Hi, everyone. "Moriarty" here with some Rumblings From The Lab...
Oh, boy. I was sitting down to write my DVD column for this morning, when I get a letter from Harry that reads as follows:
“Drew. Here’s the deal. Ever since I saw my cameo in TEXAS CHAINSAW MASSACRE projected on Friday night, I haven’t been able to stop masturbating. Literally. It’s like a horror movie down there at this point, but I can’t let go of it. I’m not even sure how I typed this e-mail one-handed, but one thing is for sure... I can’t update today. Please. God. Help me.”
He then forwarded me a stack of e-mail. I guess that’s a figurative stack, since it’s electronic, but if I printed it out, it would have been a very impressive stack, let me tell you what.
Many of those e-mails were about this:
Harry,
This just came in from the Tokyo Game Show and its looking freaking awesome!! The guys responsible for the Final Flight of Osiris and The Spirits Within (not to mention one of the biggest franchise in video game history) is doing another CG flick which is actually a direct sequel to Final Fantasy VII (the best installment of the series IMHO).
Check it out RIGHT HERE!!
Call me:
Alter Coodinator
This seems exciting to many people. I hope you’re one of them. I absolutely loathed THE SPIRITS WITHIN as soulless storytelling, and it’s a perfect example of how to get everything technically right but miss the point completely. One of the things I understand, not having played all the FINAL FANTASY games myself, is that they have great storylines and characters that people become fairly attached to as they play the games. I think that’s very cool, and it means that these filmmakers do understand story and character. They just didn’t do it the first time out with their movie. Maybe this will be the thing that proves that they can cross over, and maybe returning to characters they already know and love will be the thing that does it for them.
There’s a great shot on this next page, but I also get a number of broken links instead of .jpgs, so be warned.
yo Harry,
Dunno if you know this but Squaresoft is working on a movie that is called Final Fantasy 7: Advert Children. Well it's supposed to be a direct sequel of the best and most populair FF game FF7. It takes 2 years after the events of that game. Anyway here is a cool teaser poster.
CLICK HERE!!
Another of the e-mails Harry sent me was about the new project from Katsuhiro Otomo. I know we’ve done some coverage on STEAMBOY from time to time. It’s not news that they’re making it per se. On August 27, 2001, I ran an article that marks the first time I heard about it, but several TalkBackers pointed out that it had already been developed and either abandoned or back-burnered because of prohibitive expense. You gotta love this optimistic new item from AICNAnime in January of this year:
Otomo's Steamboy Release Confirmed
Big-budget Anime Feature Out Fall 03
From ICV2 December 21, 2002 Japanese film distributor Toho has released its schedule for next year and it includes Steamboy, Katsuhiro Otomo's first feature length directorial project since his breakthrough film Akira in 1988.
Although the film was rumored to be ready for release in 2003, its appearance on the Toho schedule seals the deal, since historically there have been few deviations from the Toho list.
A retro science fiction epic set in Victorian England (see "Otomo's Steamboy Anime"), Steamboy is the most expensive animated film in Japanese history with a budget of some 2.4 billion yen (roughly $20 million). With more than 180,000 drawings and 400 CG cuts, Steamboy is sure to be one of the most elaborate animated features of 2003.
And given Akira's reputation in the U.S., Steamboy appears likely to get some sort of theatrical release here
In the time since, there’s been much talk of it, but still... this e-mail nicely summed up where they are now for me, and this is the first time I’ve followed those links personally. If it’s new to me, it might be to you, too:
Harry,
Just got a call from my wonderful fiancée in Fukuoka, Japan. Knowing how much I dug AKIRA as a youngster, she hurriedly informed me she saw something on TV about Katsuhiro Otomo's new project -- something set in the 19th century.
It seems Otomo has spent his lengthy hiatus studying the possibilities of computer animation, and this anime would use more CGI than any previous Japanese cartoon ever before.
I immediately went on the net to confirm, and here's what I turned up: the film is called STEAMBOY, and from what I can gather it's set in an alternate-universe 19th century where complex steam-powered machines work computer-age wonders.
After the disappointment of METROPOLIS (can anyone get past the first 15 minutes?), this looks relatively promising. Maybe this'll be the true follow-up to the classic that blew all our minds in 1988. The poster art resembles the style of the AKIRA manga, while the anime art looks like the ARIRA movie, so it suggests more personal involvement from the man himself.
Two Japanese-language trailers are available at:
And there's a longish article in French here:
If you use this, call me Kidd Miracle.
Thanks for the reminder, man. Well worth checking out. Both the trailers on that site are amazing. Flat-out amazing. The thing that excites me most is that big “2004” at the end of them. Yep, I’ve got at least one reason to live to see next year. Yipee. Always good to keep that running list tallied up. Today, I can add, “Must see Otomo’s STEAMBOY, because it looks absolutely breathtaking.” I hope to god there’s a story, but for now, I’ll just bask in how insanely freakin’ pretty it is. And considering how much more than the above scooper I liked METROPOLIS, I’m doubly excited to see what this is.
Then finally today, I got in a review for THE ANIMATION SHOW, which I know Mr. Beaks liked, and he had a great chat with Herzfeldt that we ran. If you don’t know Hertzfeldt just by last name alone already, you should. He should be that well-known by now. His “REJECTED!” was one of the absolute highest points of Sundance 2001 for me and Robie, and we found ourselves rendered helpless every time the film played in front of a feature.
Haven’t seen this yet. Should, of course. See what you think...
Hey Harry.
Haven't heard much about The Animation Show on your site and I thought you might like a report. I was lucky enough to see a screening last night with Judge and Hertzfeldt in attendance. They were nice, but not the most talkative guys in the world. Anyway, if you decide to use this, just call me Rev. Jim.
If there’s one thing that American theatres are sorely lacking, it’s animated shorts. There was a time, not too long ago, when you could go to the movies and see a double feature, the news, and a cartoon. Now the only way to see the cartoons is to go to film festivals. But let’s face it. Most of us have neither the time nor the money to make it to those festivals. That’s why Mike Judge and Don Hertzfeldt are bringing it to you with ‘The Animation Show.’ The goal is to make these beautiful shorts more accessible to the public. I’ll provide you with a brief summary of the program.
WELCOME TO THE SHOW
Dir. Don Hertzfeldt
This short, hosted by Hertzfeldt’s signature cotton ball characters, introduces the audience to the tone of tonight’s program with Hertzfeldt’s brand of sheer randomness. You and your friends will be saying, ‘My head is now a giant egg!’ for days.
STRANGE INVADERS (2001)
Dir. Cordell Barker
This Oscar-nominated short answers the question of what happens when a childless couple receives a bundle of joy from beyond the stars. This short is 100% pure Canadian goodness.
MT HEAD (ATAMA YAMA) (2002)
Dir. Koji Yamamura
This short, nominated for an Academy Award, is beautiful and rich in depth and detail. It is the story of a cheap, cranky, old bastard who discovers plant life growing out of his head. I know it sounds bizarre, but this easily rivals anything done by Miyazaki.
IDENT (1989)
Dir. Richard Goleszowski
What would an animation festival be without an abstract, dialogue-free piece of clay-mation’? Actually, this film makes perfect sense if you think about the many masks we wear in daily life. Go ahead. I dare ya.
MARS AND BEYOND (EXCERPT) (1957)
Dir. Ward Kimball
The best way for me to sum this up would be to simply repeat what’s listed in the program: ‘A tribute to the genius of legendary animator Ward Kimball (1914 - 2002). In the late 1950’s, Walt Disney gave Ward the task of producing and directing a series of ‘science-factual’ color shorts for the popular ‘Disneyland’ television series. The resulting films were widely credited with sparking public interest in America’s space program. A wild and beautiful tour-de-force of surreal animation, this excerpt has been restored here on the big screen for the first time in over 40 years.’ All I can add is that it was a delight, since I haven’t seen this since fourth grade.
THE CATHEDRAL (KATEDRA) (2002)
Dir. Tomek Baginski
For my money, this was the most jaw-droppingly beautiful thing that I have ever seen on the big screen. It’s an Oscar nominee and I’m not surprised. The detail and craft that went into it have to be seen to be believed.
INTERMISSION IN THE THIRD DIMENSION
Dir. Don Hertzfeldt
This short, done especially for the festival, shows you what it might be like if a two-dimensional character were to wear 3-D glasses. This was far better than anything in ‘Spy Kids 3-D.’
LA COURSE A L’ABIME (1992)
Dir. Georges Schwizgebel
This film is head-trippingly cool. Various acrylic paintings morph into each other accompanied by music that gives the viewer a sense of majesty and awe. Definitely a must-see.
PARKING (2003)
Dir. Bill Plympton
My friends insist that this is a message film about nature’s triumph over industry. Fine, but I think it shares more in spirit with the Looney Tunes than it does with message pictures.
50 PERCENT GRAY (2001)
Dir. Ruairi Robinson
This hilarious Oscar nominee suggests that the afterlife may not be everything it’s cracked up to be.
EARLY PENCIL TESTS AND OTHER EXPERIMENTS (CIRCA 1990)
Dir. Mike Judge
The title pretty much says it all. Both hilarious and interesting, one can definitely see why Judge has gone as far as he has. And don’t miss Mr. Film.
REJECTED (2000)
Dir. Don Hertzfeldt
If you haven’t seen this Oscar nominee, then you are doing yourself a disservice. This is Hertzfeldt’s masterpiece and everyone owes it to themselves to seek this one out. I don’t dare say anything else for fear of ruining it for you.
DAS RAD (THE ROCKS) (2001)
Dir. Chris Stenner, Arvid Uibel, Heidi Wittlinger
This Oscar-nominated German short takes a look at the history of Western civilization from the perspective of rocks on top of a hill overlooking a village. The concept and execution are both sheer brilliance. Highly recommended.
THE END OF THE SHOW
Dir. Don Hertzfeldt
One-legged killer robots and laser-shooting cotton balls. What more can you ask’
There were some additional shorts not listed in the program because they were meant to be surprises. I will not reveal them here out of respect for Judge and Hertzfeldt. ‘The Animation Show’ is currently touring the U.S. To find a showing near you, stop by THE OFFICIAL SITE.
Awesome. That Ward Kimball selection blows me away. That’s so cool of Hertzfeldt and Judge and anyone else involved with choosing these shorts. Instead of just being “hip” or trying to program something that’s just nasty and raunchy for the sake of it, they’re actually paying tribute to the overall craft of animation. If you love the art form... and I mean really love it... then you understand that it’s the very idea of drawing pictures or setting up statues or cutting out paper figures or whatever and then bringing them to life, frame by painstaking frame. There’s something so beautiful and pure about it as a craft that gets overlooked because of the way we commercialize and infantilize animation in America. Animation is one of the cornerstones of film for me, something important, something worth celebrating at every opportunity. I’m inspired by all the possibilities of today’s reports, and look forward to seeing all three projects at some point.
"Moriarty" out.
