve been reading a lot of Adams lately. That’s damn funny. I don’t get some of it, but it is damn funny.
So what about film? What if you had a movie and you could hire whomever you wanted to fill any role in your production? Who do you want to direct? Who do you want to do the special effects? Who would create kick-ass stunts for your movie? If you were to name your cinema Dream Team who would be in your starting five? As the great philosopher Dane Cook once said, ‘It can be anything you want dreamers… Dream it you fucking dreamers’.
Continue Reading "Time to put together your ‘Dream Team’"...
