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
Movies
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
The short and the short of it: Hedgehog’s Home
SNAPSHOT Hedgehog’s Home is an animated Film by based on the classic story by Branko Copic, a writer from former Yugoslavia, It’s a warm and universal tale that reminds us there truly is no place like home.(synopsis via Laughing Squid) I have to say it’s not the first thing I Continue Reading
Movie review: If Beale Street Could Talk
The idea that a particular geographic place can carry great cultural importance or emotional weight for a specific group of people would make sense for most of us. After all, we all find ourselves drawn, singularly or as a group, to places that speak to us or shape us in Continue Reading
Forbidden snacks: How popcorn went from forbidden to the darling of cinema bottomlines
SNAPSHOT As popcorn’s wealth circulated, theaters realized they needed to sell concessions without the street vendors as the middleman. The theaters are selling popcorn, candy, and soda. Things are going great until World War II came around and the United States entered a sugar shortage. Sugar exporters were cut off Continue Reading