REVIEW: Aliens vs Predator
It's a feud that will never die! Hit the link to see how Aliens vs Predator holds up on current game consoles and PC.
AWN Blogs
Japan Society Announces Hiroki Otsuka as Mangaka Artist-in-Residence
As an artist-in-residence, Otsuka will create an original manga inspired by the work of Utagawa Kuniyoshi. He will also be conducting illustration workshops open to the general public.
US Premiere of Mobile Suit Gundam UC
If you’re in San Francisco, or can at least get there anytime from March 19th to the 25th, then you’re in luck. Viz Cinema will debut Mobile Suit Gundam UC, and this is roughly one month after its debut in Japan!
Oscar Tour Meets ICM Agents
On the first day of the L.A. leg, the tour swung by agency ICM.
L.A. Leg Starts at MGM and Sony
The 2010 Oscar Showcase tour begins its L.A. leg with a trip to Sony and MGM.
The Frog and the Goldfish: A Tale of Two Princesses
It's been an interesting time for animation this spring in cinemas. Two new features are competing for audience attention, Ponyo from Studio Ghibli and Disney Animation Studio's latest The Princess and the Frog. Their parallel release is further energised by the way they promote traditional drawn animation.
WE LIVE IN PUBLIC (2009) (****)
Sometimes very smart people can seem like prophets. Especially in their area of expertise. Josh Harris is just one of those people. You probably don't know whom he is, but you should. He knew how you'd be living today back in 1999. Ondi Timoner's documentary delves into his predictions, as well as his personality. He began as an Internet pioneer and transformed into a Machiavellian artist.
In 1984, Harris was first exposed to what would become the Internet and knew right then and there that it was the future. He started Jupiter Research, which made wildly accurate predictions out the Net's future, and later sold it for $80 million. Taking that money, he launched the first Internet TV site called Pseudo.com when most people were still using dial-up. He was rolling in so much dough that he also became legendary for massive Studio 54-like parties. But it was more than simple decadence, the gatherings brought in top young artists in NYC, which would become the creative lifeblood of Pseudo's programming. Before his channel had any competition, he was telling programs like 60 MINUTES that the Internet was going to take over television.
Why the hell am I doing this job? Becoming a producer and VFX supervisor.
There is a point in everyone's life, where you look back at the last few months, years, or - depending on your age - decades, and ask yourself: Why the hell am I doing this? I am a producer and visual effects supervisor. And here are my reasons...
Dragon Ball Z: Dragon Box 2
Dragon Ball does what Dragon Ball always does; it’s pure pugilistic indulgence! Even for the disinterested like myself, I have to give the tip of my hat.
The Parallax View
This is Parallax, our new animation, games and advertising design blog. We're moving to Australia, and so is this blog!
Getting Buzzed – Rick's Oscar Picks 2010
The Oscars are coming next Sunday and work pools will be striking up in the next week. Here are my informed picks. See how your picks match up with mine. I dare you.
BEST PICTURE: THE HURT LOCKER
After surprising many in Hollywood by winning the Producers' Guild Award, the best film nominated for this year's Oscar seems to be in the right position to take the award next Sunday.
AVATAR
THE BLIND SIDE
DISTRICT 9
AN EDUCATION
INGLOURIOUS BASTERDS
PRECIOUS
A SERIOUS MAN
UP
UP IN THE AIR
BEST ACTOR: Jeff Bridges, CRAZY HEART
It's been too long and his performance is great.
George Clooney, UP IN THE AIR
Colin Firth, A SINGLE MAN
Morgan Freeman, INVICTUS
Jeremy Renner, THE HURT LOCKER
More Day Three at Pixar
Who says there are no celebrities in Animation? We arrive at Pixar an hour early, the van is buzzing with excitement. We are about to meet some of the ROCK STARS of animation. To be granted a tour at Pixar is a privilege not extended to everyone!
Day Three: Pixar!
Pixar is living through a new golden age. The string of hit films, the triumph of Up, the promise of the studio’s ambitious new projects, all fill the space with a glow. I’ve visited Pixar before, and each time I’m aware that someday I’ll be telling people not yet born that, yes, I visited Pixar.
Opening Night at the Beaufort International Film Festival (BIFF)
As said at the opening Thursday night,” Beaufort, SC. knows how to party!”… and party they did!
Playlist of 36 Animated Shorts, Music Videos and Series Trailers from Korea
Take a trip to Korea and see a stunning array of 36 clips from animated short films, music videos , tv and film feature clips. These clips showcase the work of the top animated-related production and distribution companies in Korea today.
Dante’s Inferno: An Animated Epic
Dante’s Inferno is as devoted to its video game origins as a reality show cast is to the camera phones loitering on Sunset.
'Ugly' is Comedy Central’s new Funny
Beyond South Park and Dr. Katz, not much has stuck to Comedy Central’s cartoon wall. Drawn Together came close with three seasons. Lil’ Bush vanished with Bush II’s presidency, TV Funhouse came and went awfully fast back in Y2K – and anybody even remember Shorties Watching Shorties or Kid Notorious? Well, next month Comedy Central tries one more time with Ugly Americans, a higher-than high concept show that just might stick around for a bit.
Day Two's Evening Screening with ASIFA-SF
SF’s Dolby Laboratories in Potrero Hill hosts tonights screening of the Oscar-nominated shorts for SF’s ASIFA chapter. As if I’d had any doubts that I was among serious animation fans, chapter president Karl Cohen’s next announcement, that the Balboa Theater will be screening some Gumby shorts in honor of the recently-deceased Art Clokey earns an audible gasp from the audience. This group loves animation, and lives animation.
More Day Two Travels: ILM in SF’s Historic Presidio
Film history is a subject near and dear to the heart of George Lucas, which was evident in every aspect of ILM’s headquarters. The lobby itself can keep a film buff entertained for hours, with an extensive library of Star Wars books and magazines, life-size replicas of Darth Vader and Boba Fett, and an incredibly cool life-size statue of legendary special effects artist Willis O’Brien posing a model King Kong atop the Empire State Building.
Day Two: Skywalker Ranch, ILM and ASIFA-SF
Day Two of the 2010 AWN Oscar Tour begins at Skywalker Ranch and continues on to ILM in San Francisco and then to an evening screening with ASIFA-San Francisco.
A PROPHET (2010) (****)
Nominated for an Oscar for Best Foreign Language film, Jacques Audiard's prison drama is being compared to THE GODFATHER and the comparison is warranted. In taking a new perspective on the gangster genre, the gripping film deals with issues of being an Arab in France and the reality of rehabilitation. Prison rarely makes a person a better person only a better criminal.
Malik El Djebena (Tahar Rahim) is a 19-year-old delinquent who gets six years for fighting with cops. Whether he deserved it or was being targeted for being an Arab is left open ended. But it doesn't really matter, because this scrawny kid is now in with the big boys. He's petrified and it shows on his face. Before too long, he is mugged for his shoes. When he tries to fight back, he just gets beat more. However, his guts don't go unnoticed… and that's not a good thing for him. Corsican gang boss Cesar Luciani (Niels Arestrup, THE DIVING BELL AND THE BUTTERFLY) makes him an offer that he can't refuse — he must kill the snitch Reyeb (Hichem Yacoubi, AZUR AND ASMAR) or be killed.
Nozomi Announces Limited-Edition CLANNAD Lithograph
This lithograph is on high-quality paper (archival in fact), priced at $49.99, and includes a certificate of authenticity. Only 250 prints will be made.
Day One: ILM's Big Rock Ranch and PDI/Dreamworks
Day One of the 2010 AWN Oscar Tour begins at PDI/Dreamworks and continues on to ILM's Big Rock Ranch.
ZOMBIELAND (2009) (***)
Nut up or shut up is the catch phrase of this zombie satire and it also sums up its theme. What if you were the most scared person in the world and zombies took over? You'd think that he'd be the first person to have his guts pulled out and dined on. But fear might also keep you alert, especially if you know the rules.
Referred to by his hometown, Columbus (Jesse Eisenberg, ADVENTURELAND), is frightened of everything. Before the plague, he pretty much spent all his time in his apartment playing videogames. With zombies roaming, he is trying to make his way back to Ohio, following a strict set of survival rules. Cardio is his #1 rule. Zombies are slow, so being fat makes you the main course on the undead buffet. Other rules include watching out for bathrooms and making sure to put a second bullet into a zombie's head just in case. Along the road, Columbus meets Tallahassee (Woody Harrelson, THE MESSENGER), who is his exact opposite. Tallahassee is a loose canon that loves slaughtering zombies in violent ways and will take great risks to comfort himself with Twinkies.
Staring Into the Professional Abyss
Digital artists need to start creating their own films. To the degree we hold ourselves as servants rather than visionaries we will always be begging for our suppers.
