SNAPSHOT The new short film, directed by Brian Larsen and produced by David Lally, focuses on an outmoded and archaic duo of robots, who toil away at their day jobs inside the engine room of a massive train locomotive. The two risk their livelihoods when they find out they can Continue Reading
Movies
Movie review: Hotel Mumbai
We live in a manifestly unjust and violent world; no surprises there. So it makes sense that Hollywood, in an crowd-pleasing attempt to fill the void, often sees fit to serve us up movies in which justice is served, wrongs are rightly avenged and death is treated in almost cartoon-ish Continue Reading
The short and the short of it: the sacrificial unravelling of Lost & Found
SNAPSHOT Lost & Found is a stop motion short film that tugs at the heartstrings. A knitted toy dinosaur must completely unravel itself to save the love of its life. (synopsis via Laughing Squid) It is easy to see why the Australian animated short film Lost & Found, co-directed by Continue Reading
Movie review: Paddleton
For something so big and catastrophic in its impact, losing someone you love to cancer is a remarkably intimate affair. Admittedly it doesn’t feel that way at the time with so many decisions to be made, competing emotions to grapple with and lifechanging moments to get your head around, that Continue Reading
Pixar SparkShorts: Kitbull and the joy of unexpected friends
SNAPSHOT Kitbull, directed by Rosana Sullivan and produced by Kathryn Hendrickson, reveals an unlikely connection that sparks between two creatures: a fiercely independent stray kitten and a pit bull. Together, they experience friendship for the first time. (synopsis (c) Disney/Pixar) Kitbull is, you might be surprised to learn, the culmination Continue Reading
So magically real: behind-the-scenes on Christopher Robin
SNAPSHOT When you’re bringing an imaginary creature to life through CG, you can make it move however you want. But when you’re bringing a toy millions of kids spent their childhoods with to the big screen, you need to use every trick to make them move as believably as possible Continue Reading
Indomation: Jurassic Park gets brilliantly wooden
SNAPSHOT Through hand-built sets, custom-painted action figures and over 90 hours of painstaking animation, “Indomation” is a whimsical tribute to the filmmakers and artists who brought us the Jurassic franchise…The first stories I ever told were as a kid in the backyard with my Jurassic Park toys. Like so many Continue Reading
Destined to be a better man: The inescapable premise of Groundhog Day (video essay)
SNAPSHOT The premise of Groundhog Day is expertly constructed to drive natural, organic character change. In this video, we examine how Phil is designed to be a character that seems like he could never change, dissect how the premise of the story traps him in a world that will constantly Continue Reading
Mary Poppins quits! Funny or Die and Kristen Bell have fun with P. L. Travers iconic character
It won’t be immediately obvious from Disney’s 1964 classic Mary Poppins, although Julie Andrews is no pushover in the role, but P. L. Travers much-loved creation is quite the no-nonsense nanny. Caring and dedicated to the welfare of her charges she may be, but she also not inclined to suffer Continue Reading
Up and down: Pixar releases the storyboard for the impossibly romantic classic film’s opening sequence
It is, without any doubt whatsoever, one of the most heartbreakingly-beautiful, touchingly-romantic sequences in cinema, animated or otherwise. The opening 10 minutes of Up, Pixar’s tale of love, hope, dreams and second chances, where we see Carl and Ellie plan for the best but end up caught up, like all Continue Reading