A philosophical animated short offers beautiful brain-teasing, Robert Pattinson excels in a heist thriller, and Kathryn Bigelow revisits a riot
January for UK cinemagoers is prestige season, when our cinemas are finally flooded with all the acclaimed, awards-baiting titles our American friends have been yammering on about for months. For breadth, beauty and brain food, however, few of these films can compete with a 22-minute marvel newly uploaded to Vimeo for streaming. Iconoclastic animator Don Hertzfeldt’s World of Tomorrow Episode Two: The Burden of Other People’s Thoughts is a major work in minor form, a wry and wrenching requiem for innocence and memory that you’d be tempted to call one of a kind – if it weren’t a sequel to Hertzfeldt’s similarly luminous, Oscar-nominated World of Tomorrow.
As in that film, a wealth of intellectual and psychological questioning is filtered through the guileless perspective of preschooler Emily (voiced once more,...
January for UK cinemagoers is prestige season, when our cinemas are finally flooded with all the acclaimed, awards-baiting titles our American friends have been yammering on about for months. For breadth, beauty and brain food, however, few of these films can compete with a 22-minute marvel newly uploaded to Vimeo for streaming. Iconoclastic animator Don Hertzfeldt’s World of Tomorrow Episode Two: The Burden of Other People’s Thoughts is a major work in minor form, a wry and wrenching requiem for innocence and memory that you’d be tempted to call one of a kind – if it weren’t a sequel to Hertzfeldt’s similarly luminous, Oscar-nominated World of Tomorrow.
As in that film, a wealth of intellectual and psychological questioning is filtered through the guileless perspective of preschooler Emily (voiced once more,...
- 1/7/2018
- by Guy Lodge
- The Guardian - Film News
Every week, IndieWire asks a select handful of film critics two questions and publishes the results on Monday. (The answer to the second, “What is the best film in theaters right now?”, can be found at the end of this post.)
This week’s question: In honor of “The Florida Project,” which has just started its platform release across the country, what is the greatest child performance in a film?
Jordan Hoffman (@JHoffman), The Guardian, Vanity Fair
I can agonize over this question or I can go at this Malcolm Gladwell “Blink”-style. My answer is Tatum O’Neal in “Paper Moon.” She’s just so funny and tough, which of course makes the performance all the more heartbreaking. She won the freaking Oscar at age 10 for this and I’d really love to give a more deep cut response, but why screw around? Paper Moon is a perfect film and she is the lynchpin.
This week’s question: In honor of “The Florida Project,” which has just started its platform release across the country, what is the greatest child performance in a film?
Jordan Hoffman (@JHoffman), The Guardian, Vanity Fair
I can agonize over this question or I can go at this Malcolm Gladwell “Blink”-style. My answer is Tatum O’Neal in “Paper Moon.” She’s just so funny and tough, which of course makes the performance all the more heartbreaking. She won the freaking Oscar at age 10 for this and I’d really love to give a more deep cut response, but why screw around? Paper Moon is a perfect film and she is the lynchpin.
- 10/9/2017
- by David Ehrlich
- Indiewire
Any number of superlatives have been hurled at Don Hertzfeldt’s “World of Tomorrow” — this critic listed the 16-minute short as one of the 10 greatest films of the 21st Century — but perhaps the highest compliment it’s received is that nobody ever really asked for a sequel. Well, maybe that’s not true, maybe Hertzfeldt has actually spent the last two years being hounded by fans who wanted more of a movie they loved, but I’ve watched the original more times than is medically advisable, and the thought never occurred to me.
That’s because “World of Tomorrow” is a truly perfect thing, an immaculate eruption of ideas that’s contained within a closed loop of continuous delight (click here to rent it right now). Conceived as an excuse for Hertzfeldt to teach himself the basics of digital animation, written around unscripted recordings of his four-year-old niece, and ultimately...
That’s because “World of Tomorrow” is a truly perfect thing, an immaculate eruption of ideas that’s contained within a closed loop of continuous delight (click here to rent it right now). Conceived as an excuse for Hertzfeldt to teach himself the basics of digital animation, written around unscripted recordings of his four-year-old niece, and ultimately...
- 9/23/2017
- by David Ehrlich
- Indiewire
The wonderfully weird, hilariously morbid “World of Tomorrow” crams in more disturbing, sinister science-fiction ideas than a decade’s worth of blockbusters. I’m “biast” (pro): nothing
I’m “biast” (con): nothing
(what is this about? see my critic’s minifesto)
Animated shorts tend to be nearly silent films. They’ve got music and sound FX, sure, but often no dialogue: something about this particular mode of cinematic storytelling seems to inspire filmmakers to eschew it. Which makes my pick as this year’s best among the Oscar-nominated animated shorts an anomaly: it’s the only one of this year’s film nominees to feature dialogue. Extensively. Unlike its fellow nominees, the wonderfully weird and hilariously morbid “World of Tomorrow” [IMDb | official site], from American filmmaker Don Hertzfeldt, would not work at all were its dialogue removed. Its animation style is deliciously ticklish, and is inherent to its appeal, but it...
I’m “biast” (con): nothing
(what is this about? see my critic’s minifesto)
Animated shorts tend to be nearly silent films. They’ve got music and sound FX, sure, but often no dialogue: something about this particular mode of cinematic storytelling seems to inspire filmmakers to eschew it. Which makes my pick as this year’s best among the Oscar-nominated animated shorts an anomaly: it’s the only one of this year’s film nominees to feature dialogue. Extensively. Unlike its fellow nominees, the wonderfully weird and hilariously morbid “World of Tomorrow” [IMDb | official site], from American filmmaker Don Hertzfeldt, would not work at all were its dialogue removed. Its animation style is deliciously ticklish, and is inherent to its appeal, but it...
- 1/29/2016
- by MaryAnn Johanson
- www.flickfilosopher.com
Ahead of the Academy Awards, we’re reviewing each short category. See the Animation section below and the other shorts sections here.
Bear Story [Historia de un oso] – Chile – 11 minutes
While Gabriel Osorio Vargas‘ Chilean short film Bear Story tells the tale of a sad, lonely old bear, it does ultimately prove uplifting. Here’s a creature tinkering tirelessly in his shop to put the finishing touches on what could very well be his life’s work and yet any and all success or failure is met with silence. There’s no one else in his small home to celebrate or lament—just the indentations of two bodies on his mattress permanently displaying that love and company existed not too long ago. How did it come to this? We’ll never know and that’s a wonderful thing. Instead we discover that love’s strength—strong enough to render distance and death harmless. His...
Bear Story [Historia de un oso] – Chile – 11 minutes
While Gabriel Osorio Vargas‘ Chilean short film Bear Story tells the tale of a sad, lonely old bear, it does ultimately prove uplifting. Here’s a creature tinkering tirelessly in his shop to put the finishing touches on what could very well be his life’s work and yet any and all success or failure is met with silence. There’s no one else in his small home to celebrate or lament—just the indentations of two bodies on his mattress permanently displaying that love and company existed not too long ago. How did it come to this? We’ll never know and that’s a wonderful thing. Instead we discover that love’s strength—strong enough to render distance and death harmless. His...
- 1/28/2016
- by Jared Mobarak
- The Film Stage
The American Film Institute announced today the films that will screen in the World Cinema, Breakthrough, Midnight, Shorts and Cinema’s Legacy programs at AFI Fest 2015 presented by Audi.
AFI Fest will take place November 5 – 12, 2015, in the heart of Hollywood. Screenings, Galas and events will be held at the historic Tcl Chinese Theatre, the Tcl Chinese 6 Theatres, Dolby Theatre, the Lloyd E. Rigler Theatre at the Egyptian, the El Capitan Theatre and The Hollywood Roosevelt.
World Cinema showcases the most acclaimed international films of the year; Breakthrough highlights true discoveries of the programming process; Midnight selections will grip audiences with terror; and Cinema’s Legacy highlights classic movies and films about cinema. World Cinema and Breakthrough selections are among the films eligible for Audience Awards. Shorts selections are eligible for the Grand Jury Prize, which qualifies the winner for Academy Award®consideration. This year’s Shorts jury features filmmaker Janicza Bravo,...
AFI Fest will take place November 5 – 12, 2015, in the heart of Hollywood. Screenings, Galas and events will be held at the historic Tcl Chinese Theatre, the Tcl Chinese 6 Theatres, Dolby Theatre, the Lloyd E. Rigler Theatre at the Egyptian, the El Capitan Theatre and The Hollywood Roosevelt.
World Cinema showcases the most acclaimed international films of the year; Breakthrough highlights true discoveries of the programming process; Midnight selections will grip audiences with terror; and Cinema’s Legacy highlights classic movies and films about cinema. World Cinema and Breakthrough selections are among the films eligible for Audience Awards. Shorts selections are eligible for the Grand Jury Prize, which qualifies the winner for Academy Award®consideration. This year’s Shorts jury features filmmaker Janicza Bravo,...
- 10/22/2015
- by Melissa Thompson
- WeAreMovieGeeks.com
Potent creativity often comes in small concentrated doses and when you collect a couple dozen of these morsels, powerfully laced with astute ingenuity, you get an overwhelmingly delightful sample platter with some of the most diverse flavors out there unified by their topnotch quality. That’s the best way to describe what you get when watching the visual and tonal tapestry of the Animation Show of Shows. Now in its 17th edition, this program created originally to be screened at Hollywood studios with the purpose of highlighting the best artists working in the independent animation landscape and curated by Ron Diamond, Executive Producer of Acme Filmworks, Inc. and co-founder and President of Animation World Network, will come to theaters across the U.S. for the first time to allow audience to partake in the fun and discovery.
Constructed of 11 fantastic animated shorts showcasing a wide range of techniques within the medium’s spectrum, plus four documentary portraits on selected filmmakers, this feature-length festival of wonder overflows with sublime craftsmanship, but it’s also one of the most profound cinematic experiences of the year. The level of introspection and insight on the human condition contained in these colorful gems surpasses that of most films, animated or live-action, released in recent memory. What they might lack in running time individually, they make up in poignant observations and moments that will stir up a genuine smile.
The program kicks off with “The Story of Percival Pilts,” a stop-motion tale narrated in rhyme about a boy who became fascinated with stilts and declared his feet will never touch the ground ever again. Living his life on stilts, which get increasingly taller as he gets older, Percival cherishes the views and tranquility that such great heights offer. Marvelously achieved and organically suited for the physicality of the chosen technique, this film from Aussie John Lewis and Kiwi Janette Goodey, touches on familiar perils of those who live outside the norm with a classically inspired story told from the protagonist’s brother’s perspective. Tiny sheets of paper stand in as leaves on tress, detailed period costumes adorn the petite bodies of the numerous figures, and cheeky phrases move the plot along while a sky painted in pink and purple hues drench it all with a perpetual “magic hour” feel.
Percival” is followed by a tiny 3D animated work titled “Tant de Forets” (So Many Forests) from French/Turkish team Geoffrey Godet and Burcu Sankur, which uses basic shapes and aesthetics borrowed from the world of graphic design to bring to life a poem by Jacques Prévert on the horrific deforestation of the planet to satisfy our voracious needs for paper.
Evocative and delicately paced, Conor Whelan’s “Snowfall” is the first Lgbt animated short to be part of the Animation Show of Shows, and though it’s clear about its lead character’s sexual orientation, the film is much more focused on depicting how we experience anxiety and deal with rejection in a truly cinematic manner. On a snowy night in Amsterdam a young man arrives at a party where he casually meets a friendly guy. They seem to hit it off, but it soon becomes clear that their interest in one another comes from very different angles. Centered on this romantic misconnection, “Snowfall” is a tender and seemingly melancholic 2D animated meditation where emotions take on a beautiful ethereal form.
Claypainting takes center stage with Lynn Tomlinson’s exquisite “The Ballad of Holland Island House.” Driven by a folksy tune this house reflects on its lifespan from the time it was just wood without purpose, to becoming a family’s home, and eventually being abandoned and consumed by the rising Atlantic Ocean. Tomlinson’s mastery of the stunning technique that blends the tangible material to create rustic moving frames resembles the work of veteran artist Joan C. Gratz – the Academy Award-winning claypainting pioneer.
In Amanda Palmer and Avi Ofer’s “Behind the Trees” scratchy hand-drawn dream sequences turn a voice memo into a brief but deliciously cheeky trip into the subconscious of a man who mumbles abstract statements while asleep. Each incoherent, revealing, honest, or perhaps utterly irrelevant line is transformed into an unconventional artistic interpretation via the imperfectly sleek doodles.
Playfully realized with the charm of a Saturday morning cartoon, yet layered with bittersweet notions about friendship, grief, and solitude, Academy Award-nominated Russian animator Konstantin Bronzit’s latest film “We Can't Live Without Cosmos" is a bite-size animated masterpiece that is as profoundly moving as it’s enchantingly entertaining. On a mission to become the top cosmonauts in their class and earn the privilege to go into space as a team, two lifelong friends work tirelessly everyday using their common dream as fuel to endure the challenging tasks. Their bond, an idealized iteration of fraternal companionship that we could all aspire to, clearly emerges as a more significant and precious motivation than the outer space voyage itself. With clever visual gags, endearing character design reminiscent of bygone artistry, and inventive sharp editing, Bronzit’s virtuous storytelling abilities amuse and tug at our heartstrings till the very last shot. “We Can't Live Without Cosmos" is one of the best films of the year of any length and in any medium.
A hungry cat and a helpless goldfish set an unlikely love story in motion in Isabel Favez curious short “Messages Dans L’Air.” Uniquely designed with an elegantly simple style, Favez world is entirely made out of paper and she uses this particular trait as a perfect narrative device for the film’s scope. Written on a folded paper bird, a lovely message makes its way to a young woman while her mischievous feline constantly attempts to devour a tiny fish that belongs to a bulky boxer who lives near by. Such problematic relationship between their pets will be the catalyst for the mismatch lovebirds to connect.
Passionate admirers of Walt Disney’s classic films, Iranian brothers Babak & Behnoud Nekooei crafted a remarkable 2D animated piece in which their influences are unmistakable but not without reinvention. “Stripy” centers on an enthusiastic factory worker in a city where homogeneity is paramount. His job is simply to paint dark stripes on every box that comes through the assembly line; however, the spirited young man decides that a more vibrant pattern would make the repetitive labor more interesting. Individuality and the power that comes from refusing to conform are crucial themes weaved into the Nekooei brothers’ melodically structured short. Without explicitly touching on their country’s politics, the filmmakers created a subtly rebellious work of art that transcends divisive discourses and ideologies.
Landscapes so realistically rendered that could nearly fool you into thinking they were indeed extracted from our world are one of the extraordinary elements in 3D animated adventure “Ascension,” by a French team of artist form by Colin Laubry, Thomas Bourdis, Martin de Coutenhove, Caroline Domergue, and Florian Vecchione. Two bold mountain climbers are on their way to the top carrying a statue of the Virgin Mary when one of them suffers an accident that leaves her without functional limbs. Devotion and their relentless desire to succeed a will keep them focused on their almost impossible mission. The astonishing backgrounds alone are spectacular enough to merit significant recognition.
Darkly comedic and brutally honest, “Love in Times of March Madness” is a black-and-white animated personal essay by Melissa Johnson and Robertino Zambrano, which dissects Johnson’s mishaps and realizations as she navigates life as a 6’4” tall woman. Among the many quotidian complications she must face, dating is by far one of the thorniest facets of Johnson’s above average existence. Insecure shorter men and the judging stares from a world that equates physical differences with unforgivable inadequacies are part of the tricky deck she’s been given. By sharing hilarious anecdotes and analyzing why other people reflect their fears on her appearance, Johnson gives us a lesson in acceptance with the help of vividly surreal vignettes that illustrate her unique perspective.
Capping off this outstanding selection of small-scale treasures is Don Hertzfeldt's thought-provoking and visionary Sundance-winning short "World of Tomorrow." Easily the best animated film of the year, this 17-minute science fiction journey is a mind-bending study on the essence of humanity and how technology’s ferocious advances to know and control it all endanger our ability to notice what’s truly meaningful. Employing his signature stick figures, the filmmaker introduces us to Emily Prime (Winona Mae), a young girl who has just met an older, cloned version of herself living far into the future. Emily (Julia Pott), as the film simply refers to the adult replica, has come from her time to meet Emily Prime and inform her about the terrifying dangers of what lies ahead. Loneliness reigns and falling in love is a futile enterprise in a future where wealthy individuals get to live forever by virtually saving their consciousness into data cubes. Life as we know it is no more and people, always longing for fulfillment, have adapted to the hopelessness of their condition. Miraculously, Hertzfeldt packs all of these components within his intricate and engrossing vision into a plot that includes lighter moments of intelligent comedy. Besides the thematic brilliance of the concepts and ideas discussed in “World of Tomorrow,” the film is also testament to Hertzfeld’s admiration and loyalty to the film medium in its most authentic state, while at the same time being unafraid to experiment. Handcrafted on one of the last remaining functioning 35mm rostrum animation stands, the film exists as a bridge between what some consider to be obsolete and the boundless freedom of independent animation in the 21st century. Furthermore, all the amazing special effects were created directly on film, using traditional double exposures, in-camera mattes, and new experimental techniques to transport the avid viewer into a land of intoxicating color, frightening warnings, and inconspicuous wisdom.
In every fragment used to the build “The 17th Annual Animation Show of Shows” audiences will find a heartfelt antidote to formulaic tent poles and will most likely see some of the films that will make headlines as Oscar contenders and nominees in the upcoming months. Undoubtedly, the individual quality of each work is stellar, but the emotional gravitas of the program as a whole is absolutely disarming.
“The 17th Annual Animation Show of Shows” is now playing in Los Angeles at the ArcLight Hollywood and will travel to 20 more cities across the U.S. in the following weeks.
Constructed of 11 fantastic animated shorts showcasing a wide range of techniques within the medium’s spectrum, plus four documentary portraits on selected filmmakers, this feature-length festival of wonder overflows with sublime craftsmanship, but it’s also one of the most profound cinematic experiences of the year. The level of introspection and insight on the human condition contained in these colorful gems surpasses that of most films, animated or live-action, released in recent memory. What they might lack in running time individually, they make up in poignant observations and moments that will stir up a genuine smile.
The program kicks off with “The Story of Percival Pilts,” a stop-motion tale narrated in rhyme about a boy who became fascinated with stilts and declared his feet will never touch the ground ever again. Living his life on stilts, which get increasingly taller as he gets older, Percival cherishes the views and tranquility that such great heights offer. Marvelously achieved and organically suited for the physicality of the chosen technique, this film from Aussie John Lewis and Kiwi Janette Goodey, touches on familiar perils of those who live outside the norm with a classically inspired story told from the protagonist’s brother’s perspective. Tiny sheets of paper stand in as leaves on tress, detailed period costumes adorn the petite bodies of the numerous figures, and cheeky phrases move the plot along while a sky painted in pink and purple hues drench it all with a perpetual “magic hour” feel.
Percival” is followed by a tiny 3D animated work titled “Tant de Forets” (So Many Forests) from French/Turkish team Geoffrey Godet and Burcu Sankur, which uses basic shapes and aesthetics borrowed from the world of graphic design to bring to life a poem by Jacques Prévert on the horrific deforestation of the planet to satisfy our voracious needs for paper.
Evocative and delicately paced, Conor Whelan’s “Snowfall” is the first Lgbt animated short to be part of the Animation Show of Shows, and though it’s clear about its lead character’s sexual orientation, the film is much more focused on depicting how we experience anxiety and deal with rejection in a truly cinematic manner. On a snowy night in Amsterdam a young man arrives at a party where he casually meets a friendly guy. They seem to hit it off, but it soon becomes clear that their interest in one another comes from very different angles. Centered on this romantic misconnection, “Snowfall” is a tender and seemingly melancholic 2D animated meditation where emotions take on a beautiful ethereal form.
Claypainting takes center stage with Lynn Tomlinson’s exquisite “The Ballad of Holland Island House.” Driven by a folksy tune this house reflects on its lifespan from the time it was just wood without purpose, to becoming a family’s home, and eventually being abandoned and consumed by the rising Atlantic Ocean. Tomlinson’s mastery of the stunning technique that blends the tangible material to create rustic moving frames resembles the work of veteran artist Joan C. Gratz – the Academy Award-winning claypainting pioneer.
In Amanda Palmer and Avi Ofer’s “Behind the Trees” scratchy hand-drawn dream sequences turn a voice memo into a brief but deliciously cheeky trip into the subconscious of a man who mumbles abstract statements while asleep. Each incoherent, revealing, honest, or perhaps utterly irrelevant line is transformed into an unconventional artistic interpretation via the imperfectly sleek doodles.
Playfully realized with the charm of a Saturday morning cartoon, yet layered with bittersweet notions about friendship, grief, and solitude, Academy Award-nominated Russian animator Konstantin Bronzit’s latest film “We Can't Live Without Cosmos" is a bite-size animated masterpiece that is as profoundly moving as it’s enchantingly entertaining. On a mission to become the top cosmonauts in their class and earn the privilege to go into space as a team, two lifelong friends work tirelessly everyday using their common dream as fuel to endure the challenging tasks. Their bond, an idealized iteration of fraternal companionship that we could all aspire to, clearly emerges as a more significant and precious motivation than the outer space voyage itself. With clever visual gags, endearing character design reminiscent of bygone artistry, and inventive sharp editing, Bronzit’s virtuous storytelling abilities amuse and tug at our heartstrings till the very last shot. “We Can't Live Without Cosmos" is one of the best films of the year of any length and in any medium.
A hungry cat and a helpless goldfish set an unlikely love story in motion in Isabel Favez curious short “Messages Dans L’Air.” Uniquely designed with an elegantly simple style, Favez world is entirely made out of paper and she uses this particular trait as a perfect narrative device for the film’s scope. Written on a folded paper bird, a lovely message makes its way to a young woman while her mischievous feline constantly attempts to devour a tiny fish that belongs to a bulky boxer who lives near by. Such problematic relationship between their pets will be the catalyst for the mismatch lovebirds to connect.
Passionate admirers of Walt Disney’s classic films, Iranian brothers Babak & Behnoud Nekooei crafted a remarkable 2D animated piece in which their influences are unmistakable but not without reinvention. “Stripy” centers on an enthusiastic factory worker in a city where homogeneity is paramount. His job is simply to paint dark stripes on every box that comes through the assembly line; however, the spirited young man decides that a more vibrant pattern would make the repetitive labor more interesting. Individuality and the power that comes from refusing to conform are crucial themes weaved into the Nekooei brothers’ melodically structured short. Without explicitly touching on their country’s politics, the filmmakers created a subtly rebellious work of art that transcends divisive discourses and ideologies.
Landscapes so realistically rendered that could nearly fool you into thinking they were indeed extracted from our world are one of the extraordinary elements in 3D animated adventure “Ascension,” by a French team of artist form by Colin Laubry, Thomas Bourdis, Martin de Coutenhove, Caroline Domergue, and Florian Vecchione. Two bold mountain climbers are on their way to the top carrying a statue of the Virgin Mary when one of them suffers an accident that leaves her without functional limbs. Devotion and their relentless desire to succeed a will keep them focused on their almost impossible mission. The astonishing backgrounds alone are spectacular enough to merit significant recognition.
Darkly comedic and brutally honest, “Love in Times of March Madness” is a black-and-white animated personal essay by Melissa Johnson and Robertino Zambrano, which dissects Johnson’s mishaps and realizations as she navigates life as a 6’4” tall woman. Among the many quotidian complications she must face, dating is by far one of the thorniest facets of Johnson’s above average existence. Insecure shorter men and the judging stares from a world that equates physical differences with unforgivable inadequacies are part of the tricky deck she’s been given. By sharing hilarious anecdotes and analyzing why other people reflect their fears on her appearance, Johnson gives us a lesson in acceptance with the help of vividly surreal vignettes that illustrate her unique perspective.
Capping off this outstanding selection of small-scale treasures is Don Hertzfeldt's thought-provoking and visionary Sundance-winning short "World of Tomorrow." Easily the best animated film of the year, this 17-minute science fiction journey is a mind-bending study on the essence of humanity and how technology’s ferocious advances to know and control it all endanger our ability to notice what’s truly meaningful. Employing his signature stick figures, the filmmaker introduces us to Emily Prime (Winona Mae), a young girl who has just met an older, cloned version of herself living far into the future. Emily (Julia Pott), as the film simply refers to the adult replica, has come from her time to meet Emily Prime and inform her about the terrifying dangers of what lies ahead. Loneliness reigns and falling in love is a futile enterprise in a future where wealthy individuals get to live forever by virtually saving their consciousness into data cubes. Life as we know it is no more and people, always longing for fulfillment, have adapted to the hopelessness of their condition. Miraculously, Hertzfeldt packs all of these components within his intricate and engrossing vision into a plot that includes lighter moments of intelligent comedy. Besides the thematic brilliance of the concepts and ideas discussed in “World of Tomorrow,” the film is also testament to Hertzfeld’s admiration and loyalty to the film medium in its most authentic state, while at the same time being unafraid to experiment. Handcrafted on one of the last remaining functioning 35mm rostrum animation stands, the film exists as a bridge between what some consider to be obsolete and the boundless freedom of independent animation in the 21st century. Furthermore, all the amazing special effects were created directly on film, using traditional double exposures, in-camera mattes, and new experimental techniques to transport the avid viewer into a land of intoxicating color, frightening warnings, and inconspicuous wisdom.
In every fragment used to the build “The 17th Annual Animation Show of Shows” audiences will find a heartfelt antidote to formulaic tent poles and will most likely see some of the films that will make headlines as Oscar contenders and nominees in the upcoming months. Undoubtedly, the individual quality of each work is stellar, but the emotional gravitas of the program as a whole is absolutely disarming.
“The 17th Annual Animation Show of Shows” is now playing in Los Angeles at the ArcLight Hollywood and will travel to 20 more cities across the U.S. in the following weeks.
- 9/27/2015
- by Carlos Aguilar
- Sydney's Buzz
The highlight is the absolutely astonishing “World of Tomorrow,” which crams in more Sf ideas than you’ll find in a decade’s worth of summer blockbusters. I’m “biast” (pro): nothing
I’m “biast” (con): nothing
(what is this about? see my critic’s minifesto)
Didn’t get to Sundance this January? Me neither. But now some arthouse moviegoers in the U.S. will have a chance to check out a selection of the best short films from this year’s fest, starting in New York City, where the IFC Center debuts today the 2015 Sundance Film Festival Award-Winning Shorts. (Keep an eye on your local arthouse: this may show up there in the coming months.)
The highlight of the program and winner of the Short Film Jury Award — meaning it was the best short of the festival — is the absolutely astonishing “World of Tomorrow” [IMDb], from American filmmaker Don Hertzfeldt.
I’m “biast” (con): nothing
(what is this about? see my critic’s minifesto)
Didn’t get to Sundance this January? Me neither. But now some arthouse moviegoers in the U.S. will have a chance to check out a selection of the best short films from this year’s fest, starting in New York City, where the IFC Center debuts today the 2015 Sundance Film Festival Award-Winning Shorts. (Keep an eye on your local arthouse: this may show up there in the coming months.)
The highlight of the program and winner of the Short Film Jury Award — meaning it was the best short of the festival — is the absolutely astonishing “World of Tomorrow” [IMDb], from American filmmaker Don Hertzfeldt.
- 6/10/2015
- by MaryAnn Johanson
- www.flickfilosopher.com
My introduction to Don Hertzfeldt wasn't too long ago, though I have since become obsessed with his animated short Rejected, which is devilishly comical in each and every way. He's since done plenty, such as the ever-increasing-in-popularity It's Such a Beautiful Day from a few years ago to recently animating the opening couch gag for an episode of "The Simpsons". Now he delivers his latest short, a nearly 17-minute existential exploration of life, death and everything in-between in World of Tomorrow. With elements taken from his 2013 graphic novel "The End of the World" (how much I'm not entirely sure), World of Tomorrow tells the story of a young girl referred to as Emily Prime (voiced by Hertzfeldt's niece Winona Mae) as she is contacted by a third-generation clone of herself (voiced by Julia Pott) that takes her on a journey into a future filled with memories, sadness and plenty of comedy.
- 4/8/2015
- by Brad Brevet
- Rope of Silicon
Out of the many films we saw at Sundance Film Festival this year, perhaps the best was the latest short work from Don Hertzfeldt. Running under 17 minutes, Don Hertzfeldt‘s animation World of Tomorrow is an exceedingly brilliant odyssey into the outer reaches of a future universe that channels our inner anxieties of loneliness. The story concerns Emily (Winona Mae), […]...
- 2/16/2015
- by Jordan Raup
- The Film Stage
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