Motion Stop Motion
I love the world of stop motion animation. It brings me right back to childhood, of folding little origami sheets and making these paper creatures come to life. There’s something magical about it. If you need to be converted, check out these amazing videos by Australian duo MaricorMaricar.
▲●■ from MaricorMaricar on Vimeo.
Big Green Idea from MaricorMaricar on Vimeo.
Departures
My favorite Japanese film is called Departures. It was playing on the airplane on a trip back from Japan and I started bawling out of control throughout the duration of the film. I tend to that on airplanes, apparently I’m not alone with this problem. The film is about a professional musician who loses his job in Tokyo and ends up moving home to the country and getting a job preparing the dead for funerals. I was crying because it was so emotionally moving, not because it was Schindler’s List tragic. The trailer doesn’t really do it justice but seriously it’s an amazing film!
Terry Gross + Mike Birbiglia
SPOILER ALERT: There is a Bank Heist and Terry Gross makes Mike Birbiglia shoot people.
A short clip from the This American Life live show. I really wish I could have seen the show live!
On Lena Dunham, Girls, & Tiny Furniture
Is it weird to be proud of someone you don’t know? I feel proud for Lena Dunham for getting Girls on HBO. I don’t care about all the nitpicky discussions on whether the show is too white, too privledged, or unrealistic. Too me, it doesn’t matter, its television and it makes me happy that a smart girl in her twenties can pitch an interesting show and get it on air. I feel happy for her. If you like the show, watch Tiny Furniture. It’s her first feature film and it’s almost a precursor to Girls. I’m really impressed by the photo-like compositions and the acting by her real mom and sister. She also shot the entire things on a canon slr which goes to show, if you have a great idea, you don’t need much to make a good film.
Girl Walk/All Day: The Most Epic Dance Film
Reason number 45493983 on why the internet is amazing: freestyle dance movies. Girl Walk All Day is essentially one epic feature length dance music video to Girl Talk’s latest album All Day. The basic plot goes something like a girl escapes her rigid ballet class and runs off to New York for the best adventure ever. She’s stalked by a creeper, and has kind of a romantic interest. Just like most dance movies, the plot is pretty irrelevant. But unlike most dance movies, this film is really good! Actually I’m not trying to hate on dance movies, I probably watched Center Stage about eight times. But seriously, the freestyle moves by the lead girl Anne Marsen is so random and amazing. The whole film just seems like it was fun to make. The last video is a behind-the-scenes doc and I was shocked to find that the whole movie was made on a little SLR camera. Upcoming screenings can be found here or you can watch/dance-to the entire film from the comfort of your home too.
The Hunger Games
Go watch it! If only to see the extraordinary acting by Jennifer Lawrence and of course, Lenny Kravitz and his glitzy golden eye makeup.
Also, check out this piece comparing The Hunger Games to Battle Royale.
“The hopefulness in “The Hunger Games” is what ultimately makes it feel like a product designed for kids by their parents. It’s typical of parents, really, to try to turn every tragedy into a positive experience. “Battle Royale,” with its existential pessimism, seems truer to the teen-age id.”
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