#this is based on that one scene from cloudy with a chance of meatballs

[bubleous]

long nose

[dweemeister]

Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse (2023)

When Columbia and Sony Pictures Animation released Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse in late 2018, the film’s daring visual style brought the art of a comic book to life. For a major American studio that had arguably the thinnest track record in terms of animated features and shorts (yes, I am counting Columbia’s association with UPA), it was a stunning achievement. And it appears its visual influence is only beginning to ripple across cinema, if The Mitchells vs. the Machines (2021) and Puss in Boots: The Last Wish (2022) are any indication. Directed by Joaquim Dos Santos, Kemp Powers, and Justin K. Thompson, Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse cannot hope to match the first impressions of five years ago, but what a hell of an impression it leaves. Visually, it exceeds its predecessor, but, due to the necessity of its heavily expository multiverse-based screenplay (this film is first part of two), it is the weaker of the extant Miles Morales Spider-Verse movies. When considering the bar set by the previous film, ATSV remains one of the finest superhero films ever made.

Sixteen months after the events of ITSV, Gwen Stacy (Hailee Steinfeld) must contend with the situation that she must keep secret her Spider-Woman identity while her policeman father (Shea Whigham) hunts Spider-Woman down. An incident concerning a villain from a different universe introduces her to the Spider-Society – a group of Spider-People from thousands of universes who assist each other, as well as maintaining the space-time order of their respective universes. Earth-1610 is Miles Morales’ (Shameik Moore) world. There, Miles is still pining for Gwen, as the college admissions process draws near and his parents, concerned about his grades, ask for a conference with the counselor. But the mysterious appearance of The Spot (Jason Schwartzman) seems to be Miles’ more immediate concern. Gwen arrives on Earth-1610 not necessarily to see Miles, but to monitor the Spot’s movements. Miles, not invited to the Spider-Society, falls into the group and learns more about “canon events” and the manner in which he became Spider-Man.

Brian Tyree Henry and Luna Lauren Vélez reprise their roles of Miles’ parents, as does Jake Johnson as Peter B. Parker. Issa Rae, Karan Soni, Daniel Kaluuya, and Oscar Isaac play other prominent Spider-People in this film. The cameos from across Spider-Man media are too numerous to list here.

Phil Lord and Christopher Miller (2009’s Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs, 2014’s The Lego Movie) and Dave Callaham’s (2010’s The Expendables, 2020’s Wonder Woman 1984) screenplay is hamstrung by the very fact that this film has no resolution. Because this is by design, I will hold most of my fire. However, the pile-up of subplots – Gwen’s relationship with her father, Miles’ relationship with his parents and him missing his late uncle, his developing relationships with the other Spider-People, a reveal that throws into question Miles’ self-belief he is a worthy Spider-Person, Peter B. Parker’s newfound fatherhood and relationship with Mary Jane Watson, tensions between the leader of the Spider-Society and Gwen, etc. – is overflowing, uncontainable, and impossible to treat each one with the developmental (because I understand that not all of these can be resolved yet) respect they deserve. The appeal of Spider-Man is rooted deeply in the ordinariness and day-to-day struggles of whoever dons the suit. Not the spider powers, not the villains, not the multiverse shenanigans, not the humor (of which there is plenty, don’t worry). Those multiverse shenanigans overshadow most of the movie. Only during Gwen’s scenes with her father (ATSV’s strongest moments) and Miles at the very beginning and in the closing chapters of this film does the viewer ever feel the pull of those central Spider-Man themes.

Miles, this series’ primary star, must reckon with the realization that his becoming Spider-Man was a multiverse-related accident, rather than what constitutes as the “normal” way to become Spider-Man – you know, being bit by a spider that came from your universe instead. Through Miles, Lord, Miller, and Callaham are clearly attempting to establish a message that one should reject determinism and wrest control of one’s future for themselves. For me, the execution of that messaging relies too heavily on the metatextual elements related to Spider-Man lore to be as resonant in the first movie, when Miles was addressing more grounded personal problems. But Shameik Moore mostly sells Miles’ doubts in another solid voice acting turn, especially when confronted with the most disapproving of the Spider-People.

Far more effective are Gwen’s troubles with her police captain father. In their universe, her father is undertaking a zealous campaign to find and bring Spider-Woman to justice in the belief that Spider-Woman murdered Gwen’s friend, Peter Parker. Meanwhile, Gwen – living a sort of second life she hides from her father, is beginning to become more emotionally distant from him, and (like Miles) is having difficulty finding a place in her world. The tension-filled scenes between daughter and father, recalling the first issues of the Spider-Gwen series, raise the questions of morality and responsibility that Spider-Man lore is known for. As such, they are the emotional highlights of ATSV – lifting Gwen almost to a co-lead in this movie, and enlivening her storyline beyond her infamous and still-controversial deaths in the mainline Spider-Man comic series and The Amazing Spider-Man film series (2012-2014).

The cutting-edge animation of 2018’s Into the Spider-Verse was breathtaking. For Across the Spider-Verse, the variety of styles somehow make the preceding film look safe by comparison. The multiplicity of styles in ATSV truly allows the viewer to inhabit the idea of a multiverse – better than any multiverse-centric offering Disney’s Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) has to offer, and perhaps more convincingly than The Daniels’ Everything Everywhere All At Once (2022; although that movie worked wonders on a fraction of ATSV’s budget). The company logos for Sony, Columbia, and Marvel – flickering in stylized fashion and, in Columbia’s case, brief glimpses of older renditions – provide only the first hint of the animated radicalism to come. Like ITSV, ATSV is also a CGI movie that exemplifies a remarkable fidelity to certain aspects of traditional hand-drawn animation – see character designs and movements. Including blink-and-you’ll-miss-it footnotes during bits of unfamiliar dialogue are a cheeky touch. The fluidity and clarity in which characters move through space during action sequences far surpasses the choreographic incoherence that is endemic in recent MCU films. ATSV takes the very best of comic book and graphic novel artistry and translates that beautifully on the big screen.

Let us take the best-case example in the film. As Gwen’s universe contains the most appealing subplot of the film, so too is it the most aesthetically interesting. ATSV may be a computer-animated film, but Gwen’s Earth-65 appears as impressionist brushstrokes. Gwen, her father, and all those who inhabit that Earth, are animated similarly to those in Miles’ universe. The major difference is the backgrounds. With shades, gradients, brushstrokes, dots, and splashes of off-whites, pinks, and blues, the backgrounds change with each cut – reflecting the direction and moods of a conversation or an action scene. As the dramatic intensity of a conversation increases, the more abstract the backgrounds look. These background changes are but a suggestion; Gwen and her father do not see the dazzling colors flying around and behind them. It is thrillingly experimental stuff for a major Hollywood studio animated work.

Some viewers of ATSV have interpreted Gwen’s story as a transgender allegory (at the very least). The presence, above her room’s door head, of a transgender flag reading “protect trans kids” has fueled further speculation – and bans from cinemas in Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates – that Gwen herself might be transgender. Her universe is emblazoned with the trans flag colors (the whites/off-whites, pinks, and blues mentioned earlier), and the language she employs in her final conversation with her father in this film almost sounds like a coming out. No matter how one interprets this aspect (and there is nothing in the film to prevent one from interpreting her scenes allegorically or literally), it is the finest reinforcement of one of the film’s central theses: that anyone, regardless of gender identity, race, religion, or sexual orientation can be a Spider-Person.

Like ITSV, much of ATSV’s soundtrack comprises of numerous hip hop songs that are used not so much to complement what is occurring on-screen, but to instead serve as background vibe noise, lyrics barely discernible. This musical direction goes against my beliefs that original and non-original film music have an expressive power. To mute such music so consistently is to deny an opportunity to enhance the expressivity of both the motion picture and music. It just becomes sonic wallpaper, there only to sell soundtracks and pump up music streaming numbers. Either cut the songs or be more selective of the placement of these non-original songs.

Elsewhere, composer Daniel Pemberton’s (2015’s The Man from U.N.C.L.E., 2020’s Enola Holmes) score for ITSV was riddled with heavy-handed electronic manipulation and record scratching, with nary any acoustic elements. Pemberton’s background is in avant-garde electronic music. Appropriate, perhaps, for Miles’ Brooklyn soundscape, but it is deeply unpleasant to listen to outside of the film’s context. With the universe-jumping of ATSV, one musical mode cannot serve the entire film. Gwen’s universe opens with understated, ethereal synth in “Spider-Woman (Gwen Stacy)”. Unfortunately, the musical ideas of Gwen’s universe are never quoted as wonderfully again. Reintroducing Miles and opening his storyline in ATSV is “My Name Is… Miles Morales”, which utilizes Latin American rhythmic complexities in its unmanipulated percussion – already a notable departure from ITSV – alongside Miles’ three-note motif (“SPI-der-MAN!”) from the first film. The traditional orchestra has a larger presence in ATSV, perhaps due to Pemberton’s success in his predominantly orchestral score to Enola Holmes. “Nueva York Train Chase” is one of the major beneficiaries of that orchestral integration. The cue’s thrilling string runs accompany the action magnificently and, combined with enormous hits in the bass brass in the climactic moments, is one of the best action cues in superhero film scoring in some time. Pemberton still resorts to many of his worst habits in his excessive manipulation, but this is a far better score than ITSV’s.

As this write-up heads towards publication, the Writers Guild of America (WGA) is on strike with the Screen Actors Guild-American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (SAG-AFTRA) perhaps soon to follow. Labor practices in Hollywood are under scrutiny as streaming and artificial intelligence (AI) pose to change how studios make movies. Though Sony Pictures Animation is covered under The Animation Guild (TAG), there are reports that artistic input from co-screenwriters and co-producer Phil Lord and Christopher Miller have engendered an unsustainable and unhealthy working environment. Lord and Miller, in their capacity as producers, have a reputation in the animation industry for coming onboard as producers late in production and forcing animators to partake in wide-ranging changes on complete or near-complete work. Their laborious revisionism, say some of ATSV’s animators, comes without a set artistic vision – it is trial-and-error for the sake of it.

In American animation, considerable artistic changes during production are commonplace, but they often take place early on, most typically during storyboarding. Any changes coming later than the storyboarding stage can be a financial boondoggle for a studio and can result in a chaotic animating process. If these anecdotes are true, Lord and Miller are responsible for the film’s high turnover rates and widespread burnout. This behavior should prove incentive for the artists at Sony Pictures Imageworks – despite sharing a corporate parent with Sony Pictures Animation, Vancouver-based SPI is non-unionized and worked on all the physical animation on ITSV and ATSV – to unionize. Scheduled for a March 2024 release, Spider-Man: Beyond the Spider-Verse, due to the alleged aforementioned issues surrounding Lord and Miller, may not be ready in time for its slated debut.

A thunderbolt of animated innovation, Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse’s true value will be unknown until Beyond the Spider-Verse’s release. Fast-paced and overstuffed to a fault, ATSV might not have the freshness that ITSV brought. But for a major American animated studio in the early 2020s, this is bewilderingly wonderful work. One just wonders what the animators possibly could have left up their sleeves.

My rating: 9/10

^ Based on my personal imdb rating. My interpretation of that ratings system can be found in the “Ratings system” page on my blog. Half-points are always rounded down.

For more of my reviews tagged “My Movie Odyssey”, check out the tag of the same name on my blog.

[monkey-network]

Good Stuff: Wendell & Wild

or How to Stop Worrying and Flex with Spirit Again

It's 2009. We're at our most innocent and optimistic, Bone's final volume came out, and while TV animation was kinda ass at the time, the films we got were like banger after banger. I'm talking Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs, the Ed, Edd 'n Eddy movie, El Superbeasto, Redline, Killer Bean Forever, Princess and the Frog, Fantastic Mr. Fox, and Coraline. The latter was not only the start of Laika as a major studio but would be the last film the GOAT Henry Selick would frontline for a long while. Most of us wouldn't think of him while stop-motion was carrying on until the current year when Selick would return announcing a new film of his own. Wendell & Wild marks both the return of the mastermind behind Nightmare Before Christmas and James and the Giant Peach and the reunion of Key & Peele notably since that film starring a gangster cat. For what I can consider a very Blacktober film from the looks of it, it is newfound kino or diminishing returns?

If we’ll get this out of the way, the story... might be hard to swallow. I’m not gonna sugarcoat, Kat as a protagonist is understandable but annoying. I can see where the incident involving her parents can snowball her into being an isolating punk type, but it was hard finding her likable because of how much she’s a... “buzzkill” is the best word I got. It hurts when I like almost every other character, Raul especially, over her. I dunno, it’s like when most you get from a character is them being frustrated and spiteful, it’s hard to connect, and for being the main focus then the story falters in the mind. 

This goes for my other problem where the third act gets pretty jumbled and honestly feels like the one time I’ll say where they didn’t need a big action sequence. This could’ve been a more grounded affair like I cared about Kat facing her trauma and the big demon literally surfacing from hell to get our titular demon brothers than I did some ugly ass couple trying to build a prison. I think it would’ve worked better if it was just about Kat working with Wendell & Wild to get her parents back only to realize that it was a mistake like it never once crosses her mind that bringing them back is... kinda fucked up? The impact of the story overall feels lighter than, say, Coraline or Paranorman where everything built up before made the revelation stuck. Just saying, Kat’s final line in the movie really sprained the ankle at the finish line if you think about it.

The duo themselves never disappointed thankfully

But that’s all on the story, what about the visuals? Well... this feels like a definite return to form. Selick mentioned that stop-motion became too smooth over time and I can see where he was coming from with this. I love where it’s not just the puppetry, but the settings feel more of a blend between Rankin-Bass and Aardman. It knows when to make a moment smooth, but you can see they didn’t hide it being stop-motion. That’s not to say stop-motion between this and Coraline couldn’t recapture that older feeling (we just got Mad God this year) but it’s nice seeing Selick, and designer Pablo Lobato, among the many of the animation crew give us something familiar. I’m reminded of the movie Klaus where even if you understand, you can’t believe the lengths they went to trick you in a way. All this while being based on Selick’s original story, I feel like this was Henry looking to flex alongside Phil Tippett, the Daniels, and soon enough Guillermo Del Toro, in the creative flavors they cherished way back. The credits themselves tell me everyone had fun making this movie and I appreciates that the most.

Scenes like this tickled my animation loving bones

Overall, my time didn’t feel wasted regardless of my issues with the story. If there’s any takeaway it’s that Wendell & Wild is pretty emblematic of this year: you take the bad with the good. Hell any film that can have Death, the black godfathers of Punk music, gets points in my book easily. I say it’s a worthy film to watch a least once for Halloween or Turkey Day, y’know if you can work above my gripes with it. Peele already made kino with Nope but he and Selick made something genuinely special here. Just saying in terms of films, we still eating good this year.

7 Out of 10; Delightfully Devilish Feature

[ashenwren]

seven comfort movies

thanks @vishcount for tagging me! this was fun to think about ^^ though I have the memory of a goldfish so it took me a while to think of what movies I’d actually watched haha

1. Song of the Sea There’s something about this animation that instantly calms me. It’s a combination of the beautiful visuals and the music and the irish mythology elements? I love stuff based on folklore and it’s so gentle and soft while being super emotional as well. This is the main song (the english lyrics) but I also adore the Irish version sung by Lucy O’Connell, who plays the main character! 

2. The Yin-Yang Master: Dream of Eternity I also have to add this one here, because it’s a recent favourite and just gave me all the feelings gosh. The whole atmosphere of this film was so unique, it packed so many emotions in such a short film. I also love the song and the visuals so much (that opening scene with boya playing his flute on top of the roof? and the water village at night with all those lanterns? 100% yes :D)

3. LOTR: Return of the King I grew up watching the Lord of the Rings, and I’ve watched Return of the King so many times (partly because it was on tv so much, but also it was just so epic? That scene with Aragorn arriving with the Army of the Dead as reinforcements always blows me away!)

4. Ne Zha This chinese animation totally took me by surprise! I knew nothing about it or the myth of Ne Zha before watching it. But the animation was beautiful, the story was great and I just love Ao Bing’s character a lot ^^

5. Brave Still probably my favourite Disney princess film! Extra points for will-o’-the-wisps ^^ I also liked the story of Merida embracing her independence (and possibly being the first Disney princess that wasn’t paired with a love interest I think?), but also learning to understand her mother’s point of view (and vice versa). And I still laugh so hard at Merida’s dad doing an impression of her ~“I don’t want to get married, I want to stay single and let my hair flow in the wind as I ride through the glen firing arrows into the sunset.” Very relatable XD

6. Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs I just loved watching the giant animated food okay? XD This film was so colourful and vibrant!

7. John Wick 2 This is a little different from all the previous films ^^; but this series had the prettiest visuals and most fascinating worldbuilding I’ve seen in an action series. There was a whole crime underworld of assassins with their own codes and rules, it was all very cool. Though I’m not sure if I’d classify it as a “comfort” film ^^; And I don’t know if I could still watch it now? It’s kind of weird, but I feel like in the past year, my tolerance for films with lots of violence/shooting has just dropped dramatically? (I remember getting halfway through Umbrella Academy S2 and just having to stop because I couldn’t handle it D:) It’s just very exhausting now and I tend to prefer these softer chinese shows ^^ Maybe it was the pandemic? or just me getting old? Idk XD

Tagging: @underaswift-sunrise @manhasetardis (I know vishie already tagged you both, but I want to see your posts if you do end up doing it ^^ ) and @auriond @aheartfullofjolllly @psychic-waffles @canary3d-obsessed (if you have time/feel like doing it, no pressure at all! and hello to those I haven’t talked to before I’m ashenwren/ashenlights ^^ I hope you’re all having a lovely day/night! )

[unlikelyfalconrhythms]

The Family’s Chancy, Ballsy Sci-fi Adventure through the World of Icons, Softwares and Clouds

Here’s my short review on the movie The Mitchells vs. the Machines (2021) I saw on Netflix. It’s an animated, kid-friendly adventure about a robot apocalypse and a productive amalgam of the minds of Phil Lord and Christopher Miller and Will Allegra, some whimsy of Alex Hirsch thrown into the mix. This movie is good, heart-warming, tongue-and-cheek cheekiness all over. I was surprised how heart-warming this story was, I said d’aww at the relatable characters and their shenanigans for many many times while watching this and I’m definitely going to watch this again. I have a couple of nitpicks based on my personal tastes. In a movie that presents very over-the-top fictional apocalyptic scenario (which is awesome) I would have preferred the whole world having been fictionalized with analogous product names, songs and car brands instead of the real world ones. Sure the movie gives us Palgram instead of Instagram but at the same time it throws us brand names like Photoshop and real toys and earworms from the nostalgic past of the real world millenials. I appreciate shows like Arrested Development and and kid’s shows like Gravity Falls and Steven Universe that see the effort of inventing brilliant product names and cultural phenomena that resemble the actual world products but are not quite the same. The audience then uses their brain to spot the references, it’s marvellous and prevents those shows from turning into cavalcade of product placement in my opinion. The same could have worked very well in Mitchells vs Machines because of the cartoony character designs, comedic tone and already fictional Pal software brand. I would have preferred slightly less cartoony character design or at least slightly more variation in character expressions. Also the first and second act were very crammed with sounds, action and visuals and there was not enough breathing room in my opinion. When I skimmed at the style of this movie based on the trailers, it reminded me a lot of apocalyptic animated feature Cloudy with a Chance of Meat Balls (which is a disaster movie parody written by Lord & Miller and much better than it should be, it’s very well written and the two worked on this Mitchells vs Machines movie as well. Fun task: Can you spot the sort of very similar scene of these two disaster movie parodies Cloudy with the Chance of Meatballs and Mitchells vs Machines?). All in all I felt like I was watching a movie that could be summed up as Excellent cinema writing meets Cloudy with the Chance of Meat Balls meets Emoji Movie. Emphasis on the excellent cinema writing, though, cause I really enjoyed this film despite its time to time exhausting visuals and real world products feeling like out of place in the fictional world. Engaging warmth, relatable characters and cheeky satire are spot on in this film. Also I guess because of the real world brands the fictional Pal brand that is important for the story and draws nice analogies to the real world really pops and draws the viewer’s attention in a good way. Also I loved, no adored, the Lovecraftian Furby Escatology! It definitely could warrant a spinoff and a toyline of its own lol. I just loved it. There are no words. It was perfect. :’D

[laetro]

Ritaban Das: Storyboarding for Effective Storytelling

Character designer, illustrator and storyboard artist, Ritaban Das, elaborates on the significance of storyboarding to effectively tell a story and thus also shares insights from his decade-long experience in animation.

Ritaban Das is a character designer, storyboard artist and illustrator working in the animation industry for the last decade. He’s worked on a wide range of national and international 2D and 3D animated projects for platforms like Nickelodeon, Cartoon Network and Pogo. Recently, he shifted to Toronto, Canada for higher studies, looking to contribute his skills to the Canadian animation industry. He hopes to someday work on his own animated show.

ORDER A CUSTOM ILLUSTRATION

Q. How do you differentiate your approach between the roles of character designer, storyboard artist and illustrator?

Ritaban Das: At the end of the day it’s all interconnected; it all comes down to ‘story’. When I design a character, I start by thinking about what kind of personality the character has and their role in the story. I think about what I’m trying to communicate through the illustration. This helps me to figure out poses and expressions. As I’m drawing, I’m thinking about shapes, proportions and appeal. I also think about the composition of the illustration. When I make storyboards, I’m telling a story in motion by acting out the characters in them.

Q. What have been the greatest lessons you’ve learnt professionally and personally in your ten years of experience?

Ritaban Das: Draw what you like and the rest will fall into place. Only you know what motivates you.

Q. How did you find your calling to be an artist and, thereafter, how did you nurture your skills to hone your craft?

Ritaban Das: I’ve been drawing for as long as I remember and I’m always very passionate about it. To be very honest, I sucked at studies and my parents knew that very well. I remember spending most of my time with a box of chalk and slate gifted to me by my father. Like every other child, I also loved to sketch my favourite cartoons. I usually sketched these animated characters on the back pages of all my notebooks and also my classmates’ notebooks. It made me known amongst my seniors for my sketches.

That’s the only thing I was good at which I followed blindly. Honing my craft came from lots of practice. I draw almost every day. I also follow and study other artists’ work. Reading or watching their interviews, where they describe their work processes and the likes, helped me a lot to grow as an artist over the years. I try to open my eyes and ears to absorb everything.

Q. Could you take us through your process of how you envision a character and then execute it practically?

Ritaban Das: Being a Character Designer, most of my work is very much character-driven, blended with humour and very graphical too. I always try to convey some sort of story through every character or Illustration I make. I like to play with various shapes and silhouettes and usually keep things simple.

The character design process is, in a way, a combination of different things. I ask myself ‘Who am I drawing? What is his/her personality?’ I sometimes look at influential artists’ work to get some ideas or even start from a drawing I like and translate it into my style. Then, trying to forget those influences, I often start from scratch with a basic shape such as the face as it determines the rest of the character for me, then the body (this can be a circle, oval or even a pear shape – it all depends on the personality of the character I want to draw).

Q. Could you please elaborate on your current pursuit of higher studies and how you came to choose Canada for it?

Ritaban: I completed my studies at Humber College in 3D modelling & VFX and Graphic Design and got a job in an animation studio called House of Cool as a Story artist. I’m working on a very exciting project which will probably start airing next year.

I’ve always been well aware of the Canadian animation industry from the beginning and the kind of projects they do. I worked on a bunch of Canadian animation projects back in India.

We used to do a lot of outsourcing for studios here like Big Jump and Brown Bag Films. Canada’s animation industry always attracted me in terms of work culture, the kind of content they nurture, and the quality they produce, so I want to be a part of it.

“Whether you’re working on a commercial TV spot, web video or film, storyboards are an effective way to quickly tell a story. “

Q. What about the world of animation draws you towards it?

Ritaban: Animation is important because it enables us to tell stories and communicate emotions and ideas in a unique, easy-to-perceive way that both children and adults can understand. Animation has helped connect people throughout the world in a way that sometimes writing and live-action films cannot.

Today, anyone can pick up a drawing tablet and show their ideas to the world. Drawn figures can be funny, sad or serious. It can have a playful, less intimidating feel to it to make the viewer feel more comfortable. Often, it has simply served as a way to make a heart-warming story that makes you think.

Through live-action movies, people can form biases based on the appearance and real-life personality of an actor playing a character. But as an animated character, the character feels like their own being.

Q. What would you say are the most challenging aspects of working in the animation world and how do you tackle them?

Ritaban: Every project is challenging in different ways. The challenging ones are the projects where clients don’t have a clear understanding of their audience and outcome, goals or don’t have an investment or hierarchy for arriving at a consensus on feedback. The most challenging projects always boil down to size and scope and managing a team to produce the animation. Also, animating subject matter that I’m not interested in is challenging. But at the end of the day, we all survive because we all just love what we do.

Q. Could you take us through your process of creating a storyboard and highlight its most important aspects?

Ritaban: Whether you’re working on a commercial TV spot, web video, or film, storyboards are an effective way to quickly tell a story. A storyboard is a sequence of drawings that represent the shots planned for video production. It covers all of the major shots, angles and action of your film. The very first step is to read your script and visualise it as an audience would. As I go from scene to scene, I analyse the screenplay and decide how I want each scene to look.

A script breakdown tells you what storyboards you need to create. Then I start doing the rough thumbnails with all the necessary camera angles in Photoshop and chalk out the entire scene I’m planning to do. The important thing is to give anyone who looks at the storyboard a sense of space — where are the objects in relation to the space they’re standing in.

Once I finish locking the scene on thumbnail level, I pitch it to my art director or creative director and take their feedback. After passing the thumbnail phase, I start making the rough staging in Storyboard Pro and work on the required actions and move forward with the scene for the final animation. I might have to rework scenes over and over, combining different elements of the iterations until I finally have what the team is looking for.

Q. What ways do you apply to understand client needs better and thereby produce results that are in sync with them?

Ritaban Das : Whether I work in any studio or as a freelancer, I always listen to what clients need. Listening to your client will help you understand and retain the information you’re already receiving, even if it isn’t a formal meeting. You need to ask questions to identify needs and paraphrase what they say. It helps with clarification and to enhance your understanding of their needs.

Also, I bring new ideas to the table. I don’t hesitate to propose something other than what the client had in mind. You may have a better service in mind and, if nothing else, this again shows you’re listening and attempting to understand your client’s needs. Understanding client needs is one of the biggest challenges of any business but also one of the most important and rewarding tasks.

Q. Considering your range of work, could you please elaborate on significant projects and clients you’ve worked for?

Ritaban Das: Over the ten years of my career, I’ve worked on various national and international projects back in India for clients like Nickelodeon, Cartoon Network and Pogo. I’ve been part of the projects like “Camp WWE”, “F is for Family,” “Kuu Kuu Harajuku,” “Evan the Epic,” “Penn Zero: Part-time Hero,” “DC Superhero Girls,” “Cloudy with a chance of meatballs” (series), “Rhythm Warriors” (series-in production) and other numerous animated TV shows.

Q. According to you, in what direction should animation be exploring and progressing now?

Ritaban Das: Animation is an incredibly versatile medium that is widely used in many different forms today. Animated films are big business nowadays. Companies such as Disney have had enormous success producing animated children’s films for many years. Animated characters such as The Simpsons and The Flintstones have long been familiar visitors to our television screens. The future of animation looks to be on an interesting journey as the quality of films is becoming higher and higher. Most people would now aim for a 4k film. Also, they’ve been experimenting and coming up with new techniques of animation.

One of the interesting ones is Mix Media, a technique that Disney has been experimenting with for a few years is mixing CGI and traditional 2D animation. The idea is to create an animated film using CGI and then to draw over each frame to give it a hand-drawn quality. The computer gaming industry is also pushing the boundaries of what is possible with animation, leading to the creation of some extremely realistic game footage. Computer game animation has certainly come a long way from the 2D graphics of early arcade games.

Now computer game animators can build environments and objects that react to the player’s actions. The animation looks set to continue delighting audiences for many years to come. With animated films continuing to rise in the blockbuster charts, capturing hearts and imaginations, there is no sign of this genre coming to an end.

[theantisocialcritic]

Archive Project - January 7, 2014 - Most Anticipated 2014

Onto Day 3 of the First Annual Hummy Awards! To paraphrase Moviebob, 2014 looks like it's going to be the year filmmaking forgets. 2015 is shaping up to be the biggest year in film… well maybe ever. Major Blockbuster movies like: Avengers: Age of Ultron, Star Wars: Episode VII, Man of Steel 2, Ant-Man, Jurassic World, Fantastic Four and Fast & Furious 7 will be hitting the big screens. This year is the red carpet to next year's big Blockbuster Blowout but from the looks of it, it will be a fun walk into 2015!

Here I have assembled a list of some of this years biggest movies! Lets see what 2014 has to offer!

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Upcoming Films in the Immediate Future! ————————————————————————————————————————— Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit  1/17 Hunt for Red October is one of my favorite books and movies! An awesome cold war espionage tale with a message on Soviet Communism. In the next two weeks we will be given a reboot of Red October's main character, Jack Ryan with Chris Pine dealing with his first mission. Given the circumstances of this movie I don't expect something great but i'm assuming if it is successful it will be the means of jumpstarting a franchise. Lets see where this goes…

I, Frankenstein  1/24

Justice League: War  2/4 Warner Bros Animation has been on a roll lately with it's animated movies: The Dark Knight Returns, Superman Unbound and The Flashpoint Paradox. I have a lot of confidence with them as they do the origin of the Justice League on this straight to video adaption!

The Monuments Men  2/7 Really cool concept and a lot of talent being put into this movie. Definitely worth a look!

The Lego Movie  2/7 This seems dumb, but also very awesome! CGI animation being made to look like LEGOs, from the animation team that made Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs and that appears to be genuinely funny. Sign me up!

Robocop  2/12 Robocop is a classic. Rebooting it is probably a bad idea. This could go either way but i'm still excited to see this!

Son of God  2/28 The Bible really is a good source for potential storytelling for film. Unfortunately not a lot of movies about them get made. This one slipped through the cracks and it appears to be pretty interesting!

Mr. Peabody and Sherman  3/7 This movie offends my childhood on a deep personal level. I grew up watching Rock and Bullwinkle cartoons. THAT BEING SAID. It can't be worse than the Rock and Bullwinkle movie and if it's at least funny I MIGHT give it a pass.

Grand Budapest Hotel  3/7

Need for Speed  3/14 A movie adaption of a video game that isn't really story driven that looks surprisingly similar to Fast and Furious. Lets see...

Muppets Most Wanted  3/21 Your thoughts on this movie begin and end with the title...

Noah  3/28 Speaking of Bible movies.. Who's up for a little blasphemy? Russell Crowe apparently..

Captain America: Winter Soldier 4/4 YES YES YES YES YES YES YES YES YES.

Heaven is for Real  4/16 Based on the, i'm assuming, successful book, this Christian film looks to be a pretty cool drama with a lot of heart!

Transcendence  4/25 Johnny Dep is in this movie and it's not Jack Sparrow. Thats about all you need to know.

Earth to Echo  4/-- We don't know much about this film yet other than the title and general release date but it sounds pretty awesome!

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Blockbuster Season 2014 ————————————————————————————————————————— Amazing Spiderman 2  5/2 I'm a vocal detractor of the first film as a movie that exists only to keep the rights to Spiderman movies from going back to Marvel and that it heavily ripped off a lot from Batman Begins and Twilight (to paraphrase Moviebob, once again..). This movie doesn't look all that great but its a Spiderman movie and i'd at least say its worth seeing once.

Godzilla  5/16 HOLY CRAP THE TRAILER IS AWESOME!!

X-Men: Days of Future Past  5/23 The X-Men movie's current mission statement is the wipe away X-Men Last Stand and X-Men Origins out of the movie's canon and it appears that this movie is one of the last steps to fulfilling the mission they set in X-Men First Class. I'm very excited for this!

A Million Ways to Die in the West  5/30 If your a fan of Family Guy and Ted than this is a movie that should interest you! Seth MacFarlane directs and stars in this comedy-western, along side Amanda Seyfried, Liam Neeson and Neil Patrick Harris.

Malieficent  5/30 Live action prequel into Disney's classic Sleeping Beauty? Hmm. Interesting.

Edge of Tomorrow  6/6 Tom Cruise stars in an action movie….. YAAAAAAAAAAAAYYYYY!!!!

How to Train Your Dragon 2  6/13 This is one of the coolest concepts to a sequel i've heard in a long time! The first movie is a great animated film and i'm very excited for this!

Transformers Age of Extinction  6/27 LeBuff is gone! The transformers are redesigned! The Dinobots are showing up! If we are lucky this should at least match the quality of the first Transformers movie!

Dawn of the Planet of the Apes  7/11 Rise of the Planet of the Apes was a surprisingly great movie that in hindsight shouldn't have worked as well as it did. It ended up being one of the most notable Science Fiction films of this decade and a well done character drama. And now we get a direct sequel that ties that movie in with the classic Planet of the Apes movies! Thats something to get excited about!

Guardians of the Galaxy  8/1

SPACE AVENGERS! If the end credits scene in Thor: Dark World was any indication, this movie will be one of the most insane things ever put to film. Its the biggest risk Marvel has taken since The Avengers and some of the characters, despite their comic book origins, seem too weird for any film out of context: namely Vin Diesel as Groot the Tree and a Raccoon that runs around with Rocket Launchers!

TMNT  8/8 If I cared about Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles i'd probably be offended by this. Whatever, this film is set to be a very notable film in any case.

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Fall 2014 ————————————————————————————————————————— Intersteller  11/7 Christopher Nolan is a great director and this film looks to be his most original film since Inception and as his first venture after the conclusion of the Dark Knight Trilogy, its definitely notable!

Big Hero 6  11/7 Disney's first take at an animated Marvel movie! In the wake of Frozen and Wreck it Ralph, I could not be more excited!!

The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 1  11/21 I really liked Catching Fire and i'm excited to see how the series plans to start finishing it's story.

The Hobbit: There and Back Again  12/17 Finally ending 2014 with a bang is the long awaited third part to Peter Jackson's trilogy based off of The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkein. If you DON'T know why this is a big deal than I DEMAND you go check out the first two Hobbit movies RIGHT NOW. Watch Lord of the Rings while your at it!!

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And my personal pick for most anticipated movie of 2014 is…

of course..

Captain America: The Winter Soldier!!

Based on the famed Winter Soldier arc from the more recent Captain America Comic books, the choice of bringing the Winter Soldier into the Marvel universe brings forth a lot of interesting possibilities for upcoming stories concerning Captain America and their universe. This movie has me more excited than any other this year!

Runner-Up: Guardians of the Galaxy

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For more on upcoming movies in 2014, Check out Moviebob at the Escaptist http://www.escapistmagazine.com/articles/view/columns/moviebob/10862-Here-Comes-2014#HHbbGGGE1AQoZTP8.99

Thank you very much for reading!

Live long and prosper!

[seshirukun]

Based on this one scene from Cloudy with a chance of Meatballs: X

Im sure Gaster was really excited to show it to Asgore

[fangirlingabout]

Entertaining to the MAX

As someone with an... approximate knowledge of the DC universe and more specifically the BatFamily (most of which being from littlenightwing), and as someone who just enjoys really funny comedies and great animation, I pretty much was doomed to love this movie. 

But hell, even without all that “””bias””” what makes this movie so especially bitchin’ is how it succeeds at pretty much everything it sets out to do. Make a good follow-up to the Lego Movie? Check. Strike a great balance as a kids movie? Check Two. 

Bring the BatFamily to the big screen again (FINALLY) in a way that can make general audiences fall in love with them? All checks. All of them, those checks are yours now. 

Be a good spoof movie---a genre so dead it needed to be revived with little tiny lego defibrillators? A THUNDERSTORM OF CHECKS RAINING DOWN FROM THE HEAVANS.

Doing a Comic Book Movie

Adapting anything to film is magic trick and a half, but adapting comic books---90 years of them, for that matter---is a whole magic show. It’s no small feat to capture the heart of the characters and world and what makes it so beloved.

Add that on top of the magic you need to perform to make a good spoof movie, which takes that deep understanding and builds off it (ayyyy) in exaggerated, hilarious ways. Plus, like I said, the entire spoof genre has been left in the hands of the people who made the Scary Movie franchise, which has fallen so far from... well, I don’t want to say grace, but you get my point. There’s only been bad parody movies coming out in the mainstream for years now.

But if I’d trust anyone to manage both kinds miracles, I guess I’d have to give it to Phil Lord and Chris Miller! Even if you don’t know their names, you’ve probably laughed at their work (well, with their work): Clone High, Cloudy a Chance of Meatballs, 21 Jump Street, (A few episodes of) How I Met Your Mother, (the pilot of) Brooklyn 99, and, obviously, the Lego Movie itself.

Basically, these are two writer/directors best bros who I’ve loved ever since I was young with Clone High because that’s exactly my sense of humour---and they’re still killing it to this day.

And thank god, they manage to nail this movie on so many levels. 

What really rocks is how thoroughly they understand Batman’s corner of the DC universe---not just for the amazing, nerd-level-100 references from all sorts of Batman media, but because in order for the comedy to really work, they have to make a super-fan love for all things Batman infectious.

And it works. So, so well!

And the parody aspects of this movie work for the same reason. It’s like the old saying goes “it’s funny because it’s true.” Sure, it’s exaggerated for a punchline, but if it didn’t come from a genuine place to begin with that exaggeration wouldn’t be able to carry the movie.

The BatFam and Rogues Gallery 

AND THIS IS THE BEST PART.

See, the BatFamily hasn’t come to the big screen aside from the mostly-straight-to-DVD-but-if-they’re-in-theaters-they’re-limited-release animated movies, which leaves legions of starving BatFam fans waiting for their favourite characters to even get a slight mention or blink-and-you’ll-miss-it background reference.

The Arkham games (and of course the comics themselves) are enough to keep them alive, but the fact that 1997′s Batman and Robin killed all possible BatFamily movies for basically 20 years means it’s been rough.

So, now we have the first real inclusion on the BatFamily! It’s a parody of them, but at least since it’s a good parody that does demonstrate some understanding of the characters and how meaningful their relationships are, it’s enough! At least, for now. My hope is that having a popular, awesome movie with some BatFamily members in it will open the door to even more BatFam to come!

Because look, I have to take this character by character for a second to really show why this could hopefully be the building blocks (AYYYYY) for something even greater down the line (or, great in a different way, I should say).

Let’s start with Dick Grayson as Robin. This Dick Grayson is mostly a parody of the original TV boy wonder, Burt Ward. Which works, even though it’s not an accurate portrayal of more modern incarnations of his character. Michel Cera somehow managed to really make this character endearing when he could’ve been pretty annoying, as high energy as he is.

The best comparison I can make for animation fans is, well, Wander, from Wander Over Yonder, but without the country accent. There’s an adorable beating heart always on display that makes him lovable---he’s even got some quieter moments thrown in there---and the way the lines are delivered never crosses that line into annoying-sidekick territory. 

So, this Dick is a good Dick. He still serves the role even modern Dick Grayson did as Robin, to be the hopeful light in the dark knight’s world. 

And see, if they took inspiration from lego Dick Grayson at all when adapting modern Dick, I hope they keep that idea intact---because no matter what incarnation of Dick we’re going for, his humour and kind lightheartedness even in the face of a dark world and immeasurable pain---that’s what makes him a wonderful son character for Batman. 

Well, that and how much they love each other, obviously, but thankfully, that’s another thing this movie doesn’t skimp out on. Since its a comedy, the writers get away with Dick using the words “dad” or “padre” (dad) or even “batfamily” a glorious amount of times. So even if there’s since going to be a wait before we get to see a serious portrayal of their father-son relationship, it’s honestly enough to know some people in Hollywood actually know.

Barbara/Batgirl gets a great role as well. Not necessarily all points are stellar (the recent Killing Joke movie aside, I’ve been told Barbara and Batman don’t have a relationship that’s sexual in nature most of the time, so it’s just kinda... creepy; thank god they didn’t make them end up together in this movie), but it’s small in comparison to the awesomeness of lego Barbara.

Granted, I know much more about Dick Grayson than I do about Barbara (you know who to thank for that), but at the very least, I appreciate that her role in this movie is competent, well-accomplished straight-man and not damsel in distress, which even I know is so not Barbara (The Killing Joke is hard story to adapt without, y’know, using her as a plot device in kinda awful ways, so I’m just glad to see her not be used that way).

That’s the kind of thing I hope they’ll carry over when it’s time for a more serious Barbara story. In this movie, she feels a bit too much like Wild-Style from the first Lego Movie, and I would’ve loved to see even more of Barbara’s character and what makes her unique (again, this is something I need to learn), but yeah, definitely a step in the right direction.

Alfred’s had some great adaptions over the years in terms of movies, but I will say I don’t think it’s been acknowledged before what a father figure (and in turn grandpa figure) he is in the BatFamily. Good to see him get his due.

And I mean overall, there’s this whole other side to Batman, BatDad, that has been sorely missing from cinema. We’ve seen the brooding loner Batman done well, but there’s so many stories to tell when you bring in his surrogate family, and you can see that in this movie!

Oh, and the Joker?

Absolutely adorable. Which... isn’t something I’d normally advocate saying, but they really have fun with his and Batman’s relationship in such a great way. Protect this clown child please (again specifically this version).

And that’s not even counting the dozens of other rogues that get a hilarious cameo in this movie. It’s all so fantastic, I need to rewatch it just to get all the jokes involved with them because I was laughing so hard I missed some.

So it works as a (spoofed) BatFamily story, a comedy and a parody movie, and even just a really well done animated kids movie in general.

This is definitely what I would call a hyper-active movie---the jokes come hard and fast and don’t really stop---but it can also take it’s time for the characters (and hell, even for the comedy; long, quieter jokes that just keep going are always a risk, but like the sloth scene in Zootopia, the times they make that gamble it pays off).

Even just as an animated movie, look at this shit:

The photo-realistic Lego-based animation from the first movie combined with a neon colour scheme that ends up being so fitting for Lego Gotham... is bootiful. It’s some beautiful animation (and the comedic timing just makes it better)!

And the score? The score is always hilariously timed---every song choice is there for a specific purpose. That’s probably the best way to look at this movie: not a moment goes to waste.

Really, it’s a family of excellent elements all working together to make one hell of a whole.

[victorluvsalice]

Christmas may have passed last Wednesday, but we’re not quite done with my seven Christmas prompts. Today’s offering is a fun one, based on the prompt snow -- and the ice cream snow scene from Cloudy With A Chance of Meatballs. What, I wasn’t supposed to mine that for inspiration? XD (No Flint running around madly screaming “SNOWBALL!!!” though. Too early in the morning. XD)

[weekendwarriorblog]

WHAT TO WATCH THIS WEEKEND April 26, 2019  - AVENGERS: ENDGAME!!!

This is the big one, the start of the summer movie season – like last year, one week early – but also a singularly movie that is likely to crush pretty much everything still playing in theaters, and that is…

AVENGERS: ENDGAME!!

What’s being promoted as the finale of storylines that have been set-up over ten years of Marvel movies finally hits theaters one year after the fateful ending of Infinity War. Sadly, I won’t be seeing this until early next week, since I’ll be busy attending the Tribeca Film Festival over the weekend. (See more details about that below.)

Still, it’s hard to deny the draw of a sequel to last year’s Avengers: Endgame, which had such an astounding cliffhanger ending that few will want to wait to see this one, mainly to see how the surviving heroes deal with Thanos and get their friends and colleagues back.

I guess that’s all I have to say about the movie (other than my box office analysis at The Beat), until I see it so let’s get straight to the…

LIMITED RELEASES

If you live in New York, I beseech you to go see Pamela Green’s doc BE NATURAL: THE UNTOLD STORY OF ALICE GUY-BLACHÉ  (Zeitgeist Films), narrated by Jodi Foster, when it opens in New York on Friday. It will open at the IFC Center in New York plus a few other cities as it slowly expands to other cities. It’s an amazing story about the first-ever female filmmaker who was around during the earliest days of cinema in France.

Ralph Fiennes’ directs and co-stars in THE WHITE CROW (Sony Pictures Classics), an amazing film starring Oleg Ivenko as ballet dancer Rudolf Nureyev, who travelled to Paris with his ballet company, ended up meeting and falling in love with Clara Saint (Adèle Exarchopoulos) and defecting. Fiennes plays Nureyev’s early teacher, but it’s a fairly small role as he allows his younger cast to shine in a terrific story that covers much of Nureyev’s early life before defecting. It’s a fantastic film, regardless of whether you’re into ballet or not. The White Crowopens in New York and L.A. on Friday.

Not quite as amazing (but a movie I had been looking forward to seeing since Toronto last year) is Justin Kelly’s  JT LEROY (Universal Home Entertainment), which stars Kristen Stewart as Savannah Knoop, the young woman who pretended to be author J.T. Leroy, an abused transgender young man, who was duped by actual author Laura Albert (played by Laura Dern) to help fulfill the ruse for the press and other celebrities. Jim Sturgess plays Geoffrey Knoop, Laura’s boyfriend and Savannah’s brother while Diane Kruger plays Eva, a character clearly meant to be Asia Argento, who made The Heart is Deceitful Above All Things based on “Leroy’s” novel. I was very interested in this film, partially because I interviewed Argento for that film without knowing the story until seeing Jeff Feurzeig’s doc Author: The JT Leroy Story. The movie, co-written by Knoop and Kelly from her own book documenting events, is okay, but I feel that the screenplay could have been a lot more interesting if adapted by a better writer, and I’ve generally been mixed about Kelly’s work as a director, as well.  I guess if you’re interested in this story, you can check this out in select cities or On Demand.

Josh Lobo’s thriller I TRAPPED THE DEVIL (IFC Midnight) stars Scott Poythress as Steve, a man who is holding a man hostage in his basement who he believes is the Devil himself. When his brother (AJ Bowen) and wife (Susan Burke) arrive for the Christmas season, they discover Steve’s secret and begin wondering if the man is in fact the Devil.  I liked the movie’s premise more than the execution, as I didn’t think too much about the cast.

Roxanne Benjamin made her directorial debut as part of the horror anthology Southbound. She also had a segment in the XX anthology, and she now makes her feature film debut with BODY AT BRIGHTON ROCK (Magnet Releasing). It follows a young woman who is working as a summer employee at a state park, but who takes a wrong turn and ends up in a crime scene with no communication to the outside world. Bravely, she must spend the night in the wilderness protecting the crime scene on her own.


Opening on Wednesday at Film Forum is Carmine Street Guitars (Abramorama), Ron Mann’s documentary about Rick Kelly’s West Village guitar shop that’s been where he and his apprentice Cindy Hulej design and build custom guitars for the musical superstars. Some of the guitarists who pop in and are captured on camera include Charlie Sexton, Marc Ribot, Lenny Kaye and Bill Frisell with a special appearance by Jim Jarmusch. If you’re into music or are a guitar player, you’ll want to check this out.

Maia Wechsler’s doc If the Dancer Dances (Monument Releasing) goes into the dance studio of Stephen Petronio as they try to breathe new life into Merce Cunningham’s 1968 piece “RainForest.” The movie is being released in conjunction with Cunningham’s centennial, opening Friday in New York at the Quadand in L.A. at the Laemmle Music Hall.

A Thousand Thoughts

LOCAL FESTIVALS

The big festival starting on Wednesday is the17thAnnual TRIBECA FILM FESTIVAL, which kicks off on Wednesday with Life, Animated director Roger Ross Williams’ new documentary The Apollo, which is having it World premiere AT the Apollo Theater in Harlem. Other special events held at the Beacon Theater, also far north of Tribeca, include the 35thAnniversary of This is Spinal Tap and 40th Anniversary of Francis Ford Coppola’s Apocalypse Now, a special talk between Tribeca co-founder Robert De Niro and his longtime director Martin Scorsese, as well as special concerts/talks following docs about the Wu Tang Clan (Wu Tang Clan: Of Mics and Men) and Phish frontman Trey Anastasio (Between Me and My Mind).  

I’m not sure why, but I tend to gravitate more to the docs at Tribeca than the narratives, maybe because there have been maybe a dozen narratives at the festival that I truly loved. On the other hand, the festival has become renowned for so many amazing docs, and this year, there are goods ones about Stones bassist Bill Wyman (The Quiet One), Woodstock: Three Days That Defined a Generation, Maiden (about the first all-woman around-the-world sailing team), another one about movie sound (Making Waves) and one about a Ohio factory that shuts down but then is resuscitated by a Chinese company that offers the community new hope (American Factory). I’m also looking forward to seeing the doc Other Music, about New York’s indie record store which recently shut its doors. Add to that other music docs like Linda Ronstadt: The Sound of My Voice and Mystify: Michael Hutchence, and there’s quite a bit that I’m going to want to check out. 

Some of the narratives that I’m interested include The Kill Team, starring Nat Wolff and Alexander Skarsgard, and Kevin McMullin’s Low Tide, which has its World Premiere. Also, soon-to-be-released movies like Mary (American Psycho) Harron’s Charlie Says, starring Mat Smith as Charles Manson, and Joe Berlinger’s Extremely Wicked, Shockingly Evil and Vile, starring Zac Efron as Ted Bundy, will screen at Tribeca before their respective releases on May 10.

Hopefully, I’ll find some more hidden gems as the festival progresses.

Up in Toronto, Canada, one of my favorite cities, this year’s Hot Docs begins on Thursday. As the name might imply, this is a documentary film festival with an amazing array of docs, many getting their world premieres. I’m a little busy with Tribeca to go through all that is being offered, but if you live in Toronto, then you should be able to find some interesting subjects covered.

REPERTORY

METROGRAPH (NYC):

Metrograph Pictures’ second release is a restored rerelease of Djibril Diop Mambety’s Hyenas (1992), a comic adaptation of Friedrich Dürrenmatt’s play “The Visit” about a rich woman who is visiting a small African village with enough money to back the man running for mayor of the town. Instead, she reveals that he got her pregnant and abandoned her with child, leading her to a life of misery before coming into money. She offers a bounty to kill the man who did this to her, and the village needs to decide whether they like the mayoral candidate, a popular shopkeeper, as much as they need the money being offered. It’s a pretty fascinating film, beautifully shot, and it’s nice to see the Metrograph reviving it through their distribution arm. On top of that, the retrospective of Brazilian filmmaker Nelson Pereira Dos Santos continues through Sunday, including a few repeat showings. Late Nites at Metrograph  offers Gaspar Noe’s recent Climax, as well as Evangelion 1.0 and Evangelion 2.0for the Anime fans.  Playtime: Family Matinees ends the month with a classic Kurt Russell Disney movie, The Barefoot Executive  (1971).

THE NEW BEVERLY (L.A.):

Weds. afternoon is a screening of Melville’s 1956 film Bob Le Flambeur, while a double feature of Sydney Pollack’s The Yakuza  (1974) and John Woo’s A Better Tomorrow II  (1987) runs Weds. and Thursday. The Extended Version of Sam Peckinpah’s Major Dundee  (1965), starring Charlton Heston, screens on Friday and Saturday, followed by the double feature of Peter Sellers’ 1966 film After the Fox and Elaine May’s The Hearbreak Kid on Sunday and Monday. Tarantino’s The Hateful Eight and the 1983 comedy Doctor Detroit are the Friday and Saturday midnight movies, respectably. This weekend’s KIDEE MATINEE is Lord and Miller’s animated Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs, while Monday’s matinee is David Fincher’s Fight Club.

FILM FORUM (NYC):

The “Trilogies” series continues this weekend with Andrzej Wajda’s “War Trilogy” (A Generation, Kanal, Ashes and Diamonds) on Wednesday, Jean Cocteau’s “Orphic Trilogy” (Blood of a Poet, Orpheus and Testament of Orpheus) on Thursday. Ingmar Bergman’s “God and Man Trilogy” (Through a Glass Darkly, Winter Light and The Silence) screens on Friday, and then Nicolas Winding Refn’s Pusher trilogy begins on Friday then continues on Saturday, April 27, and the third part on May 4. (Trust me, this is not an easy series to watch in one sitting.) Also, Marcel Pagnol’s “Marseilles Trilogy” will screen on Sunday. Film Forum Jr. shows Satyajit Ray’s Pather Panchali (1955), which is also part of Ray’s “Apu Trilogy” for the “Trilogies” series. See how that works?

BAM CINEMATEK (NYC):

BAM is killing it this week with a number of releases including a restored rerelease of Nina Menkes’ 1991 film Queen of Diamond with Menkes present for a QnA on Friday night and a panel on Saturday night. Set in Vegas, it deals with a disaffected blackjack dealer who drifts through a series of encounters. On Wednesday, BAM’s “Screen Epiphanies” series continues with Vanity Faircritic K. Austin Collins presenting Brian De Palma’s thriller Femme Fatale, starring Rebecca Romjin. Lastly, on Sunday, the “Beyond the Canon” series continues with a double feature of Charles Lane’s Sidewalk Stories  (1989) with Charlie Chaplin’s The Kid (1921).

EGYPTIAN THEATRE (LA):

The Egyptian gets in on Aero’s Classic Movie ClownsThursday with a Marx Brothers double feature of A Night at the Opera (1935) and A Day at the Races  (1937) with authors Robert Bader and Josh Frank signing their book. Friday sees a Stanley Donen tribute with a screening of Singin’ in the Rain  (1952), plus there will be an encore screening of the 7-hour War and Peace  (1967) on Sunday and Disney’s Mary Poppins (1964) on Sunday with a panel in conjunction with the Art Directors Guild Film Society.

AERO  (LA):

A new series called “Cowboys and Samurai” begins this week, and it’s little surprise that most of the samurai movies are from Akira Kurosawa. It begins on Thursday with a double feature of Rashomon (1950)and High Noon, then continues Friday with The Searchers (1956) and The Hidden Fortress (1958) and Seven Samurai (1954) and The Wild Bunch  (1969) on Saturday. Sunday’s double feature is Clint Eastwood’s Unforgiven (1992) and the 1962 film Harakiri (1962) (not directed by Kurosawa!). Sunday is also a rescheduled screening of the musical Annie (1982), as part of the Albert Finney remembrance.

IFC CENTER (NYC)

Waverly Midnights: Parental Guidance  continues with Poltergeist  (1982), Weekend Classics: Love Mom and Dad screens Charlie Chaplin’s The Kid  (1921), while Late Night Favorites: Spring shows Jodorowsky’s El Topo (1970).

MOMA (NYC):

Modern Matinees: B is for Bacall will show 1956’s Written on the Windon Weds, How to Marry a Millionaire  (1953) Thursday and then end the series on Friday with a reshowing of Vincent Minelli’s Designing Woman  (1957).

MUSEUM OF THE MOVING IMAGE (NYC):

The museum’s See it Big! Action series continues with two screenings of William Friedkin’s The French Connection 1971) on Friday and Saturday, Bullitt  (1968) on Saturday and George Miller’s Mad Max: Fury Road on Sunday. There will also be a showing of William Lustig’s 1980 horror film Maniacwith Lustig in attendance as part of its Disreputable Cinema series. This weekend is the first I’ve ever wished I lived out in Astoria, Queens.

QUAD CINEMA (NYC):

Wild Things: The Ferocious Films of Nelly Kaplan ends Thursday, but I don’t have any information for the weekend as of yet.

LANDMARK THEATRES NUART  (LA):

This Friday’s midnight movie is John Carpenter’s The Thing (1982), also starring Kurt Russell.

That’s it for this week. Next week: Four new wide releases that aren’t Avengers: Endgame!

[erickmalpicaflores]

Erik Malpica Flores Erik Malpica Flores recommends: What is Coming to Netflix in December 2018 |

A new season of FULLER HOUSE is coming to Netflix U.S. in December 2018, as is a new Ellen DeGeneres comedy special. There’s also a new docuseries, THE INNOCENT MAN, based on the true crime best-seller by John Grisham, and a new Netflix film DUMPLIN, starring Jennifer Aniston.

Related: What is coming to Netflix Canada in December 2018?

December 1

8 Mile

Astro Boy

Battle – Netflix Film: The right steps. The wrong attitude. But then she shares the dance floor with a new partner, and the rhythm of love takes over.

Bride of Chucky

Christine

Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs

Crossroads: One Two Jaga – Netflix Film: Immigrant laborers and corrupt police. In a world of desperation, doing the right thing isn’t just hard. It’s dangerous.

Friday

Friday After Next

Hellboy

Man vs Wild with Sunny Leone: Season 1

Meet Joe Black

Memories of the Alhambra (Streaming Every Saturday) – Netflix Original: While looking for the cryptic creator of an innovative augmented-reality game, an investment firm executive meets a woman who runs a hostel in Spain.

My Bloody Valentine

Next Friday

Reindeer Games

Seven Pounds

Shaun of the Dead

Terminator Salvation

The Big Lebowski

The Great British Baking Show: Masterclass: Season 5 Masterclasses

The Last Dragon

The Man Who Knew Too Little

December 2

December 3

Blue Planet II: Season 1

Hero Mask – Netflix Original: After a rash of mysterious deaths, Crown prosecutor Sarah Sinclair and SSC agent James Blood discover a conspiracy surrounding uncanny new bio-masks.

The Sound of Your Heart: Reboot Season 2 – Netflix Original: As Ae-bong’s husband and father of an adorable baby daughter, Seok finds fresh inspiration from his new family and changing responsibilities.

December 4

December 6

December 7

5 Star Christmas – Netflix Film: Away from their spouses. Away from the paparazzi and nosy reporters. It’s a foolproof, Christmastime tryst — what could go wrong?

Bad Blood – Netflix Original: This sprawling crime drama follows the true story of the Rizzuto family and its associates, who presided over organized crime in Montreal for decades.

Dogs of Berlin – Netflix Original: Two cops investigate the murder of a famous Turkish-German soccer player, but their ethnic and underworld connections mire the case in controversy.

Dumplin’ – Netflix Film: Dumplin’ (Danielle Macdonald) is the plus-size, teenage daughter of a former beauty queen (Jennifer Aniston), who signs up for her mom’s pageant as a protest that escalates when other contestants follow her footsteps, revolutionizing the pageant and their small Texas town.

Free Rein: The Twelve Neighs of Christmas – Netflix Original: As Bright Fields preps for its Mistletoe Ball, a broken ornament leads Zoe to a family secret, while Gaby finds herself at the mercy of new boss Mia.

Mowgli: Legend of the Jungle – Netflix Film: Acclaimed actor and director Andy Serkis reinvents Rudyard Kipling’s beloved masterpiece, in which a boy who would become a legend, wants nothing more than to find a home. Torn between two worlds, that of the jungle and that of humankind, Mowgli must navigate the inherent dangers in each on a journey to discover who he really is. Christian Bale, Cate Blanchett, Benedict Cumberbatch, Freida Pinto, Matthew Rhys and Naomie Harris lead an all-star cast along with newcomer Rohan Chand (“Mowgli”) in this visually spectacular and emotionally moving adventure. It will also be dubbed in Hindi, Tamil, Telugu and Bengali.

Nailed It! Holiday! – Netflix Original: It’s the “Nailed It!” holiday special you’ve been waiting for, with missing ingredients, impossible asks and desserts that look delightfully sad.

Neo Yokio: Pink Christmas – Netflix Original: The holidays take a hit as Kaz juggles the Secret Santa competition, his Aunt Angelique’s visit and his nemesis Arcangelo’s Christmas plotting.

Pine Gap – Netflix Original: At top-secret U.S.-Australian joint defense facility Pine Gap, fissures appear in the critical alliance as spies work with, and against, each other.

ReMastered: Who Killed Jam Master Jay? – Netflix Original: As a groundbreaking ’80s rap act, Run-D.M.C. brought hip-hop to the mainstream. But the murder of the group’s DJ, Jam Master Jay, remains a mystery.

Super Monsters and the Wish Star – Netflix Original: Deck the halls with holiday magic and get ready for a fun, festive time. It’s a gift from the Super Monsters … to you!

The American Meme – Netflix Original: Follow four social media disruptors — Paris Hilton, Josh Ostrovsky, Brittany Furlan and Kirill Bichutsky — as they hustle to create online empires.

The Hook Up Plan (Plan Coeur) – Netflix Original: When Parisian Elsa gets hung up on her ex, her best friends secretly hire a male escort to help her move on. But their plan works a little too well.

The Ranch: Part 6 – Netflix Original: Colt confronts the challenges of running a ranch as he and Abby get ready to become parents. And a second new arrival keeps the Bennetts on their toes.

December 9

Sin senos sí hay paraíso: Season 3

December 10

Michael Jackson’s This Is It

December 11

Vir Das: Losing It – Netflix Original: In a new stand-up special, comedian Vir Das touches on world travel, religion, his desire to be an Indian superhero and more.

December 12

Back Street Girls: Gokudols – Netflix Original: To pay for an epic blunder, three yakuza brothers are forced to alter their bodies, form a girl group and break into the underground J-Pop idol scene.

Out of Many, One – Netflix Original: As they prepare for their naturalization tests, several legal immigrants discuss what drove them to seek better opportunities in America.

December 13

Wanted: Season 3 – Netflix Original: A witness protection deal lands Lola in Adelaide, where a murder sends her and Chelsea on the run through South Australia in search of a missing woman.

December 14

Chilling Adventures of Sabrina: A Midwinter’s Tale – Netflix Original: As the winter solstice approaches, Sabrina orchestrates an emotional séance with serious consequences, and Susie’s merry plans turn menacing.

Cuckoo: Season 4 – Netflix Original: Hoping to build a career for himself, Dale gives hospitality a try, while lawyer Ken copes badly with some professional issues of his own in Season 4.

Dance & Sing with True: Songs – Netflix Original: True and her friends are making music — and they want you to dance and sing along. So cut loose, silly goose! These fun beats are totally sweet.

Fuller House: Season 4 – Netflix Original: The Tanner-Fuller-Gibblers are back with big laughs. DJ and Steve rekindle their flame — and a new member of the family is on the way!

Inside the Real Narcos – Netflix Original: Special Forces soldier Jason Fox embeds himself with drug cartels in Mexico, Colombia and Peru to understand the people involved and how they operate.

Inside the World’s Toughest Prisons: Season 3 – Netflix Original: Investigative journalist Raphael Rowe, who was once wrongfully convicted of murder, visits prisons in Colombia, Costa Rica, Romania and Norway.

Prince of Peoria: A Christmas Moose Miracle – Netflix Original: Teddy’s never missed the Festival of Lights, but the bowling alley’s been snowed in! Not to worry — Emil insists the Christmas moose will save the day.

ROMA – Netflix Film: This film from Oscar winner Alfonso Cuarón chronicles a tumultuous year in the life of a middle-class family in Mexico City in the early 1970s.

Sunderland Til I Die – Netflix Original: This docuseries follows English soccer club Sunderland through the 2017-18 season as they try to bounce back after relegation from the Premier League.

The Fix – Netflix Original: Comedians Jimmy Carr, D.L. Hughley and Katherine Ryan tackle the world’s woes with help from a rotating crew of funny guests and actual experts.

The Innocent Man – Netflix Original: Based on the true crime best-seller by John Grisham, the six-part documentary series The Innocent Man focuses on two murders that shook the small town of Ada, Oklahoma, in the 1980s — and the controversial chain of events that followed.

The Protector – Netflix Original: Discovering his ties to a secret ancient order, a young man living in modern Istanbul embarks on a quest to save the city from an immortal enemy.

Tidelands – Netflix Original: Ex-con Cal McTeer’s return to her hometown Orphelin Bay blows the lid off a generations-long conspiracy of silence around murder, drugs and sirens.

Travelers: Season 3 – Netflix Original: With the truth about their existence exposed to the world, MacLaren and his team must cover their tracks, partner with the FBI, and find Traveler 001.

Voltron: Legendary Defender: Season 8 – Netflix Original: A team of teenagers continues to work together, fighting the forces of evil amid an epic intergalactic battle to protect the universe.

December 16

Baby Mama

Kill the Messenger

One Day

Springsteen on Broadway – Netflix Original: In this acclaimed show based on his best-selling autobiography, Bruce Springsteen performs acoustic versions of his music and shares personal stories.

The Theory of Everything

December 18

Baki – Netflix Original: While martial arts champion Baki Hanma trains hard to surpass his legendary father, five violent death row inmates descend upon Tokyo to take him on.

Ellen DeGeneres: Relatable – Netflix Original: Ellen DeGeneres is “Relatable” in her debut Netflix original comedy special premiering December 18. Filmed at Seattle’s Benaroya Hall, Relatable marks Ellen’s return to stand-up after a 15-year hiatus.

Terrace House: Opening New Doors: Part 5 – Netflix Original: Takayuki and Aya keep going on dates, but Takayuki’s heart may be set on someone else. New member Shunsuke begins a journey of self-discovery.

December 21

3Below: Tales of Arcadia – Netflix Original: After crash-landing in Arcadia, two royal teen aliens struggle to blend in as they evade intergalactic bounty hunters. Created by Guillermo del Toro.

7 Days Out – Netflix Original: 7 Days Out offers an intimate look at the excitement and drama of the seven days leading up to the most significant historical and cultural events in the worlds of fashion, food, space, sports, and entertainment. From Karl Lagerfeld preparing for the latest Chanel Haute Couture collection, to NASA’s groundbreaking Cassini mission, 7 Days Out delivers unprecedented, behind-the-scenes access as we countdown the most exciting events in the world. The series comes from the acclaimed director of First Monday in May, Andrew Rossi, from Andrew Fried and Dane Lillegard, Executive Producers of Chef’s Table and Last Chance U, and Executive Producer Joe Zee.

Back With the Ex – Netflix Original: After years apart, four singles will reunite with the exes they just couldn’t forget. But will their past loves feel the same way about them?

Bad Seeds – Netflix Film: Troubled by his past, a scam artist who runs a petty racket with his adoptive mom finds redemption while mentoring a group of difficult students.

Bird Box  – Netflix Film: Five years after a wave of mass suicides decimates the population, a woman and her two children embark on a desperate, dangerous quest for sanctuary.

Derry Girls – Netflix Original: Set against the backdrop of the Northern Ireland Troubles, this comic series follows a group of friends as they navigate their teens in the early 1990s.

Diablero – Netflix Original: A supernatural fight between good and evil unfolds on the colorful streets of Mexico when a priest enlists the help of a crew led by a legendary demon hunter.

Greenleaf: Season 3

LAST HOPE: Part 2 – Netflix Original: The Pandora team continues to endure a barrage of setbacks that threaten the city, while a vengeful Mr. Gold awaits his chance to enact revenge.

Perfume – Netflix Original: A perfumer with a superhuman sense of smell begins killing female students at a boarding school to distill their essence and create the perfect scent.

Sirius the Jaeger – Netflix Original: In imperial Tokyo, a group calling themselves “Jaegers” secretly hunt the vampires seeking the Ark of Sirius. Among them is young werewolf, Yuliy.

Struggle: The Life and Lost Art of Szukalski – Netflix Film: Underground artists in L.A. discover the work of a forgotten Polish sculptor, a mad genius whose true story unfolds chapter by astounding chapter.

Tales by Light: Season 3 – Netflix Original: Season 3 follows a trio of image-makers on voyages of discovery into neighborhoods of India, the reefs of Indonesia, and the backcountry of Australia.

The Casketeers – Netflix Original: A docuseries about the wife-and-husband team at Waitakere Funeral Services, as they work with grieving families in an insightful and emotional way.

Wolf (BÖRÜ) – Netflix Original: Tasked with risky operations across Turkey, members of a special security unit confront danger and tragedy both on the field and at home.

December 24

Hi Score Girl – Netflix Original: A chronic gamer abysmally inept in academics and sports finally meets his match at his usual shady arcade — and it’s his rich classmate, Akira.

The Magicians: Season 3

December 25

Anthony Bourdain: Parts Unknown: Season 11

Marvel Studios’ Avengers: Infinity War

December 26

Alexa & Katie: Season 2 – Netflix Original: For best friends Alexa and Katie, sophomore year brings budding romance, a major breakup, a birthday milestone — and big lessons they’ll never forget.

YOU

December 28

Instant Hotel – Netflix Original: Teams of Australian homeowners compete for the title of best Instant Hotel by staying overnight in each other’s rentals and rating their experience.

La noche de 12 años – Netflix Film: Three political prisoners, including future president of Uruguay José Mujica, are held in clandestine captivity by Uruguay’s military dictatorship.

Selection Day – Netflix Original: Between an overbearing father and an underhanded system, a cricket prodigy and his brother grapple with their own ambitions, demons and identities.

When Angels Sleep – Netflix Film: A businessman falls asleep at the wheel and hits a woman with his car. His interactions with her frightened friend unleash a string of dark events.

Yummy Mummies – Netflix Original: Follow four young mothers with enviable lifestyles throughout their pregnancies, as they delve into a chaotic new reality with newborn babies.

December 30

December 31

The Bill Murray Stories: Life Lessons Learned From a Mythical Man

Coming in December

Watership Down: Limited Series – Netflix Original: A warren of rabbits battles many threats on their daring journey to find a new home in this adaptation of the classic novel by Richard Adams.

Last Call – Titles Rotating Off the Service in December 2018

December 1

Cabin Fever

Cabin Fever 2: Spring Fever

Groundhog Day

Happily N’Ever After

Happily N’Ever After 2: Snow White

Hellbound: Hellraiser II

Hellraiser

Sons of Anarchy: Seasons 1-7

Spider-Man 3

Spy Hard

Stephen King’s Children of the Corn

Swept Under

The Covenant

The Game

December 4

Air Bud: Seventh Inning Fetch

Air Bud: Spikes Back

Air Bud: World Pup

Air Buddies

Cars Toon: Mater’s Tall Tales

Spooky Buddies

Tarzan & Jane

The Brave Little Toaster Goes to Mars

The Brave Little Toaster to the Rescue

The Crimson Wing: Mystery of the Flamingos

The Search for Santa Paws

Tinker Bell

Tinker Bell and the Great Fairy Rescue

Tinker Bell and the Lost Treasure

December 7

December 10

Battle Royale

Battle Royale 2

Teeth

December 15

December 16

Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy

December 17

Beverly Hills Chihuahua 2

December 19

December 20

Disney’s Moana

Food, Inc.

I Give It a Year

December 22

December 25

Disney’s Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl

December 31

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