Soviet Animation Is Something You Can’t Go Russian Into
[ Add A Comment ]Posted on April 28, 2010 by admin in Popular Media
Wednesday, April 28th, 2010A seemingly endless well of Soviet-era animation is popping up on line for your perusal
 This image actually has nothing to do with animation. I just like the imagery. |
Last year we touched on some of the amazing Russian Flash Animation that’s out there, but I had no idea what an amazing body of work existed in terms of Soviet animation in general until I ran into this piece about 80′s Russian animation the other day. I’ve always had a mild fascination with things Russian; especially in the 80′s, when the cold war was sputtering out. I had a fair number of Russian military surplus caps, pins, and jackets, and loved the bold graphic style of Soviet propaganda posters. At the time the Soviet Union not only still existed, it was a dark and mysterious place in western eyes. I’ve also always enjoyed the tough-minded humorous attitude of my Russian friends, which is probably why I’ve threatened to run away and start a Balkan Funk Band. But that’s going to have to wait for a minute, because this Russian animation thing has triggered a wicked case of Wikiphilia, and I’ve got some YouTubing to do. The visual style of Russian animation prior to the 90′s is all over the map, and it’s hard to get a grasp on who did what and why. Some of the coolest stuff may or may not be politically-motivated, and all the best sources for this stuff are in Russian! So I’ve only included two clips below, but if you find this stuff intriguing you might start your trail with some things like this Soyuzmulzfilm channel on YouTube, or Wikipedia pages about the film studios Kievnauchfilm and Soyuzmultfilm. Read the rest of this entry »
No Lion – M.I.A.’s New Video “Born Free” Is Manely Just Violent
[ Add A Comment ]Posted on April 26, 2010 by admin in Popular Media
Monday, April 26th, 2010In much the same way that her political posturing brings more attention to herself than the plight of Sri Lanka, M.I.A.’s new video “Born Free” brings more attention to itself than its message.
Not to be outdone by Erykah Badu, Lady Gaga & Beyoncé, M.I.A.’s new video (below) is much more provocative short film than music video. And while it’s stylishly and cleverly shot it is – in my opinion – a little short on real finesse. When I first heard about M.I.A.
Life Is Short – Films Should Be Too
[ Add A Comment ]Posted on March 31, 2010 by admin in Popular Media
Wednesday, March 31st, 2010The internet is one big film festival, and you can be the judge.
 Tokyo/Glow Is Gorgeous, Simple, and Short |
One of my only disappointments regarding the recent Ann Arbor Film Festival was that I didn’t catch enough of it. Which is a little amusing, since I had a press pass*, and it’s a festival comprised largely of short films. Which are coincidentally kind of a fetish of mine, largely because of my goldfish-like media attention span. I regrettably missed winner’s night, but was confident that I could cleverly find a lot of the films online like I had with some of the opening night entries. How wrong I was. What I quickly learned googling the festival winners was that there are two distinct schools of thought on distribution of these festival-oriented works: one that believes in the new economy of “release it free and cash in later” (as in Chris Anderson’s book Free), and one that maintains its cachet mainly via scarcity of distribution. Ah well. I guess I’ll just have to spend more time in real theaters, watching real films! Until then though, there’s a never-ending film festival online. The biggest problem ultimately is sorting through the astounding number of indy shorts out there to find that genuine gem. Which is – as I just learned – precisely one of the reasons to go to a festival. So with all my complaining about being short on time, it’s rather ironic that I spent as much time as I did to find some sites to share with you. Of the dozens of sites I perused, two that I found that seemed to have the highest density of quality films were probably NZShortFilm.com and CoffeeShorts. My search is only just beginning though; if you have any suggestions, feel free to share. Read the rest of this entry »
Indy Film Alive & Well At The 2010 Ann Arbor Film Festival
[ 1 Comment ]Posted on March 24, 2010 by admin in Popular Media
Wednesday, March 24th, 2010One of the world’s most respected and longest-running indy film festivals is in the tiny college town of Ann Arbor, Michigan, and if opening night is any indication, this year’s festival promises to be a winner.
I always think of myself as film lover until I find myself surrounded by the passionate fanatics that will comprise a festival like the amazingly long-lived Ann Arbor Film Festival, now in its 48th year. It’s quite a feat filling a classic venue like the 1700+ capacity Michigan Theater on a Wednesday night, especially showing short films that no-one has heard of, but the AAFF did well on their opening night; I didn’t check the balcony, but there were very few seats open on the main floor. I was a little anxious about attending a full evening of indy film festival shorts; the luxury of time-shifted viewing and Internet access to an amazing variety of indy media has made me something of an on-demand media monster. But the festival didn’t disappoint, which is another impressive feat. The double-edged sword of creating a successful festival like the AAFF is that – yes, of course, you’re guaranteed a lot of quality submissions from around the world – but as the festival’s Executive Director Donald Harrison pointed out in his introduction to the festival tonight, their screeners and programmers had to sift through over 2500 submissions this year. I get a headache just thinking about what that must be like. Combine the sheer quantity with the multiple media formats and preparation required for simply projecting the material, and if the festival takes place at all, a monumental task has been accomplished. Think about that if you happen to be lucky enough to attend the festival this year. If you aren’t able to attend the festival, a surprising number of the films are readily available on line. Of course nothing compares to seeing them on a huge classic theater screen like the Michigan, but below are a few highlights from tonight’s entries for your perusal. See the AAFF’s YouTube channel for more previews, and their web site for the week’s schedule and other festival details. Read the rest of this entry »
I Need Some Nice Shorts
[ 2 Comments ]Posted on May 10, 2009 by admin in Popular Media
Sunday, May 10th, 2009My ongoing search for quality short film and music videos is sated briefly by some Rob Dougan.
I remember clearly when MTV was new. I was in a trendy band comprised of artists who dabbled in visual art, fashion and film, and we were incredibly excited about the possibilities. We of course were quickly disappointed as the medium turned into an endless string of “hair bands with hot chick videos”. To me, the marriage of music and moving images still remains a vastly under-explored territory; although there are many full length films brilliantly married to their music (Betty Blue
