Animation

Another little gem from Emile Cohl. This short animated film seems to be about booze and delusions.
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Czech surrealist filmmaker Jan Svankmajer, who gained a reputation for his short subjects, makes his feature-film debut with Neco z Alenky, a grotesque look into the darkest, wildest recesses of a child’s mind. A surreal adaptation of Lewis Carroll’s children’s classic Alice in Wonderland, the film stars Kristyna Kohoutov? as Alice, the only human character in the film. The other roles, which are voiced by Alice, are filled by an odd menagerie of animated clay, puppets, and meat. After falling asleep beside a stream, Alice follows a stuffed rabbit into a magical world where she encounters several grotesque-looking characters, including a caterpillar and The Mad Hatter. Also released under the title Alice, Neco Z Alenky was nominated for the International Fantasy Film Award at the 1989 Fantasporto Film Festival.Read More »

(From Wikipedia)
Mary Ellen Bute (November 21, 1906 – October 17, 1983) was a pioneer film animator who did much of her work in visual music. She was one of the first female experimental filmmakers in the U.S. From 1934 until 1953, she made 14 short, musical abstract films, working in New York. Many of these were seen in regular U.S. movie theaters, such as Radio City Music Hall, often before a prestigious film. Several of her films were also called “Seeing Sound” films.Read More »

A delightful and innovative CG-animated fable, Le tableau is set within the world of an unfinished painting whose artist has abandoned his incomplete creations. In his absence, the finished drawings (the “Alldunns”) take over governance of the painting, relegating the partially completed “Halfies” to second-class citizenship and declaring a war of extermination against the thinly outlined “Sketchies.” But when an Alldunn, a Halfie and a Sketchie wind up sharing a journey downriver to parts unknown, they discover other paintings, other beings, and learn that the world beyond their own frame is richer and more diverse than they ever imagined. Returning from their adventure, they must persuade the others to learn acceptance, to see the bigger picture and to realize that everyone is, in their own way, a unique work of art.Read More »

From IMDB:
The film follows Nishi, a loser who has a crush on his childhood girlfriend. After an encounter with the Japanese mafia, the film follows Nishi as he journeys to heaven and back, and ends up trapped in an even more unlikely place. Nishi (and some friends) attempt to break out of their trap, and discover what it truly means to be alive along the way. This is a mind-bending trip that uses some of the most innovative animation ever created. Written by animenewsnetwork.com

This award-winning film is a journey of self-discovery based on Japan’s cult underground comic “Mind Game” by Robin Nishi. The story follows Nishi himself through the life experiences that directly inspired the semi-autobiographical “Mind Game” comic. As a college-age loser addicted to porn and aspiring to write seedy adult comics, Nishi aspires to overcome his addiction to perversion in a tale that is lighthearted yet painful and touching. What starts off as an innocent meeting between old friends quickly turns into a psychedelic extravaganza, filled with violence, sex, love, redemption, and the infinite possibilities of the human mind. Director Masaaki Yuasa rejoices in experimental animation techniques, filling the screen with virtuoso wackiness, mixing in rough lines and storyboards, then inserting photographic touches. Written by Anonymous “Read More »

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Animation by Anatoly Petrov, The first of 4 Greek mythological stories with an erotic character about Aphrodite and Eros he made between 1989 and 1996.
The style is quite experimental on the first two, as he strived for a 3 dimensional effect using just handcrafted cel-animation means.

For animating it means he drew 2 layers for each animation sequence, which doubles the amount of animation drawings.and he drew them all by himself, showing his extraordinary skills and speed as animator.
There are many switches in style in the animation, sometimes using sketch material,at other times fully worked out animation, and from black and white to colour, etc. It gives the animation a quit experimental character. A sort of deconstructed style
The nudity and erotique character of the 4 animations is unique for soviet animation. With every animation of the serie the erotism gets more explicit. The 4 are the only Russian erotic animation art known to meRead More »

Synopsis from AMG:
In this episodic animated fantasy from France, an art teacher interprets a series of six fairy tales (each involving a prince or princess) with the help of two precocious students. Princes et Princesses was created using a special style of cutout animation, with black silhouetted characters performing the action against backlit backdrops in striking colors. Produced in 1989, Princes et Princesses was first released in Europe in 2000 and received its first screening in North America at the 2000 Toronto Film Festival. — Mark DemingRead More »

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The hero, Prince Siegfried, is out riding one day with his friends when he spies amidst swans on a lake a particularly eye-catching one with a crown on its head, the familiar Princess Odette. The princess is charmed by an evil wizard Rothbart who is crazy about marrying Odette. Handsome Prince Siegfried together with two merry squirrels struggle to defeat the evil wizard to complete this classic fairy tales. The movie features original Tschaikovsky music. Written by Lucky-16Read More »

synopsis

Richard Linklater returned to the semi-improvised approach and philosophical themes of his debut feature Slacker while embracing a new and groundbreaking visual technology in his sixth feature film, Waking Life. Linklater and cameraman Tommy Pallotta shot the film on location in Austin, TX, using digital video equipment. Linklater and digital animator Bob Sabiston then used newly developed computer software to transform the images through a process called “interpolated rotoscoping”; the result merges the naturalism of live action with a stylized look that resembles a cartoon or a painting in motion. Waking Life’s flexible, non-narrative approach follows a young man (Wiley Wiggins) who arrives in Austin and hitches a ride with a stranger, who engages him in a conversation about rarely considered facets of existentialism. As the visitor drifts through the city, he encounters a variety of people and finds himself absorbing their views on art, philosophy, society, and numerous other issues of contemporary life. Linklater’s cast is dotted with well-known actors (Ethan Hawke, Julie Delpy, Adam Goldberg, Nicky Katt) and pop-culture notables (filmmaker Steven Soderbergh, Martin Scorsese associate Steven Prince, comic Louis Black), alongside a large number of relatively little-known players. Waking Life received its world premiere at the 2001 Sundance Film Festival; Linklater’s next film, Tape, was also screened at the same festival.by Mark DemingRead More »