So, I finally managed to catch Pixar’s latest masterpiece: Up. I have to admit, I’m amazed  they can continually produce imaginative, risky films that only keep getting better and better.

That said, this was probably one of the most depressing movies I’ve ever seen. Anyone who spends the time weighing the issues presented during the hour and forty minutes of animation would have to admit that meditating on a life wasted, on the worth of companionship, on the way we painfully attach emotions to inanimate objects, on the destruction of dreams, on the harsh realities surrounding our heroes and on the disintegration of the American family… is some seriously heavy stuff.

I need to remember to look out for Pixar’s next (which should prove more upbeat) Toy Story 3.

Finally finished watching Michiko E Hatchin last night and I must say I love it when shows like this come along.

Michiko E Hatchin does a great job as something of the stylistic successor to Cowboy Bebop. It takes all the great music, the heat of the dessert, the humidity of the jungle, the serenity of the seaside villages and the frenetic pacing of the cities; wraps it all in vibrant South American colors and culture then tells an at times hilarious, painful and heart-warming story.

It certainly has me itching to visit Brazil.

I should remember to look out for more shows like this that break the typical Japanese anime mold… oh, and get down to Brazil as soon as possible.

After 25 years, G.I. Joe is back… and I’m not talking about that shitty Summer movie.

G.I. Joe: Resolute represents an update of the cartoon to match the years that its audience and the world has developed. Major characters die. There’s a sense that the stakes really are high. And Cobra Commander has grown a pair.

I should remember to keep watching the free episodes to see how this whole experiment works out.

I could barely care less about the Oscars last night. In fact, I had forgotten that they were even on until some friends over reminded us.

So, we fired up the rabbit ears and checked out Hugh Jackman’s opening number, which was fun (especially the part about not seeing The Reader). Then the awards got under way and I realized that there was only one award that mattered to me: whether they would award a movie with almost no speaking as the animated film of the year. The woman and I had a brief debate about this category being the “animated film of the year” not the “kid’s film of the year”. Then, thankfully, the Academy awarded the Oscar to Wall-E.

I should remember that there are still some places where people are brave enough to get behind unconventional projects.

I ran across a link to the Vexille movie site today, so I thought I should remind myself to check it out. Cinematical says:

According to a glowing review over at Twitch, Vexille is about a future where android technology becomes forbidden once lines between technology and humanity cross. Everyone signs the UN treaty but Japan, who secludes themselves from the world, kicking out foreigners and masking themselves from electronic/satellite surveillance. After 10 years of seclusion, a Daiwa (Japanese robotic company) executive comes to meet with international politicians. Vexille, a female op based in LA, discovers the politicians dead, that the Daiwa is a cyborg and then must infiltrate Japan to stop the company and save the world.

Sounds good and the visuals look great! Too bad it opens in August in Japan… and who-knows-when in the states. Oh well, at least I can remember to look out for it.

Paprika, Satoshi Kon‘s latest film played in the New York Film Festival where it won an Official Selection (as evidenced by watching the trailer in HD) and I missed it… Way back in October. Anyway, now the wait begins as the film won’t see a US release until May. May! That’s like 2 months away… Hmm… that’s not too bad, I guess…

I better remember not to miss this sure to be exquisite feature from one of my favorite directors.

(Thank goodness there’s Cinematical for the reminder)

Creating the advertising and signage for the movie Children of Men (which I remember really liking) must have been a ton of fun for the UK based Foreign Office. Being in advertising, this is the type of project I would have loved to have done as it was basically free reign to comment on today’s marketing and the directions it could go in the future.

I need to remember to save time from work to pursue some more fun projects.

(Via Kottke.org)

Saw this last night and all I can say is awful, awful, AWFUL. Holy crap this was bad. Robotech was one of my introductions to anime along with Lensman which I actually watched on Spanish TV under the title “Hombre Lente.” Although the Robotech series as Americans know it was mainly a butchered version of the Macross anime with additional completely different series tacked on for additional “generations”, this movie tries to reconcile all that plus the Sentinals stories which I don’t think ever were completely animated. But none of that matters, because this movie is just too terrible for words.

I should remember to at least look into movies a little before buying my tickets. Additionally, I should remember that the sound system at The ImaginAsian Theater sucks terribly.

(Update: Well, looks like the sound system was not to blame. Thanks for the heads up ImaginAsian! Now if only there’s a way for people to know beforehand whether they’ll be able to experience the full force of the ImaginAsian sound system… )

You know, I’ve always gravitated towards cartoons and the cast of characters that inhabit them. Sure, at the beginning it was lots of Looney Tunes, Scooby Doo, Tom and Jerry, and the like. But then one morning while flipping channels waiting for Pole Position to come on, I came across Robotech on spanish TV and I was hooked on anime.

Anyway, despite the years of spending more time with foriegn animation, occasionally something comes along to remind me of the time I spent lying on my stomach on the floor inches from the tv watching Looney Tunes. Earlier this year, artist Michael Paulus did a series of 22 illustrations imagining what the skeletal structure of cartoons would really look like and now Hyungkoo Lee has gone even further by creating actual cartoon character skeletons out of resin, aluminum sticks, stainless steel wires, springs, and oil paint. Not only is it truly amazing, it also displays the odd underlying freakishness of children and things they gravitate towards.

I should try to remember that cartoon characters can be real!

Via Veer, NOTCOT.ORG, ResonTence, Talk About Design, BagelTurf, Observations of Life on Mars, and just about everyone else.

Wow! I have to remember to figure out how to buy one of these! Being a fan of the Ghost in the Shell movies and Stand Alone Complex series (not so much the mangas), I’ve wanted a Tachikoma of my own for a long time. This one seems like a prototype, but I really hope they go into production. I would definitely be in line to pick on up.

Here’s some video of it in action and the Tachikoma robot product page. Via Engadget.