Twitch

Trailer for CG Animated Short THE MOUSE THAT SOARED

Fri, 20 Nov 2009 15:15:11 -0500

Directed by veteran animator Kyle Bell, The Mouse That Soared is a six minute CG animated short produce from mostly the crew that worked at Laika Entertainment, the studio behind Coraline and Moongirl. The trailer is only 30 seconds long, yet very concise.

Step right up and behold the harrowing and hair-raising aerial adventures of a flying circus mouse! Witness the rise of our orphan foundling as he learns valuable lessons in life and flight from two well-intentioned adoptive songbirds! Fasten your safety belts as our little faux-feathered hero reflects on his unlikely beginnings on his flight path to becoming a coveted circus sensation! Come one, come all to this high-flying tale of overcoming adversity and beating near-impossible odds!

Check out the official site to view the concept art. You'll find the trailer embedded below.

Poster Alert! Gremlins, Alien LA Exclusives!

Fri, 20 Nov 2009 13:57:14 -0500

The peeps over at Mondotees.com are hosting a show in LA tonight at Gallery 1988 and are releasing a few prints as LA Exclusive.

The prints that are going to get people all hot and bothered are for Gremlins by newcomer Rhys Cooper and another Alien poster by Ken Taylor. Those who got his Alien Egg poster released a few months back will have to get their hands on this beauty.

Appearing at the show tonight are three artists who will be on hand, doing artwork and shoot the shit. Skinner will be selling his Medusa head print which he printed in 40 copies and hand colored each one.

Kevin Tong will release his Alamo Drafthouse love letter, where various people and characters are watching a certain movie. He will also have a blank version where he will draw which ever movie scene you want in there.

Then Harry Diaz will be there silk screening his new movie themed T-Shirts.

The Event will take place at Gallery 1988, 7020 Melrose Ave, from 7-10 pm tonight only. So if you are in the area get your asses down there and snatch up these sweet deals.

Check out these sweet posters below in the gallery section.

Making-of Video for CG Animated Short MEET MELINE

Fri, 20 Nov 2009 11:40:25 -0500

Back in late March, a trailer for Sebastien Laban & Virginie Goyons' animated short Meet Meline caught my eye and I became immediately captivated by its charm and magical wonder while leaving me wanting to see how the story develops when the little girl finds the mysterious creature. Although the full short is not available online yet unfortunately, a 12-minutes making-of featurette has been unveiled today that contains some behind-the-scenes footage, interviews with the director on the story/characters/environments and an in-depth view on the process of completing the short. I can only imagine the road to getting the project off the ground is long and arduous but its also clear that alot of heart and passion was put into it. A definite must-see for any aspiring animators wanting to learn how to start their own short film.

You'll find the making-of video and the trailer embedded below.

Test Footage From Argentine Sci-Fi EL ETERNAUTA

Fri, 20 Nov 2009 11:38:25 -0500

Without a doubt the largest and most anticipated science fiction film ever produced in South America, there are rumors of dischord circling the film adaptation of Hector German Oesterheld's El Eternauta. There is recent chatter that original director Lucrecia Martel - always something of an odd fit, really - is off the project but I don't expect that a change of directors will be enough to derail this alien invasion tale. And, really, if Martel is gone the directors should be hopping on the next flight to Uruguay to sign Panic Attack director Federico Alvarez.

But I digress. El Eternauta is a sprawling tale that begins with aliens sending a toxic snowfall onto humanity, a devastating attack followed up by their unleashing of bizarre, remotely mind controlled creatures to mop up the survivors. Survivors, who, thanks to the damage wrought on the environment, can now only venture out doors in specially constructed bio-hazard suits. And though the film is far from complete earlier this year a reel of test footage was prepared to demonstrate how it could be executed. The effects are obviously not complete - the texturing and shading need work - but still are quite impressive for test work. Check out the reel below.

DougTenNapel Says GO SUKASHI!

Fri, 20 Nov 2009 10:30:43 -0500

New from Doug TenNapel - still best known as the creator of Earthworm Jim, though his credits go well beyond that at this stage of his career - and Shoko Nakagawa is Go Sukashi! An English language masked hero web series produced by TenNapel and based on characters from Nakagawa's Sukashikashipan-Man manga the results are so exciting that they've left Nakagawa ready to go and eat one million pieces of the bread! That's power! Episode one lurks below!

ADVENTURES OF POWER Review

Thu, 19 Nov 2009 19:15:43 -0500

Writer/director Ari Gold also stars as the title character Power in this underdog/rock n' roll/road comedy. The story is as simple as it's protagonist: Power is a full-on loser, who works at the local energy plant with his gruff union leader dad Harlan (Michael McKean) and lives in a tent on the front lawn of his eccentric hippy aunt Joni (Jane Lynch) while persuing his dream of being a respected "air drummer". You see, Power never got to have a real drum set growing up, so he has done the next best thing, he's learned to mimic his heroes in the empty space in front of his face.
After a mishap at work, when Power accidentally pulls a lever and covers one of the big bosses in raw oil while getting his groove on, he is given his walking papers. This happens right before his dear old dad has planned a walk-out with the workers in order to get better wages. This is the final let down for Powers' dear old pop. That night Power thinks he can redeam himself in the eyes of his disapproving father by winning the local talent contest being held at his Aunt Joni's bar. Making a mockery of himself, Power decides to hit the road, on his 12 year old best friends child sized bicycle, and make his way to Mexico for a clandestine air-drum competition that reeks of danger, but may hold promise for Powers' destiny. AFter almost getting caught in a police sweep, Power makes his way to the Big City, still in persuit of his dream and credibility.
He ends up living in a Chinese take out restaurants back room, after being rescued from a mugging by the owners, and dating the deaf girl who works there, Annie (WEEDS' Shoshannah Stern) despite Annie's disapproving mother. But Annie falls in love with Power, and supports his dream. Power joins up with legendary a air drum instructor and his troupe of protege's, Power proves to be a limitless talent. They set to prepare to win the big air drum off with only a couple of weeks to prep their big contender, Power.
Meanwhile, pop-punk/country hybrid music star Dallas Houston (ENTOURAGE's Adrian Grenier) is raking up zillions of dollars on the charts, under the management of his rich oil baron daddy, but his heart is in air drumming as well. And his embarrased fatherbe damned, he's going to follow his heart and join the competition.

Ugh.

If the above sounds tedious and worn, trust me, it is. With the cast of "zany" characters, and sub-plots about a union strike and Annie's mothers past that go nowhere, I was wishing I had a sink full of dirty dishes needing washing before I even hit the halfway mark of this movie. First, the character of Power is so pathetic there's nothing to like. It's like a more obnoxious, older, and rocked out version of Napolean Dynamite. There is nothing the character rises against that isn't of his own making by his own dimwitted behavior. Like when Power gets fired for screwing up at work, it's totally his own fault. He deserves to get fired. He deserves everything bad that happens to him because he's such a gonad. Then, the talents of Chris Guest stalwarts Michael McKean and Jane Lynch are completely wasted with characters that go nowhere, and exhibit fewer interesting traits than a stack of wet cardboard.
Then, the air drumming itself? Yeah, it's a ridiculous and ham fisted ronic and absurd concept, but at least teach the actors to really nail the music they're mimicking. Make us go "Well damn, that looked dead on!" so we have an iota of appreciation for the entire point and subject of the film, as silly as it may be. Make us believe.
On top of all that, and I'm remiss to really say this but here goes, the film is full of minor characters of different ethnicities. But the way they are used to invoke laughs is damn close to being racist. Cheap shots at stereotypes abound, as it's not what the characters say that is supposedly funny, but how they say it. It comes from the "Har har! They talk funny!" school of humor. Cheap, antiquaited, and plain old offensive at times. The Chinese restaurant owners characters, I'm surprised they didn't own a laundromat so they could deliver golden comedic lines like "No tickey no washey!" Then there's the recurring Mexican character who is fond of saying "You my freeeeiiind" in some kind of half baked play on Rob Scneider's "You can do it!" guy. Then there's the east Indian air drummer. And the Black Dude air drummer. Etc etc. All overblown cartoon versions of racial stereotypes. Wow. Just. Wow.

Double ugh.

Of course this all builds up to the "big climax, the air drum off competition. And of course it comes down to being between Power and Dallas Houston, whose popularity and celebrity almost ensure he is the winner. But Power rallies, when his show stopper RUSH's "Tom Sawyer" turns out to be the final competition piece. Of course this leads to an underdog victory (trust me I'm not spoiling anything here) and a face to face meeting Powers' hero, RUSH drummer Neil Peart.

Triple ugh.

How the production got the rights to use "Tom Sawyer" and roped the notoriously curmudgeonly Neil Peart into a cameo is beyond me. But more, er, power to them for it. Produced as an independent feature, ADVENTURES OF POWER struggles (and actually succeeds for once) at looking slicker than it should. It seems like it wants to be a hybrid of NAPOLEAN DYNAMITE and SCHOOL OF ROCK, or at least fall firmly into the category, as stated earlier, of underdog/rock n' roll/road comedy that leaves the audience shaking their heads, laughing, and feeling good as they walk out of the theater. ADVENTURES OF POWER is full of unlikable characters that deserve no sympathy, and tropes that go so far beyond cliche it had me wanting to rip my own eyes out. I usually at least have dumb fun with these types of movies, but this was so bad, and such an empty void creatively, that I have had trouble even finding something to review. Going to see the dentist for an impromtu root canal sans anesthesia would have brought me more pleasure than watching this lobotomizing cinematic fart. It's got me rethinking my hatred for Rob Zombie's films. They might not be the worst thing I've ever seen after all.

First Images From Sergei Bodrov And Guka Omarova's YAKUZA'S DAUGHTER!

Thu, 19 Nov 2009 18:04:23 -0500

Earlier this month Twitch brought you word that Japanese action star Tak Sakaguchi had flown off to the Ukraine where he was hard at work as both an actor and action choreographer in a new film by Sergei Bodrov and Guka Omarova - a duo whose last foray into Japanese casting led to the impeccable Mongol, with Tadanobu Asano cast as Genghis Khan.

At the time we had very little to tell you other than that the film was happening but, hot on the heels of a press conference in Russia earlier today, we've got more now. Produced by Russian production giant CTB, the film is titled Yakuza's Daughter. Bodrov and Omorova are co-directing, Bodrov and Sergei Selyanov (Bimmer, The Sword Bearer, Morphia) producing,and Night Watch / Day Watch DoP Sergey Trofimov manning the camera.

But beyond the names we've also got the first ten images from the film in the gallery below. No Sakaguchi yet - though we've been told shots of the Versus star will follow soon - but they give a good look at the feel of the film, which is clearly an action comedy. We've been promised a translated version of the Russian press release soon, so keep watching for more details soon!

Yakuza's Daughter

Thu, 19 Nov 2009 17:59:46 -0500

Chandmani Sum review

Thu, 19 Nov 2009 15:36:32 -0500

Little bump as I included the trailer for your viewing pleasure.

Mongolia is faraway, barren and mostly unknown territory for us Westerners. Most of us know very little about it, except maybe a little trivia about Genghis Kahn. Rowan Lee Hartsuiker took the time to visit the place and document his findings, granting us a quick peek into a culture most of us didn't even know existed. The 30-minute documentary Chandiman Sum is the result.

I'm not much of a documentary fanatic myself. Not that I lack interest in the varied range of subjects (name it and there is probably of documentary on it), but I find the format very limiting. As part of the film medium it does very little with images and sound, making the audiovisual experience neglectable. On top of that most documentaries prove very manipulative and subjective, not exactly when I have in mind when watching badly shot images with little to no artistic direction. I know this is not the case for all documentaries, but unless proven wrong I consider them the exceptions to the rule.

Chandmani Sum is clearly one of those exceptions. Hartsuiker traveled to Mongolia and stayed there for 6 months in a tiny village, spending time on getting to know the people and their customs. His camera observes them in their everyday lives, but rather than simply capturing life in Mongolia, his documentary tries to convey his experience over there. For that, he is not shy to experiment with all means necessary.

Visually Chandmani Sum is a true beauty. Completely presented in a light blue monochrome color, only rarely allowing other colors to come through, the documentary gives a very unique look at the desolate countryside of Mongolia. Hartsuiker has a great eye and knows to capture some magnificent scenes, giving them a rather daunting and otherworldly feeling. In some scenes the editing reminded me of Aronofski's Pi, with very quick and sharp cuts, creating a streak of chaos within the quiet and barren landscapes.

The soundtrack is almost completely composed of Mongolian) vocal music, but plays mostly like illbient. It calls a dark and moody atmosphere, creating a perfect flow with the images. In several short sequences the performers are visible themselves, demonstrating their vocal skills which is actually quite impressive to see. On top of that layer of sound Hartsuiker provided a couple short monologues. Their muffled appearance, trying to become part of the soundtrack but ultimately failing as the brain is too conditioned to make out the words, is probably my only real issue with this film. Of course this is only a problem for those who understand the Dutch language.

Hartsuiker explained that his main goal was to give people an image of Mongolia they would remember. I can only speak for myself, but with his documentary he surely achieved his goal. In a rather ironic twist all extra stylistic additions help in creating a more believable view on the Mongolian people and their lives. On top of that, the film's a blast to watch and to listen to.

Chandmani Sum is not your everyday documentary. It presents reality in a stylized way but doesn't lose any of its incredibility. Hartsuiker succeeds in his mission, delivers a visually accomplished document with a superb soundtrack and transports you to a world not quite like ours. And the best part? It's entirely free (in a legal way), a quick look around the web will guide you to the source.

A TOWN CALLED PANIC Review

Thu, 19 Nov 2009 15:00:30 -0500

(Our thanks goes out to Joseph Sylvers for the review)

The Hitchhikers Guide To The Galaxy's book within the book begins with the phrase "Don't Panic", because the universe is a dizzying, dazzlingly complex place, that to take it all in at once could result in hyperventilating, existential angst, or spasmadic fits of fear and trembling, and before reading it in book form it's important to take a breath and relax. A Town Called Panic does not invite any moments of calm or temperance, or respite from the chaos of the world, instead it revels in its absurd animated mania that would not feel out of place on Adult Swim or Saturday mornings.

It is defiantly ridiculous, and never offensive, mean, or crude. In a dayglo town, we see old toys moving of their own accord. Toys from a time before action figures, when plastic figures stood on mounted bases and lacked bendable limbs.
A town called "the town", houses a postman, a policemen, a music school, a farmer, his wife, and their animals (who attend the music school), and a horse, an Indian, and a cowboy. The later are the films heroes here making their big screen debut from the Belgian produced animated series with the same name as the film. The trio forms a strange family, with the Horse heading the household, driving, the car, handling the finances, etc, with Cowboy and Indian as the two young impish tricksters getting into various shenanigans.

The action begins when the boys realize they have forgotten Horse's birthday, and decide at the last minute to build him a barbeque. The boys make a slight snafu when instead of ordering 50 bricks they have delivered 500,000 bricks. The best scene is a drunken party that takes place early on, but where I expected the film to dip after the 20 minute mark, it kept delivering, taking us into the center of the earth, into a Penguin shaped mobile Artic..."research"...station, and an undersea kingdom located directly beneath the town.
Horse, in love with the school's music teacher, only wants to get back to his lesson in time, but instead they chase a merman through a series of wacky encounters.

This was one of the few films that was screened twice during the AFI fest and I only caught the 2nd screening on the last day of the festival. The director wasn't there, but in place there was someone from the Belgian consulate who said that though he had not seen the film he had been assured by everyone who had that it followed in Belgium's unique tradition of cartoons, comics, and sense of humor. He spoke with a vague craftiness more like a producer than a diplomat, but perhaps there is not much difference in the two. In fairness all of the characters did seem to survive of a daily diet of fresh waffles (even the mermen).

The show has been on since 2003 in 5 minute segments, and given their previously limited time, it's impressive they can develop a full feature that never sags once. Though many have referred to the film as stop-motion, it is actually a process called puppetoon, where instead of "a single figure photographed and repositioned and photographed again" - according to wiki - the puppets are rigid and static pieces; each is typically used in a single frame and then switched with a separate, near-duplicate puppet for the next frame. Thus puppetoon animation requires many separate figures. It is more analogous in a certain sense to cell animation than is traditional stop-motion: the characters are created from scratch for each frame...". Though the effect is light, the production seems painstaking.

A Town Called Panic is a delightful lo-fi animated film, that doesn't aim to impart any kind of moral or lesson, but recreate a Chuck Jones's "Looney Toons" like free range explosion built of escalating absurdity and stacking gags on top of gags in a Tower Of Babel to cartoon comedy heaven. It doesn't quite reach these epic levels, but it's a fun film that I could imagine watching episodically week to week, late on a foggy night or over breakfast cereal the day after (or breakfast cereal late that night). Enjoyable for the uninitiated (like myself), and probably more of a treat for fans. At 75 minutes it's a breezy watch, rewarding in easy cheer and quirky charm. Along with Ponyo this is one of my favorite animated films of the year, and makes clear the point that there are still open avenues available to animators who want to work outside the CG universe.

(Editor's note: Zeitgeist Films will be releasing the film in the states starting on December 16th at NYC's Film Forum and then a slow roll out over most urban/major areas in early 2010. Check their site for further dates.)

Ask Him Again, His Soul is Still Dancing. 15 minutes with Werner Herzog.

Thu, 19 Nov 2009 14:53:44 -0500

One of the pleasures of going to film festivals are the Q&A sessions afterwards. If you read humour pieces regarding this aspect of the festival experience, they are often snarky little pieces about the awful questions fielded by audience members, or folks trying to pass the director along a screenplay or simply blubbering "I love all your movies" in the starstruck awe. Yes, those things happen (often), but with good moderation from the programmer/host and an exceptional speaker, you could end up with something like this quarter hour with German director Werner Herzog. The second of two public screenings at the Toronto International Film Festival went down like gangbusters at the Elgin Theatre and most of the satisfied, quite entertained, audience stuck around to talk shop. Moderated by programmer Colin Geddes and with Herzog in high form - while most would say that Roger Ebert is 'fighting cancer,' Herzog states that the famous critic is "afflicted by disease and death is creeping up to him." (with friends like that, Herzog needs people around him like Kinski!) - it is one of the best Q&As of the festival in recent years.

In light of Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call New Orleans about to drop into Canadian cinemas and on VOD in the United States, here is the transcript of that time spent post-screening at the Elgin in September. Having browsed around the web, i am convinced that it trumps a lot of the recent print and professional interviews on the same subject.

***SPOILER WARNING*** Particularly near the end, the talk gets into some story and plot nitty-grittiness.

Colin Geddes: This film is very different when you look at your previous body of work, what attracted you want to do a crime drama (or a crime comedy)?

Werner Herzog: It's not really a crime drama it is something much wider than that. Of course the obvious answer is Nicholas Cage and I had the chance to work together. In fact we realized almost on the same moment on the same day, having observed each other work for three decades, that it was an outrage that we had never connected and worked together. So we were in business within 60 seconds of a phone call. And that was a really wonderful challenge. And the second was of course was going to New Orleans and doing a film there and for me new horizons new subjects new production collaborations new forms of stories. However what you see here is a film or a leading character in line with other characters, it is almost like a family series and Nicholas cage is a new part of the family.

CG: And how did you work with Nicholas as an actor, there was actually a phrase you told him to help him.

WH: It is a strange thing because on the first or second day of shooting he asked me (we were never into discussing the screenplay or discussing motivations) but he timidly came and said, 'well I don't really want to bother you but why is he so bad; is it is his childhood or his parents or the drugs or New Orleans or the corruption in the police force.' And I said, 'No. C'mon we are not going to discuss this kind of bullshit about motivations and things like this' and I said to him, 'there is a proverbial sayings in Bavarian dialects, 'there will be many moments when you turn the hog loose, turn the pig loose, release the wild boar. And we were waiting for these moments and sometimes he released the wild boar. And those were the real wonderful moments. But of course turning the hog loose always meant with in the strictures of a situation. It is not completely wild improvisation without anyone knowing where we were going. And he had a very keen sense for the fluidity, for the flow of jazz music, where an instrument all of a sudden takes off and improvises, but very much within the melodious and rhythmic doctrine.

Audience Question: What can you say about the Script. How much did he deviate from the original script. How much was improved?

WH: I did deviate quite a bit. First of all, I knew there was a lot of things I should throw out. And Billy Finkelstein, the writer, had no problem with he because he also felt there were a few things too many, too many times where Terence McDonagh, the Bad Lieutenant, would snort cocaine or heroin or god knows what else. So I cut quite a few scenes out, this being repetitive. And I'm not a moralist, but I do not like the culture of drugs. I said throw it all out, as much as we can. And then of course I changed the entire beginning. The screenplay started out (very harmless in a way) with the Bad Lieutenant, he rescues a man in a suicide attempt throws himself onto the track of an incoming subway train and rescues him. So what, here. I thought we should really start it as evil and debased and as vile as it could get. [And] The whole relationship between him and the young woman was only based on sex and drugs and I said, No, it is a real love story, so we invented the thing with the pirate treasure and the spoon, the sterling silver spoon that he cannot find anymore. And of course the iguanas. And the dancing soul. You just name it. I love these moments. Do fish have dreams. I said it and sometimes I would look around the camera and he would know that I didn't call cut. and the camera on someone and the lights and everyone staring he knows he had to deliver some sort of an after thought or a chuckle or something and nothing came and after a long 60 seconds of torture of him not knowing what to do now. I said, 'Cut' and he turns to me and said, 'Werner, what else could I have added or said?' and I said, 'Do fish have dreams?' And it came as quickly as is spontaneous, without missing a beat. Where this line came from I have no idea. But it looked very good when we did the next take, and I had the feeling we had to verify it. Do fish have dreams? I knew there was a big aquarium so we went to the aquarium and filmed the real ending. I must say that it is a real wonderful end for me because it is so mysterious it has such great beauty and has such a mysterious chuckle at the end that you do not know where does it comes from. It always reminds me, when you look at the last self-portraits of both Rembrandt and Goya, these old toothless men, they look out of the picture and laugh, as if they were laughing at their mirror image. Laughing. Very mysterious and strange.

AQ: Shooting the scene with the old lady and the oxygen pipe. Was there a lot of improvising in that?

WH: In a way it is a defining scene. It is not completely written like that. Of course he is kinking the oxygen line and he tries to force some knowledge, where did the young man go. In an early take, I said to Nicholas, this is a scene where you have to turn the pig loose. And go for it. And of course it was very clearly settled. But when he pulls the gun again and accuses her of sucking up the inheritance of her children and grandchildren and this is the reason why the country went down the drain. So it all came to him on his own and I just stood there in total amazement. In a way, now you can tell that I'm making mistakes myself, I had the feeling that drawing the gun the second time was a little bit overdone and maybe too much. So i said lets do one more but don't draw the gun. And he was kind of unhappy about it. Normally I do not work for safety or so. But I had some feeling that it maybe be over the top. Give me an alternative where you do not draw the gun. So he did it and it was a very good scene as well. And he turned to me and said, 'Werner, I know exactly what is going to happen, these scenes when they are melting down or neutralized.' and I said, 'Not neutralized, Castrated!' When they ["neutralized scenes"] are shot they always end up in the film. And I said, 'No, I'm not one of those, I'll take a very good look at it and make my decision.' Of course, it was instantly obvious that the scene as it is the right version of it. It was the only time I had two versions of a scene. And I knew it had to be like that no matter what. And I didn't know what the producers would think, and I said to Nicholas, 'we have to defend this no matter what happens.' For example if they try to cut out the iguanas and they find it too crazy or whatever, if that really would happen, I would not like to make films anymore. So I said I'll be on your side and whatever comes up about the scenes that you did so magnificently we'll defend it together. We never had to defend it by the way.

AQ: How much did the film change during editing?

WH: Not much because we really did not have much footage anyway. It seemed like my crew tried to talk me out of the madness to shoot the whole sequence and weave in and out, but I never covered myself, I only shot the real necessities, and that is why shooting days were over at 2pm or 3pm and to days under schedule and 2.6 Million dollars under budget. But a pleasant or funny result of this is that Avi Lerner, the main financier, the producer (who did the last Rambo), wants to marry me now.

CG: This originally thought of as a potential franchise - with a cop in a different city...

WH: That is a misunderstanding about the title. One of the producers, Edward Pressman, owned the rights for the title and I immediately said this will haunt the film it will lead to misunderstandings. And I immediately started to battle for a different title, at that came up: Port of Call New Orleans, so if you want to do a franchise, do Port of Call Detroit, Port of Call Oakland, Port of Call Huston, Port of Call Singapore. So go for that. And now we have to celebrate. I can live with that. But it lead to the misunderstanding with Abel Ferrara, that it was going to be a remake. I've never seen that film, or any of his other films, I don't even know who he is. But it is fine. I heard he is a fine filmmaker, very bold. And kind of vociferous which I like. That is what moviemaking is all about. And lets face it, if dust is kicked up, fine, yes. If you have a baseball game and the coach doesn't storm out from the dugout and kick dust at the umpire, what sort of baseball game is it? If you have a hockey game and there is no big brawl on the ice, it is not worth the money.

AQ: In all of your films there seems to be some kind of animal...

WH: I do not know where it comes from but I love to cast animals in important parts. With the iguanas and the alligator, I insisted it had to be different. Something completely and utterly demented. And I told the cinematographer, you are not going to be allowed to touch this one, I have to shoot this myself. So I had a tiny little lens connected to a fiber optic cable. And I brought it only millimeters away from the eyes of the iguana. And I knew the creature would look utterly perplexed and stupid. And I had a reflector installed so that I would always catch some sort of light intruding into the image as if there was some sort of a
mistake in it or so. And I was always searching over the eyes, I was searching for Nicholas Cage and I was searching for the reflector which the main camera wouldn't see. And I had this idea about the iguanas only maybe two days before we shot them. I said I want to have iguanas and I want to film them myself. And the crew asked me why do you do that and what is the meaning of it? I said, 'Damn it! I have no idea what the meaning is, I only know it is going to be big.'

AQ: Whose idea was it to wrap things up so quickly in the end? There were five problems and then boom, boom, boom, everything was done (I love it by the way, it was absolutely brilliant!)

WH: That is the brilliance of the screenplay, but of course I staged it in a way that nonstop somebody is moving out and somebody is moving into the same frame without cut. As if it was a deus ex machina, everything is suddenly fine, everything falls in place, and he gets money, he gets the case solved, and he gets promoted and the pregnant girlfriend. All of a sudden everything explodes and things settle and being well. I tried to get the audience into a mood where everything is good now and it gets even worse.

AQ: I saw Val Kilmer in an extremely small role, I am wondering if are you able to get actors that to do roles like that simply because of your prestige as a director?

WH: I believe so. Yes.

[Laughter]

WH: I don't get the joke... No, Val Kilmer really wanted to work with me, and he said, c'mon anything you do I'll be on board, and I said, fine, yes, come on board, but I don't have a big role for you. But actors have noticed two things. Number one, I'm good at storytelling. Number two, I always make them appear at their best: Kinski, Christian Bale, including also Nicholas Cage, he is really magnificent in the film, and we knew it from day one, we could all tell on the set, everybody knew it right away, and it has been a totally pleasant experience. Quite often when directors speak about the experience they make it up and make it sound harmonious and good, but it has actually has been a very, very fine experience to work with these actors, in particular Nicholas cage who is a very , very courageous man. A comrade in arms. A soldier of cinema and I love these good soldiers of Cinema. They include not only an actors, but Roger Ebert for example - what a good soldier of cinema. He is not able to speak anymore, he is afflicted by disease and death is creeping up to him, he watches films and writes about them. Nicholas Cage comes utterly prepared every day and the moment we need him to go completely wild and bold, he delivers. I really like this attitude and ultimately I have always said that the only thing I want to be is a good soldier of cinema and I love to work with other soldiers. And in this case it was the actors. And the iguanas.

The NORWEGIAN NINJA Strikes From Beneath The Sea!

Thu, 19 Nov 2009 14:13:29 -0500

No, sadly, there is not yet any official footage available from Thomas Malling's upcoming Norwegian Ninja, though when that comes you can rest assured you'll find it here. What there is, however, is one fantastic piece of artwork for the picture created by Norwegian concept artist and illustrator John S. Jamtli. Jamtli did some extra work on the film and inspired by his bit he came up with an amazing bit of work that you'll find in the gallery below. Would a graphic novel be too much to ask for?

Secret Agent vs Pigeon in CG Animated Short PIGEON: IMPOSSIBLE

Thu, 19 Nov 2009 12:30:24 -0500

What do you get when you cross a secret agent carrying a hi-tech briefcase and a pigeon? Find out what happens in the CG animated short Pigeon: Impossible from director Lucas Martell. The full version has now officially arrived on Youtube in glorious HD after hitting the festival circuit while racking up multiple of awards in the process. Here's how the press release described it:

Pigeon: Impossible is the tale of Walter, a rookie secret agent faced with a problem seldom covered in basic training: what to do when a curious pigeon gets trapped inside your multi-million dollar, government-issued nuclear briefcase.

The film took nearly 5 years to complete and is the first attempt at animation by writer/director Lucas Martell: "When the project started, it was mostly an excuse to learn 3D animation, but by the end of the project I had spent so much time reworking and polishing the story that I just wanted people to laugh."

The end-result is a hilarious 6-minute romp through the streets of Washington D.C. as our hero fights to save himself, and the world from the chaos reigned down by a hungry pigeon. Breathtaking visuals and a sweeping soundtrack showcase the work of nearly one-hundred talented artists and musicians, and the film stands as a testament to what can be accomplished by a team of dedicated volunteers working for the love of their craft.

Also check out the official site to see a gallery of stills and a series of behind-the-scenes video diary on the making of the short. You''ll find the short embedded below.

First Images Arrive From Satoshi Kon's THE DREAMING MACHINE (YUME MIRU KIKAI)

Thu, 19 Nov 2009 12:29:23 -0500

Though there is still minimal plot information available for Paprika director Satoshi Kon's new kid-friendly science fiction animated feature The Dreaming Machine the official website and blog have just been updated with the first images released from the film. Kon in kid-friendly mode is an interesting thing ... there are elements of the design work that are clearly familiar to fans of his work but all of it run through a slightly different filter. I love the look of this and simply can't wait to see it in motion.

Yume Miru Kikai

Thu, 19 Nov 2009 12:20:56 -0500