Author: dpugh007

“All these camera moves are really scrambling my eggs!” Pow! Zam! Boom! In honor of the Annecy Film Festival for animation this week, I’m featuring a few animated short films that are worth watching. Next up is a fun one titled Rebooted, a 3D animated short film made by Sagar Arun and Rachel Kral from Ringling College of Art and Design. The concept of this involves a retro comic book superhero being introduced to the gritty, dark “rebooted” version of himself. It’s an amusing riff on Batman and all the current DC superhero movies with dark, brooding characters. It’s not the best short ever, but it’s a very clever idea executed well. ›››

Continue Reading Watch: Amusing Animated Superhero Short ‘Rebooted’ About Owl Guy

Powered by WPeMatico

“I feel alive again.” Cohen Media Group has released an official US trailer for the film Gauguin: Voyage to Tahiti, originally known as just Gauguin in its released in Europe last year. The film is finally hitting limited US theaters this summer. Gauguin: Voyage to Tahiti stars Vincent Cassel as famous French artist Paul Gauguin, a painter who decided to leave behind his wife and child and civilized life to travel out to Tahiti in 1891. The film is about his decision to go to Tahiti and his romance and connection with a young Tahitian girl named Tehura, played by Tuheï Adams. The cast includes Malik Zidi, Pua-Taï Hikutini, Pernille Bergendorff, Marc Barbé, Paul Jeanson, Cédric Eeckhout, and Samuel Jouy. This looks quite good, with a compelling performance by Cassel as the inspired painter. I would really like to see this. ›››

Continue Reading New US Trailer for ‘Gauguin: Voyage to Tahiti’ Starring Vincent Cassel

Powered by WPeMatico

“We’re all family here, no matter how small.” Disney has dropped a stunning first teaser trailer for the live-action Dumbo movie, about the elephant that can fly. Did you forget they were making this? Well, surprise! Here it is! Dumbo is directed by iconic filmmaker Tim Burton, who has been working with Disney ever since Alice in Wonderland and most recently made Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children. This new Disney Dumbo adventure features an exciting ensemble cast: Danny DeVito, Eva Green, Colin Farrell, Nico Parker, Finley Hobbins, Alan Arkin, Joseph Gatt, Sandy Martin, with Michael Keaton as the evil entrepreneur villain. Clearly the elephant is all CGI, but the rest of this looks quite good – though it reminds me of the circus scenes from Burton’s Big Fish more than anything else. This first teaser is really wonderful, you might be surprised by how moving this is. Looking forward to seeing more from this. Enjoy. ›››

Continue Reading Teaser Trailer for Disney’s Live-Action ‘Dumbo’ Movie from Tim Burton

Powered by WPeMatico

It’s not often that someone makes an R-rated animated movie. And when one does get made, they’re usually not too good, either over-the-top or just nasty. Every once in a while, one comes along that totally blows the the lid off of everything and becomes a huge hit, shaking things up and proving there’s an audience for this. Chuck Steel: Night of the Trampires, directed by Michael Mort and made by an independent stop-motion studio in Wales called Animortal, is one of these insane movies that is sure to become an instant cult classic. We really haven’t seen an all-out, R-rated animated movie packed with this much absurdity and ridiculous humor since Team America: World Police (in 2004!). Get ready for this one. Scratch that, there’s nothing you can do to prepare yourself – except maybe watching Big Trouble in Little China on VHS before. ›››

Continue Reading Annecy 2018: ‘Chuck Steel: Night of the Trampires’ is Absurdly Superb

Powered by WPeMatico

“What makes you think I can do this?!” In honor of the Annecy Film Festival for animation this week, I’m featuring a few animated short films that are worth watching. This one is titled Spell of the West, made by CalArts student Sam Lane. She made this as her third year film in the Experimental Animation program, and it’s a fun film that’s really about saving our environment and our planet. This is a super weird short, yet oddly enchanting and mysterious. I dig her visual style and the backdrops are exceptional. The voices could be improved, but considering this is a student short it’s quite impressive. Watch when you have a moment. ›››

Continue Reading Watch: Wacky, Weird Animated Short ‘Spell of the West’ from Sam Lane

Powered by WPeMatico

“The Devil doesn’t have to hide. He roams freely amongst us…” IFC Midnight has debuted an official trailer for an Irish horror film titled The Devil’s Doorway, which played at the Seattle Film Festival earlier this summer. The film is the feature directorial debut of Aislinn Clarke, and tells the story of two priests who uncover something horrific. In 1960, Father Riley and Father Thornton are sent to investigate a miracle in an Irish home for unwed mothers only to discover that one of the residents is possessed by the devil. The cast of The Devil’s Doorway includes Lalor Roddy, Ciaran Flynn, Helena Bereen, and Lauren Coe. The grainy 8mm cinematography style is spooky, but I’m not sure there’s anything more to this film than any other possession / exorcism horror before it. If this kind of horror is your thing, then take a look below. ›››

Continue Reading New US Trailer for Irish Possession Horror Film ‘The Devil’s Doorway’

Powered by WPeMatico

I’m back in France! Only one month after the Cannes Film Festival, I have returned to France for another film festival – Annecy. For years I’d heard about Annecy, but for years I thought it was a festival only for animators and industry insiders and people who work on the films. Last year I learned that it’s actually just another film festival, like any other, and that anyone can attend and see films. So I decided to make my first trip down to Annecy this year and check it out. For those that don’t know, the “Festival International du Film d’Animation d’Annecy” is a fest dedicated to animation – all kinds of animation. They show short films, feature films, works in progress, and they host workshops, events, discussions, signings and more. It’s basically Comic-Con for animation nerds – and they flock to this tiny town every year to geek out for a week. ›››

Continue Reading Time to Get Animated – It’s My First Time at the Annecy Film Festival

Powered by WPeMatico

“One week clean! Then a whole lifetime…” Netflix has released an official trailer for a documentary titled Recovery Boys, the latest from filmmaker Elaine McMillion Sheldon (Lincoln County Massacre, Hollow: An Interactive Documentary, 11/8/16). This just premiered at the Hot Docs festival last month, and will be available on Netflix at the end of this month. “In the heart of America’s opioid epidemic, four men attempt to reinvent their lives and reenter society sober after years of drug abuse.” The doc film is an “intimate look at the strength, brotherhood, and courage that it takes to overcome addiction and lays bare the internal conflict of recovery and the external hurdles of an unforgiving society.” The opioid epidemic is a hot topic in American society right now, and these real stories are important because they actually provide a bit of hope and optimism in a world that doesn’t seem to have much of that recently. This looks like it’s worth watching. ›››

Continue Reading Official Trailer for Netflix Doc ‘Recovery Boys’ About Life After Drugs

Powered by WPeMatico

We are well into the 2018 summer movie season, and it’s a good time to step away from the extraordinary heroes, superhuman villains, and dangerous technology that generally make up the blockbuster fare seeing release. Instead we’ll be discussing Upgrade, a film about, well, an extraordinary hero, some superhuman villains, and dangerous technology but on a shoestring budget by comparison with the gigantic franchises inundating multiplexes. As if the cost of a film has no bearing on quality (spoiler: it never does), Upgrade is an absolute blast of an action/sci-fi picture, an uproariously entertaining experience that delivers break-neck excitement and morbid humor with a heaping dose of caution. In a nutshell, it’s the perfect, and a welcome, experience for fans of blockbuster films who are looking for something outside the franchise box. ›››

Continue Reading Review: Leigh Whannell’s ‘Upgrade’ Is a Kick-Ass Experience Through & Through

Powered by WPeMatico

“There’s something evil in this house…” Focus Features has debuted the first official trailer for The Little Stranger, the latest film from director Lenny Abrahamson (Frank, Room). This suspense horror is set in the 1940s, where a country doctor encounters a family “haunted by something more ominous than a dying way of life.” The film definitely has a creepy vibe to it, but this trailer plays more like a period-piece mystery thriller. Domhnall Gleeson stars as Dr. Faraday (with an impressive mustache to boot), and the full cast includes Ruth Wilson, Charlotte Rampling, Will Poulter, Anna Madeley, Kate Phillips, Josh Dylan, Camilla Arfwedson, and Amy Marston. I dig how luscious and detailed the whole film looks, from the scenery and sets to the cinematography by DP Ole Bratt Birkeland, and the lovely music. I’m not that frightened by anything in this trailer, but I’m very curious about it and I want to see more. Take a look. ›››

Continue Reading First Trailer for ‘The Little Stranger’ from Director Lenny Abrahamson

Powered by WPeMatico