Time of Eve (2010)

Feature version of a story that started as a 6 part TV series and that has a second season promised by the producers but which has yet to materialize.

The first part of the series ran during the Flicker Lounge show at last years New York International Children's Film Festival and it had all of us in the audience groaning when it ended. This time the same thing happened, only later in the story.

The plot of the film has androids/robots and humans living together. The human like androids must have a halo visible above their heads at all times. (There are many people, the Robot Ethics Committee, who don't want equal rights for mechanical people). When a school boy finds an odd message on his beautiful androids log roll, he goes with a friend to investigate and finds a cafe called the Time of Eve, which treats humans and androids the same. What they find there and how the lives of the various characters interact is the story.

I really loved this film a great deal. It's got great characters, both heroes and villains. How the story as it spins out is very believable, we are never forced to swallow this huge pill of exposition, it reveals everything a little at a time. I love that you don't know who is human and who isn't even at the end (as someone says at one point, we all have a secret or two). There is a real emotion to everyone and everything going on. In a weird way this film isn't even a romance, though you know it's heading that way and you have indications of it all though it. The couple the film is about barely have any time together- and certainly none in a romantic way.

I groaned, very loudly when the movie ended because I didn't want it to end. This film is a keeper. It's a film to treasure.

The question is will there be more? Wikipedia says that a second season has been promised, but hasn't materialized. Additionally there are some spin off books. I'd like to see the film continued either as a feature film or as episodes since it's rare that we get such good time with such good characters.

A must see if you get the chance.

(FYI- there are pencil drawings during the end credits, pay attention to them, I didn't and I was lost when the post credits sequence started. There is more after the credits so stick with them.)

The Storytelling Show (2010)

Wonderful animated film from France concerns a put-upon dad who works in an office writing movie scripts. His kids love his stories so they enter him in a contest to find out which dad is the best storyteller in France. Getting to the TV station he finds himself competing with various dads, including his arch rival from the office who will do anything to win. As the contest proceeds our hero and the other dads (and one mom) proceed through the contest. They find out that someone is trying to stop them from winning at any cost (it's not giving anything away to say that dad's arch rival from work and his wife are the cheaters). Who will win?

A great tale full of wonderful stories and wicked asides, this is a kid's film that doesn't talk down to kids. Yes it looks like it's aimed at five year olds but there is a great deal more going on with wicked subtexts and lines of dialog that are decidedly adult (there are some curse words here). I absolutely love that the film talks to kids as kids, so we do get poo jokes and a story about farting cows and pies in the face.

And lest you think it's just for kids this plays great for adults. In the screening I saw this at many of the longest and biggest laughs came from the moms and dads who really got the jokes. If it wasn't aiming for everyone I don't think they would have done riffs on Mick Jagger, Ray Charles, and the Beatles.

This film is an absolute joy. It's a film that needs to get a US release, especially by a company that won't dumb it down and take the heart and soul out of it.

If you can see this film rush out and do so; even if you don't have kids, see this movie. It's simply great storytelling.

Turner Classic Movies Goes Unseen (cinema) plus some random links

Tomorrow night Turner Classic Movies is running a double feature of lost films. First up is Fragments:Surviving Pieces of Lost Films. Its a collection of silent fragments put together by Flicker Alley plus interviews with archievists. It runs at 8PM Eastern Time.

It is followed by Unseen Cinema at 10PM. Its a collection of rarely seen short films. I should mention a few things coming up.

The Korean Cultural Service's biweekly film pick up this week with an animated film What is Not Romance. It's followed two weeks later by another film called Audition. I don't think Unseen will be attending either film. It appears all of my correspondents are occupied. If anyone attends either screening please drop me a line because I'd really like to know how the films are.

The Museum of Modern Art has two retrospective coming up. First up is a complete retrospective of the films of Charles Burnett, director of To Sleep With Anger among others. It starts on April 6th and runs through the month.

Starting April 15th they are looking at the films of Dziga Vertov. I know only his Man with a Movie Camera. If I can find the time I'm looking forward to trying some of his other films. (And I know I'm vague but I really don't know much about him but his films sound intriguing) Details for both can be found at the Museum website.

The Film Society of Lincoln Center has programmed a kick as restrospective for Memorial Day weekend. The subject is director Norman Jewison. He'll be there at some of the films. Films will include Rollerball, Jesus Christ Superstar, Moonstruck, The Russians Are Coming The Russians are Coming, In the Heat of the Night among others. This is a must go series. Tickets on sale on the 21st.

I was sent a press release for the Lincoln Center series on the late films of Satyajit Ray which starts April 16 but I've lost it. Check the Lincoln Center website for more details on theseries, plus a bunch of other goodies the Society has planned.

And now some links

Pondering the question is it funny if you have to explain it?

Roger Ebert on the filmed version of Danny Boyle's stage version of Frankenstein.

Lastly the winners at the New York International Children's Film Festival have been announced:

GRAND PRIZE FEATURE: Aurelie Laflamme's Diary
GRAND PRIZE SHORT: Marcel the Shell with Shoes On
SPECIAL JURY AWARD, LIVE ACTION: Chalk
SPECIAL JURY AWARD, ANIMATION: The Little Boy and the Beast
HSBC ENVIRONMENTAL FILM AWARD: Mia and the Migoo
PARENTS AWARD: The Yellow Balloon
AUDIENCE AWARD, AGES 3-6: Ormie
AUDIENCE AWARD, AGES 5-10: Don't Go
AUDIENCE AWARD, AGES 8-14: Marcel the Shell with Shoes On
AUDIENCE AWARD, AGES 12-18: Pixels

NYICFF Shorts One and Two PLUS two by Miyazaki at Carnegie Hall

The final weekend of the New York International Children's Film Festival was a double feature of short film programs, and that was followed up by a showing at Carnegie Hall of two films by Hayao Miyazaki that have never screened outside of Japan. Some of these were among the best films I've seen this year so far.


SHORTS FILMS ONE

Quiet sedate screening early this morning began strong and ended weakly.


The screening began with Don't Go. I posted a link last weekend to this. It's a very funny film about a one eyed pink guy who plays with a cat. It's set to the title song by Yaz.


Little Boy And The Beast is one of the best films of the year. The story of what happens when we turn into beasts. It's a magical look nominally at divorce, but actually is any sort of parental depression. I loved it. I wish I could have shown this to my mom because the beasts very much reminded me of her, both in appearance and demeanor, in the year or so before she died when she was in the depths of depression. It's a masterpiece of animation and storytelling.


Gravityis a musical little film where it's all the sound of falling objects. It's an amusing trifle that had the audience screaming with laughter.


Minnie Loves Junior is a sweet film about a young boy who is in his own little world in a coastal town. He is loved by a young girl. How they come together is the gist of film. The young girl who played Minnie is a revelation and if there is any justice we will be seeing a great deal of her over the upcoming decades...yes, she's that good.


The Deep is animator Pes' look at animals of the deep. It's all done with tools. As a technical achievement it's one of the most amazing things you'll ever see. As a film beyond that it's okay. Thankfully it's only two minutes long so it never wears out its welcome.


Fluffy McCloud is an amusing film about a cloud who uses his power to rain to annoy a certain sunbather and ends up causing chaos. He then decides to do the right thing. Lots of fun.


Tigers And Tattoos is about Maj who lives with her Uncle Sonny, a tattoo artist. She wants a real family, and Sonny will be happy to try and find one for her, but when Maj ends up tattooing a sleeping customer the pair has to take it on the lam. A great looking film, it's wildly over-long and poorly written. It just didn't work for me and several others in the audience who felt the flaws outweighed the charms. I've spoken about how I don't like when subtitles are read out loud, and if you ever want to see why it's not s fun thing see the version they screened today with a single voice reading all of the text. It made a fair film seem worse.


After that there was an hour break. I went for a short walk around the neighborhood.



SHORT FILMS TWO

Waiting for the films to start the kids around me were talking how much they loved The Storytelling Show which I saw last weekend.


Dot is an Aardman produced film about a young girl running from an unraveling thread. It's an amazing animated film since it was filmed on a microscopic level. It's just really cool, especially when you see how it was done.

Marcel The Shell With The Shoes On is an Internet sensation that is one of the best films of the year. It's a funny film about a shell, with shoes. It was improvised and shot in two days and has spawned a book, a possible TV series and soon a sequel. It's a must see because it's pure joy.

Incident At Tower 37 is one of the best science fiction films of at least the past five years. In a desert where a water tower stands, two figures show up with uncertain intent. I won't say more but this is a great film that plays with your expectations. It's great. I want to tell you more, especially since the director said somethings in the Q&A that makes clear why it's so good; basically it's not for us to know or it's for us to figure out.

We Are Boys is a documentary about what it's like to be a boy. It's very good and on target. It's a true life cousin to the wonderful Kenny And Company which is about boys at about the same age. I overheard a conversation before the screening and I heard something troubling: the festival cut this film down. The person I heard talking was one of the big directors of the festival and they said they removed some of the R rated material. I'm shocked that they would do it. Frankly it shook my respect for the festival. I always loved that this festival treated kids and their parents as little people who could handle things. By cutting the film without the directors consent (The person said "We had to cut the film, I hope Tomas doesn't mind what we did"), they really made me question whether the festival may be heading in the wrong direction. My annoyance was amped up with the last film of the series, which had the audience in a slight uproar with a passionate lesbian kiss and talk of lesbianism (the parents around me were not happy at having to explain what was going on to their kids who started to ask questions)


Bottle is a great animated film about a friendship/romance that happens via items in a bottle between a sandman on a beach and a snowman by a river. I have no idea how it was all done, but it was cool. It's a great little film that I really want to see again.

The Lost Thing recently won the Oscar for best animated film. Ken's write up just about covers it, except it was really cool to see this on a big screen.

Savage was a terrible little film that looks good, and has a nice idea behind it, but really sucked. The film has a little Native American girl go off to school. Her mother sings a song of loss. She and her fellow students become zombies. It's horrible. I hated it, and so did the kids around me who wouldn't shut up about how bad it was.

Leitmotif was a good looking, but not very good, film about a jazz pianist and his cat. Looks great but the film doesn't work.

The last film was Hammerhead, about a young boy who loves sharks whose mother has run off with another woman. He wants to go see the shark that has been spotted off the coast, and on his birthday, he goes, with his dad, his mom and her lover. It's an amusing little film that had the audience in an uproar when the women kissed and the little kids wanted to know what a lesbian was. I liked the film a great deal, but wish it was longer since the shortness of the film required things to be a little too forced.

After the films the directors of We Are Boys, Marcel ,and Incident, plus an animator on The Lost Thing and the voice of Marcel did a Q&A. It was actually a good discussion that brought out lots of details, almost all of which I can't go into since they relate specifically to the films and give plot points away.

After that I took another walk. After stopping at the site of the Triangle Shirt Waste Factory (now an NYU building), I went uptown to wait for the arrival of John and Randi for screenings at Carnegie Hall of two films from the Studio Ghibli museum which, until tonight, have never screened outside of Japan.

I'll need to write them up fuller, but for now you need to know that they are neat little confections.

Househunting is a cute little experiment; there is no music or sound effects except those made by two actors. The plot has a a young girl packing up her things and walking out into the wilderness, dealing with the various spirits along the way. It's a trifle.

Mon Mon The Water Spider is a lovely little film about a spider who falls in love with a water strider. Let me just say that this is one of the most beautiful and best films that Miyazaki has ever done (and if you know the high level of quality that Ghibli turns out you'll know how good that makes this film). It's a charming little romance that is easily one of my favorite films of Ghibli, and of the year.

Cat In Paris-NYICFF (and Don't Go)

I attended the New York International Children's Film Festival screening of the Cat In Paris this Morning with Randi. It's a charming little crime film for kids...well, older kids. It's about a cat who splits his time between living with a young girl whose mom is a police inspector, and a cat burglar. Through circumstances she is thrown into an investigation of the man who killed her father during a robbery (not the burglar) and his gang. I need to do a proper write up to really explain it, and I will down the line.

For now know that the film is very good, with a plot that makes little real sense. It has great jokes, a few nice twists and a visual style that is worth the price of admission alone. It's one of the best films at NYCIFF this year.

As I said a full review will becoming.

Before the feature they ran the short film Don't Go. It's about Pinky and a cat. It's a blast and can be found by following this link.

Three FIlms at The New York International Children's Film Festival

It's been a long day and I'll be doing longer reviews down the road... but for now know that I, Mondocurry and Shigeko attended three good films at this years NYICFF.

First up was the French animated film The Storytelling Show. It's a wonderful, hysterically funny tale of father who's kids enter him in a televised storytelling contest. Wonderfully off color and off kilter (there are poo and fart jokes) this is a film that should be destined a spot on the classic shelf. I'm going to write this up, but for now, if you have a chance see this kids.

Welcome to the Space Show is a good, but over long and rather slow story of a group of kids who rescue a wounded alien and are rewarded with trip into space. It's a real feast for the eye and the plot, if it moved faster, is pretty good. The trouble is that the film runs way over two hours and feel like three times that. I liked it but at the same time I fought to stay awake. Worth a look see on DVD but in a theater, I'd take a pass.

Time of Eve was the feature version of a series that had it's first episode screened at last year at the film festival. Its a story of men and androids who pass through a coffee house with the title for a name. The premise is that the cafe is a place where the two can meet and interact as equals. It's wonderful romance who's only flaw is that the story doesn't end with the end of the film. It's the sort of thing you want to continue on with. I'm going to do a fuller review later, but if you can, see it.

Dreams of Jinsha and From One Film to Another, a long day on the festival circuit

It was a long day on the festival circuit in New York City for me today. It should have been longer but the prospect of getting out of the final screening around midnight was too much for me. If I wasn't doing a return trip tomorrow....

...but I'm getting ahead of myself, as I tend to do when I am tired, let me start at the beginning.

This morning I attended Dreams of Jinsha at the New York International Children's Film Festival. This was one of the films that was thrown on to the Oscar short list for animated films. It tells the story of a young man with a jade necklace who is transported back in time to Jinsha, a long ago kingdom, where his coming is foretold.

If you're following Unseen on Twitter you already know what my thoughts are: It's the first film that made me ponder why the festival chose it. It's a dull boring movie that had the people around me snoozing or staring at the screen in disbelief.

The first problem with the screening was that the subtitles are white, and unfortunately a good portion of the time they are obliterated by white at the bottom of the screen. Even allowing for the fact that I missed a chunk of the dialog, this is a poor movie. Knowing what they were saying wouldn't have helped much.

Allowing for it's technical deficiencies (poor animation and a color scheme that looks wrong), the story just doesn't work on any level. After getting our hero to Jinsha, not a whole hell of alot happens. He hangs out with a princess until it's time to go. However he can't go because a general touches an evil that will just go away if left alone. The general grows to a huge size and begins to rampage, why I don't know. This death and destruction only ends when for no really good reason our hero leaps onto the rampaging giant general and he falls apart. If that sounds obtuse and confusing because you haven't seen the film, consider I have seen the film and I found it just as confusing.

I HATED this movie. I would have left but I figured since the festival was showing it must have something to it. Nope. It's just bad. I don't think it went over that well with the audience either since many kids were sleeping and the parents looked pained. For the first time in all the years of going to the film festival (which is all the years) I have no clue as to why this film was being shown. None. Nada.Zippo. This film is a turkey no matter how you look at it, what is it doing at NYICFF? I mean it was such a killer film it wiped out any desire to see any more films at the festival.

And what's with the write up saying the film is a homage to Hayao Miyazaki? It's not a homage, it's out and out theft with ideas of Princess Mononoke(the princess rides a tiger instead of a wolf and the giant general resembles the beast at the end). I think Ghibli could win a law suit.

The less said about this film the better.

Speaking of Hayao Miyazaki, Carnegie Hall is running two of his shorts on March 26th at 630 and 830. The total running time is about a half an hour but considering this is the ONLY way to see the films outside of going to Japan you may want to consider going. Details can be found here. I picked up tickets so expect reviews.

From there I went up to Lincoln Center for Rendez-Vous With French Cinema. I was supposed to see two Claude Lelouch films, but I only made it to one.

From One Film to Another is a wonderful film essay by Lelouch on his film career. Starting with an early documentary on Russia the film follows Lelouch's life through film. Actually the film starts with Lelouch's legendary race across Paris on a Sunday morning in 1976. It's a wicked wild ride as we sit on the bumper and race across the city breaking every law. Lelouch uses it as a metaphor his career.

I can't say enough good about the film, and I'm going to expand my recommendation in a later review. If you can see this on the big screen (or any screen) do so, especially if you are a film nut.

After the film ended the director came out for a Q&A. What it turned into was Lelouch holding court and talking for the better part of 45 minutes. It only ended when the manager of the Walter Reade literally got down on his knees and begged for the talk to be ended so the next screening could be loaded in.

Sadly I took no notes during the talk, it just wasn't possible. I was so into what Lelouch was saying I couldn't disconnect to write.

When the screening was done I was ready to see the next film,Lelouch's other new film What Love May Bring. Sadly I had to bail since the film was due to start 3 hours later... and end after 11PM. As much as I wanted to see it I couldn't do a trip home well after midnight. So I came home.

That's it, other than to should out to Pauline and her friend, whom I met waiting to go in. I missed you after the screening. Somewhere in all of the people I lost track of you. I'll be in touch.

Mars Needs Moms (2011) :Opening Night of the New York International Children's FIlm Festival

Tonight it was time for one of the two best film Festivals in New York to start- The New York International Children's Film Festival.

Tonight was the first public screening of Mars Needs Moms and Unseen Films was there.

I went to the screening, not because I really wanted to see the film, I love the book and it means something for me because it came out right before my mom died and it meant a great deal for both of us; rather I went to the screening because most Opening Night screenings of the film festival are a great deal of fun.

This year it was a low key affair. Outside of a few thank yous and the obligatory t-shirt toss they simply ran the film. I was disappointed, but that's just me nit picking.

The film is the story of Milo, who after saying some harsh words to his mom has to save her when she is kidnapped and taken to Mars.

The movie is the latest motion capture cartoon from Robert Zemekis. Why he bothers to animate the films is beyond me since you're essentially doing the film straight anyway is beyond me, but that's my own problem.(And apparently Hollywood's since these films cost a mint and don't really return the money).

Based on the book by Berkley Breathed they've taken the bare plot, threw away everything else and made up a bunch of new stuff involving the Martians, Gribble (a human) and some robots. It's a breezy 88 minutes that isn't really burdened by things like character development. Only two characters arc, Gribble and Li, and the rest are just too in motion to do much other than run.

I'm being snarky, but it's not fair. This is a good little movie that, as I tweeted and said to friends, is way better than it has any right to be. I liked it a great deal (largely because of the new characters).

Is it perfect? No. It's really little more than an expanded short (though coming from a short picture book isn't surprising), but it moves along. You won't get bored.

A word of warning, this is being shown in 2D and 3D and IMAX and in regular theaters. Go for the regular theaters and 2D versions. First off the film was shot in a great wide screen that is going to get mixed up in IMAX. Secondly there is maybe two shots in the entire film that is worth seeing in 3D. The shots are fleeting and not worth the bump up in price.

Over all a nice start to this year's festival.

A week until the New York International Children's Film Festival Starts

The New York Children's Film Festival starts next Friday with a screening of Mars Need Moms at the Director's guild. I wouldn't bother going since it opens a week or so later, but it's the opening night film so I'm going, Opening Night screenings are a blast.

I should warn you that the tickets for many films are already scarce (Opening Night Tickets are gone) and that even the added screenings (say of A Cat in Paris) have sold out.

If you're looking for things to see I just wanted to say that there are a few gems.

Echoes of the Rainbow which I saw last year at the New York Asian Film Festival isn't bad. I didn't love it, but the film has thrilled (ie. become one of their all time favorites) the many people in my office who I loaned the import DVD. Its the memory tale of a young boy about growing up in Hong Kong in the early 1960's. Actor Simon Yam won numerous awards for his portrayal of the boys father.

Time of Eden is an animated film that was screened in part last year. Its a love story between a human and a robot.. I loved what I saw and I had to see the rest.

Mia and Magoo is one of the most beautiful animated films you're likely to see. This is the premiere of the English language version. Hopefully the voices will do the original French voices justice. As it is it's a wonderful film about a young girl trying to find her dad. How good is it, I've seen it about6 times in the last year.

I just recently got to see Sammy's Adventures: The Secret Passage. The festival is showing it in 3D however I saw it in 2D. It should look great in 3D with the characters swimming out over the audience. The film itself seems more geared toward little kids than the big ones. Its about Sammy trying to find a passage that will allow him to travel around the world. It's set up to provide some great 3D thrills in set marvelous pieces while bludgeoning the audience with an obvious environmental message. I wasn't thrilled with the story, but then again I'm not the intended audience which is the under 10 set. Visually the film does impress at times, and as I said I can only imagine how great this will look in 3D. If you have young ones give it a shot. (For those who should care this is by the same director as Fly Me to the Moon, which was about flies that travel into space on an Apollo mission. It's better on the whole than that film- but much more simplistic)

Don Quixote, FIlm Comment Selects, Links and updates

A wide ranging post covering a bunch of different subjects.

Yesterday I got an order from Yes Asia that contained, among other things, a film called Don Quixote. According to the Yes Asia web site (IMDB doesn't list the film yet) the film was made by Keifer Liu and stars Guo Tao as the Quixote character. Shot using 3D cameras the film looks spectacular. Dramatically the film is a bit of a mess with the script trying to shoe horn the events from the book into a Chinese setting. I'm not sure if all of the problems are in the script or in the subtitles which has the lead character Don Quixote though his name in Chinese is Tang Ji. To be perfectly honest I'm really mixed about the film with even the windmill sequence looking great but falling dramatically flat. A half an hour in I knew I wasn't going to write the film up for Unseen, however by the end I kind of felt I had to simply because it's an interesting adaption of a Western classic in an Eastern frame work. If you want to see what those in the East do with our classics give the film a shot.

Also yesterday Mondocurry atteneded the final Sabu screening at the Japan Society, Troubleman. It's the last half of a TV miniseries. he's promised to file a report which will go up when he manages to ge a minute.

The screenings are on sale for Film Comment Selects at Lincoln Center. I do have tickets for four films (I Saw the Devil, Burke and Hare, Insidious and Cold Fish) It's a good selection of films and I'm trying to add more.

I Saw the Devil is running a week later at BAM with the director in attendance as part of Severely Damaged: The Cinema of Kim Ji-woon. I've seen or have on DVD all of the directors films so it goes with out saying that I recommend the series. If you saw 2009's The Uninvited you will want to see the original version A Tale of Two Sisters which will mess you up in ways the remake could only dream to do. (Mondocurry talks about each of the films in the series the films on his blog and it can be found here.)

If you want to attend the New York International Children's film Festival, you may want o order tickets sooner than later since they have sent out emails saying that some shows are getting close to selling out. Tickets can be had by clicking here.

Tuesday night is the next film in the Korean Cultural Service free screenings- Lifting King Kong. The screening starts at 7 with doors at 630. (At the Tribeca Cinemas) At the last one we were warned that the film is graphic in it depiction of injuries so if you have a queasy stomach don't go. Waiting to see what the weather is before I decide if I'm going.

Tomorrow night the Town Hall series is running Certifiably Jonathan. Its a docu-comedy about Jonathan Winters. Despite having a ticket I'm probably not going, it just doesn't look all that hot.

The New York Times takes a look at Foreign Language films that no one seems to be watching here.

Here is a good article on a documentary on the Toynbee Titles that played at Sundance.

New York Comicon is now FOUR days in October. Tickets are going on sale tomorrow at noon.

The film Home which shows the earth from the air is currently playing in Manhattan for free. A very good interview with the director can be heard here.

thanks to Mondocurry for some of the links and details.

My NYICFF Choices, Tim Minchin in New York and some links from IMDB and elsewhere

The tickets went on sale yesterday for The New York International Children's Film Festival and I picked up tickets today. There is a chance that I'll add more, but for now I have tickets to 8 screenings. For the curious the choices are as follows:

Opening Night: Mars Needs Moms - In all honesty I don't need to do this, or see it since I'm not a fan of motion capture and they radically redid the book, but it's Opening Night which means its a a hell of a lot of fun.

The Dreams of Jinsha

The Storyteller Show

Welcome to the Space Show

The Time of Eve

A Cat in Paris

The Two Short Film collections

Yes its animation heavy, but my choices always tend toward animation- though things like Boy or Aurelie Laflamme's Diary may end up on my dance card.

I'll be writing more down the line but for now it's just waiting.

Next up-
Comedian Tim Minchin, who's work we reviewed in So Live and Rock and Roll Nerd The Tim Minchin Story , is playing New York's Gramercy Theater May 4th. Check Live Nation for tickets. Everyone here at Unseen Films are big fans having seen him when he last passed our way. We will be there in May . If you want to have a good time and are in the New York City area go. If you're not sure go to You Tube and look him up.

Lastly I'm leaving you with some links and such mostly lifted from IMDB:

Odd movie sets at Popular Mechanics

Movie Locations around the world here and here

Disney poster mash ups

The trouble with subtitling Jeff Bridges in True Grit can be found here.

Walter Mirsch tells Roger Ebert why 3D will never work in the movies. And this sparks further discussion.

Why do some movies crash and burn here and are mega hits elsewhere is pondered here.

I've added Koreafilm.org to the sidebar under useful links. If you like Korean film this is one of the best places to look around. Its not really encyclopedic but it is damn good writing.

The Schedule of the New York International Children's FIlm Festival is up

The schedule is up for this years New York International Children's Film Festival is up. Please go take a look.... and then buy tickets, there are some real winners there.

Some of the highlights are as follows:

The opening night gala is Mars Needs Moms in 3D. It's based on Berkley Breathed's children's book. I met Breathed when he was touring for the book and he was a blast. The book is wonderful but if you've seen the trailer for the film you know that it's been greatly expanded for the film. I'm probably going to go.

A Cat in Paris is the latest from the people who did Mia and Magoo, which is also playing the festival. Mia is a must see if you want to see beautiful filmmaking. (The spelling difference in my review is because it depends on where you see it as to how it's spelled)

Dreams of Jinsha which was on the Oscar short list for the animated Oscar. It's the East Coast premiere.

Echoes of the Rainbow is playing. Its a film that is about a family in Hong Kong in the mid 1960's. I saw the film at last years NYAFF where it reduced many in the audience to tears. I've loaned the film to several people and they've fallen madly in love with it. While I don't love the film I did like it, and think that if you want to see a sure fire hit see it. (It was also on the short list for the Foreign Language Oscar)

Time of Eve is a complete version of a film that was shown in part at last years festival. For me it's a must see since I saw that part of it last year and I need to see the rest.

And then there are other features and their glorious short programs....Its weeks and weeks of great films. A must see.