Aquaman is everywhere these days! On land, under the sea, and at last count heading for $1 billion in box office revenue which is going to place director James Wan in elite company. But while he’s an impressive figure, can he really compete with Mermaid Man from SpongeBob SquarePants who, Continue Reading
Movies
Video essay: Technique not design defined early Disney animation
SNAPSHOT The real Disney style isn’t in design but in technique. Techniques that are universal and style agnostic, which is why when budgets were tight, Disney was notorious for repurposing animation from its archive to save time and they were able to recycle that work between two completely different characters Continue Reading
Cinema bricks: The films of 2018 get LEGO’d
All hail end of year lists! Everyone loves to do them, including yours truly, and at their best, they provide great insight into what a particular thought was the best, and yes, worst, of the year. You might not always agree with them but it makes you reflect on how Continue Reading
The short and the short of it: A family repaired in If You Fall
SNAPSHOT In the wonderfully heartwarming animation “If You Fall” by Tisha Deb Pallai, a little girl named Lila is learning how to ride a bicycle, but is not yet ready to ride alone. As this is happening, Lila’s parents, he a struggling artist and she a television news reporter, are finding Continue Reading
ZZZZ Lucas the Spider is tired — but where can he nap?
It’s summer holidays time in Australia which means lots of food, lots of reading (for me, anyway) and lots of naps. After all, when else can you catch up on that lost sleep from throughout the year? Lucas the Spider, created by Joshua Slice, knows just what I’m talking about Continue Reading
Little Women at 150 and the patriarch who shaped the book’s tone (curated article)
by Ryna Ordynat, Monash University It’s 150 years since Little Women by Louisa May Alcott was published and in the time since, the book has never been out of print. The story of the March sisters struck a chord with readers – especially young girls – early on, and Continue Reading
Retro movie review: Wreck-It Ralph
It’s easy, through the divorced-from-childhood eyes of adulthood, to assume that cartoons- all bright colours, manic movements and quippy oneliners – are lacking in any kind of real substance. After all, we’ve been trained to see cartoons as childish bits of frippery and live action as suitably adult, a demarcation Continue Reading
The tonality of it: Actor Domhnall Gleeson and the art of learning accents
SNAPSHOT It’s funny, Southern American is definitely easier than a more general American or something from either coast. The southern thing I don’t know. I think because of the way that the sentences work and the open down of the tonality of it you can hear it you can, grab Continue Reading
Happy pop culture new year everyone!
Wes Anderson’s Isle of Dogs: Puppet Master reveals the challenges of creating believability
SNAPSHOT It was a huge challenge – a huge challenge and I think probably the most ambitious stop-motion film certainly I’ve ever worked on. There’s always a lot of detail. Stop-motion sort of thrives on that you know. You’re creating miniatures, so when you create miniatures they have to Continue Reading