ENJOY THE MOVIES
Watch: Fun Animated Short 'Bad Luck Spot!' Featuring 'Luck' Bunnies
"The tiniest amount of bad luck can shut down our entire operation!" In honor of St. Patrick's Day today, Apple TV+ has debuted a fun animated short film titled Bad Luck Spot!. It's a spin-off from their movie Luck, which already opened last year on the streaming platform. When bad luck finds its way into the Land of Luck, this elite team of bunnies spring into action to take care of it and keep things lucky. The animated short picks up where the film leaves off, following a trio of "Hazmat Bunnies" who collect a "dangerous" bad luck spot from the protagonist Sam's shoe. They end up getting into all kinds of trouble in this Land of Luck place. The short is directed by animation filmmaker Matt Youngberg (also on "Transformers: Animate", "Ben 10: Ultimate Alien", "DuckTales") and produced by Laurel Ladevich. Made by Skydance Animation, this 5-minute comedy short is just another promo for the feature-length Luck movie. It's an amusing escape designed to make us laugh & smile, though I feel bad for these bunnies having to deal with so much trouble.
› Posted on March 17 in Animation, Short Film, To Watch | Comments
DreamWorks Animation's 'Ruby Gillman, Teenage Kraken' First Trailer
"No matter the challenge, a Kraken will always answer the call!" DreamWorks Animation has revealed an official trailer for their new summer movie, an original creation officially titled Ruby Gillman, Teenage Kraken. It's set for release in theaters this June. This summer, DWA dives into the turbulent waters of high school with a hilarious, heartfelt action comedy about a shy teenager who discovers she's part of a legendary royal lineage of mythical sea krakens and that her destiny, in the depths of the oceans, is bigger than she ever dreamed. Lana Condor stars as the voice of Ruby, a 16-year-old desperate to fit in at Oceanside High, who must confront a beautiful, popular new girl that just happens to be a mermaid. Ruby Gillman, Teenage Kraken features an extraordinary cast that includes Emmy winner Colman Domingo as Ruby's supportive dad, Emmy nominee Sam Richardson as Ruby's enthusiastic uncle, and Blue Chapman as Ruby’s cool little brother, plus Toni Collette, Jaboukie Young-White, Annie Murphy, Will Forte, Nicole Byer, Ramona Young, and Jane Fonda. It looks pretty good! Bold to position this as the anti-mermaid movie.
› Posted on March 16 in Animation, To Watch, Trailer | 3 Comments
Strange Trailer for Peculiar Puppet Horror 'Abruptio' by Evan Marlowe
"I just need to stay alive long enough to figure this out…" A promo trailer has debuted for a very strange indie film titled Abruptio, made by a filmmaker named Evan Marlowe. After years in production, Abruptio finally had its world premiered at the Santa Monica Film Festival in January. It is now screening virtually at Cinejoy this month, before stopping by a few other genre festivals this year. No release date is set. "Comedy, mystery, blood, A-List voices, action, puppets combine in the first-of-its-kind surrealistic horror-thriller." Les Hackel is a guy down on his luck who wakes to find an explosive device has been implanted in his neck. Abruptio uses the voices of James Marsters as Les, Hana Mae Lee, Jordan Peele (!!), Christopher McDonald, Robert Englund (aka the original Freddy), Darren Darnborough, Rich Fulcher, and the iconic Sid Haig in one of his final roles. Marlowe wants people to become immersed in the film and forget they're watching puppets. This all looks so odd, I'm not quite sure it will work that way? Check it out below.
Awesome Final Trailer for Illumination's 'The Super Mario Bros Movie'
"I'm not afraid! I'll do anything for my brother!" Universal and Illumination Animation have unveiled the final official trailer for the epic animated Super Mario Bros. Movie, dropping into theaters worldwide in one month. This is looking better and better the more we get to see. This movie is produced by Mario creator Shigeru Miyamoto with Illumination's CEO Chris Meledandri. A plumber named Mario travels through an underground labyrinth with his brother, Luigi, trying to save a captured princess. Featuring the voices of Chris Pratt as Mario, Anya Taylor-Joy as Princess Peach, Charlie Day as Luigi, Jack Black as Bowser (perfect), Keegan-Michael Key as Toad, Seth Rogen as Donkey Kong, Fred Armisen as Cranky Kong, Kevin Michael Richardson as Kamek, and Sebastian Maniscalco as Spike. The rainbow road battle sequence (a la Mad Max) at the end of this trailer is awesome - it's clear why they chose to show this in the final trailer. Bring it on, Mario & Luigi! One of my most anticipated spring releases - a must see in theaters.
› Posted on March 9 in Animation, To Watch, Trailer | 3 Comments
Animated 'Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem' First Teaser
"From permanent teenager Seth Rogen, a new generation of heroes will rise… from the sewers." Let's go, Turtles!! Paramount has revealed a teaser for Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem, yet another new animated TMNT movie. This is the third time they've tried to reboot this classic Ninja Turtles franchise, following other animated series and even a live-action hybrid CGI attempt (see here) before this. This one brings everone back to their roots. The Turtle brothers as they work to earn the love of New York City while facing down an army of mutants. It's produced by Seth Rogen, Evan Goldberg, and James Weaver for Nickelodeon Animation. The massive TMNT voice cast in this features Micah Abbey, Shamon Brown Jr., Hannibal Buress, Rose Byrne, Nicolas Cantu, John Cena, Jackie Chan, Ice Cube, Natasia Demetriou, Ayo Edebiri, Giancarlo Esposito, Post Malone, Brady Noon, with Seth Rogen, Paul Rudd, and Maya Rudolph. This looks like good fun!! It has the look and feel of Mitchells vs the Machines, but with the Turtles squad as goofy youngsters, and it's really fresh to hear actual teenagers as their voices.
Murakami Stories in Animation 'Blind Willow, Sleeping Woman' Trailer
"Living with you… was like living with a chunk of air." Zeitgeist Films has revealed the official US trailer with English dubbing for an acclaimed indie animated film titled Blind Willow, Sleeping Woman, the feature directorial debut of composer Pierre Földes. This premiered at last year's Annecy Film Festival, also stopping by the Toronto & Busan Film Festivals. Based on several short stories by the renowned Japanese author Haruki Murakami (of Drive My Car, Norwegian Wood). Utilizing a surreal hybrid animation style that incorporates live-action references, 3D modeling, and traditional layouts, the film begins in Tokyo just days after the earthquake of 2011. Aided by a lost cat and a loquacious giant frog, an unambitious salesman, his frustrated wife and a schizophrenic accountant are called upon to save their city from obliteration and find meaning in their lives. "It is sure to appeal to the wide range of Murakami fans and hopefully anyone who wants to take a wild and imaginative ride into a world that seems oddly no stranger than our own." We featured a trailer last year, but this is a reminder that it's opening soon in the US in limited theaters. Enjoy.
Watch: German Animated Short 'Ding' About a Creepy Little Creature
What a freaky little thing!! This animated short is titled Ding, which is German for Thing, and it's made by an animation filmmaker named Malte Stein. The short played at numerous festivals throughout 2021 and 2022, after first premiering at the Fantoche Animation Film Festival in Switzerland. Here's the nice & short synopsis: "Haunted by a little thing, a man gets driven to the edge." In my opinion it's a clear reference, not even a metaphor, to a fear of children. There's a shot where he imagines this little thing eating something and, um, that's when this gets extra scary. Stein's intentions seem to be to stir up some thoughts, and not make a film about how kids can be freaky creatures. Ding is meant to make us think about "how ridiculous our impulsive aggression and fears can be." This imagery definitely amplifies those fears, I'll say that much.
› Posted on March 1 in Animation, Short Film, To Watch | Comments
Fun Full Trailer for 'Agent Elvis' Animated Series with McConaughey
"It's groovy, dontcha think?" Netflix has debuted the explosive full trailer for Agent Elvis, the animated series about Elvis as a secret agent. Right in time for Baz Luhrmann's Elvis to win awards at the Oscars?? In this series, Elvis Presley trades in his white jumpsuit for a jet pack when he is covertly inducted into a secret government spy program to help battle the dark forces that threaten the country he loves -- all while holding down his day job as the King of Rock 'n Roll. Academy Award-winner Matthew McConaughey stars as the voice of "Agent Elvis", with a voice cast including Kaitlin Olson, Johnny Knoxville, Niecy Nash, Tom Kenny, Don Cheadle, Priscilla Presley, Jason Mantzoukas, Asif Ali, Ed Helms, Christina Hendricks, Kieran Culkin, Fred Armisen, and many more. Robert Valley created the character designs, and Agent Elvis' wardrobe was designed by John Varvatos. With music by Tyler Bates and Timothy Williams. It was animated by the studio Titmouse in Vancouver. The style still reminds me of Archer or Clone High, but with a few different twists. This seems like a blast!! Totally ridiculous, though in an entirely entertaining way. I'm in! What about you?
Watch: 'Grands Canons' Short Film - A Symphony of Everyday Objects
Take a mesmerizing journey through the world of everyday objects in this hypnotizing animated short film. Grands Canons (not to be confused with the Grand Canyon) is a short film from French filmmaker / artist Alain Biet. Superimposed, condensed, multiplied, thousands of documentary drawings in successive series come to life on the screen, composing a veritable visual symphony of everyday objects. The film is made up of thousands upon thousands of hand-painted images of every day objects, from bulbs to phones to pipes to keys to tools to electronics to utensils to everything else you can think of. The name translates to Big Guns, which is a bit of an odd odd title for this. It originally premiered at film festivals back in 2018 and has been playing around for years before finally ending up online for everyone to enjoy. The perfect detailing in every single painting is just extraordinary; I'd like to see an archive where you can go through each image one-by-one for a closer look. The score also goes perfectly with all this animation - it's really is transfixing. Dive in.
› Posted on February 27 in Animation, Short Film, To Watch | Comments
Watch: Freaky Fun Felt Stop-Motion Animated Short 'Eat Your Carrots'
Make sure you eat all your vegetables today - they're important for your health and well being. Though after watching this short, you might want to leave the carrots for another day? Eat Your Carrots is a fun stop-motion animated short film made by a Montreal-based filmmaker named Laura Stewart. The strange little 3-minute short is about a girl who finds an eyeball growing on her arm after, well, eating her carrots. It's animated using felt and fabric, and it's cute and funny and freaky and weird all at once. I wish there was more to this, but it's just a fun little journey into the kooky mind of an animation filmmaker. If anything, I hope the attention this short gets allows Laura to keep making more funky felt stop motion animated films like this. Perhaps she should make a whole series about various vegetables and their many health "benefits"?
› Posted on February 20 in Animation, Short Film, To Watch | Comments
Official Trailer for Netflix's Animated Movie 'The Magician's Elephant'
"My sister lives! And I will find her." Netflix has revealed the official trailer for an animated movie titled The Magician's Elephant, arriving for streaming this March. It's adapted from two-time Newbery Award winning author Kate DiCamillo's classic novel, as a "joyful animated reimagining." When young Peter sets out to find his sister, his optimistic spirit guides him through an unexpected encounter with an elephant and three seemingly impossible tasks, also giving hope to his town along the way. The director: "I am forever grateful for our brilliant crew at Netflix and Animal Logic that collectively designed and crafted a beautiful, surreal yet tangible world in which our compellingly layered and diverse cast of characters flourishes." The full voice cast includes Sian Clifford, Pixie Davies, Natasia Demetriou, Dawn French, Brian Tyree Henry, Noah Jupe, Kirby Howell-Baptiste, Aasif Mandvi, Mandy Patinkin, Benedict Wong, and Miranda Richardson. This looks a bit wonky, not exactly the most original or exciting story to tell. Enjoy.
› Posted on February 16 in Animation, To Watch, Trailer | 1 Comment
Viral Plumbing Bros. TV Commercial for 'The Super Mario Bros Movie'
"For super service, call or text…!" Ahaha who needs a plumber! Or two?! Illumination Animation revealed this fun TV commercial viral promo for The Super Mario Bros. Movie, arriving in theaters this April. It's a TV spot entirely in the style of a local plumbers commercial, with all the trimmings and perfect riffs on plumbers trying to get your attention. It even has its own vintage '90s hip hop Run DMC-style jingle. All of this is just delightful. The video also leads to a viral website, for Mario & Luigi's plumbing business, with a number you can actually text (if you're in Brooklyn & Queens). The movie features the voices of Chris Pratt as Mario, Anya Taylor-Joy as Princess Peach, Charlie Day as Luigi, Jack Black as Bowser (of course), Keegan-Michael Key as Toad, Seth Rogen as Donkey Kong, Fred Armisen as Cranky Kong, Kevin Michael Richardson, and Sebastian Maniscalco. The marketing for this has been on point so far, and this commercial is the cherry on top. The site is also worth perusing - who'd like a "career" with these Bros?
› Posted on February 12 in Animation, To Watch, Trailer, TV Spots, Viral Marketing | 1 Comment
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