I’ll start by saying; Bayonetta is pure, unadulterated, fun.  It’s a game that represents the complete package – game-play, art, sound, and character.  I personally can never seem to find the time to play all the games that constantly accrue on my entertainment center, but I kept coming back to Bayonetta for more.

Hit the jump for the full review!

M. Night Shyamalan can be a good filmmaker. For me, his last three films, including this one, have been disasters. Others would push that number higher. I'll defend THE VILLAGE and SIGNS — they had interesting characters and grand themes that drove their narratives. The same qualities that drove his most successful work, THE SIXTH SENSE. The director seems to have lost those skills. Even with quality source material to work with, he was unable to deliver a coherent, let alone a compelling, story.

All the players from the anime-inspired Nickelodeon series are present. In a world where four tribes of people can control the elements of air, water, earth and fire, there is one Avatar who rises in each generation that can control them all and bring peace to the planet. Aang (Noah Ringer, upcoming COWBOYS & ALIENS) is the latest Avatar, but when he is told of his fate and that he will not be able to have a family as a result, he runs away and ends up trapped in ice. After a hundred years, he and his flying bison Appa are freed by Southern water tribe members Katara (Nicola Peltz, DECK THE HALLS) and her brother Sokka (Jackson Rathbone, TWILIGHT).

Nothing is more important to the success of the learning process than motivation.

Talent is important, but talent without motivation simply doesn’t cut it.  Curiosity, persistence and a spirit of creative accomplishment are indispensable.  It’s the responsibility of the instructor and the institution to ensure that the learning environment is one that encourages openness, individuality, teamwork, sound problem solving and creativity.

 

 

I haven’t been this disappointed by a Walt Disney sci-fi movie since The Black Hole.  Maybe I walked in with unrealistic expectations of seeing something as groundbreaking, and visually thrilling as the 1982 original. The trailer looked tremendous (as trailers are supposed to) and the idea of revisiting a ‘visionary’ film (the first Tron does indeed deserve that now-overused adjective) with 21^st century effects – and with the same actors playing the same characters they did in the original, only middle-aged – seemed irresistible.

Silverman talks about his work on The Simpsons – both he TV series and movie – with great affection and enthusiasm. “The Simpsons challenges the intellect and stimulates the intellect,” he says. This, despite the fact that the show relies on what he calls a “double act” routine – with one big idiot leading a lesser idiot.

When asked if another Simpsons feature is in the offing, Silverman replies, “I’m sure in future there will be. Right now, we’re too busy on the show.”

Silverman advises that The Simpsons series is being adjusted for HD format. “Backgrounds had to be redesigned and updated, and that involves a lot of fine line work,” Silverman says.

In 2000, Silverman departed Simpsons territory and co-directed Dreamworks’ The Road to El Dorado and in 2001, he co-directed Pixar’s Monsters, Inc. “I had been working on The Simpsons for 10 years, and I thought, ‘This can’t last forever’,” Silverman recalls. As it turned out, after those gigs, Silverman returned to The Simpsons’ comfortable couch for another extended run.

One of my favorite pros of having produced the Computer Animation Festival is that I am sometimes asked to sit on an animation jury. I usually say yes, even though I have been witness to some exhausting jury sessions, I still love watching and discussing animation with others in a jury forum. I like there to be something at stake. Not just prizes for the animators who have probably suffered in one way or another to produce their films, but as a jury member you can feel the weight your decisions have in defining the style and structure of the animation pieces shown at that particular festival.

Most of the juries I have served on have been in the States or Western Europe. Needless to say, there is a fairly regular overlap in content submitted to these geographic locations.  I often found myself wondering how to get more Asian countries to submit their films to SIGGRAPH North America, (as it’s being called now that we have SIGGRAPH Asia and our 2011 Conference is being held in Vancouver, Canada.) So when I was at ANIMA this past winter and a very nice festival organizer from China asked if I would be able to sit on the jury of the 7^th China International Computer Animation and Digital Art Festival (CICADAF 2010), how could I say no?

Animatorit is a new animation blog, focusing mainly on Israeli animation but also on international animated shorts. For an appetizer, Animatorit brings you the latest info on the new project by Ari Folman - director of the Oscar nominated "Waltz with Bashir". Who is Ari Folman? What was his first animated project? Who was cast in his new film? And why will half of it be live action and the other half animated?

 

 

These resolutions are mighty late, though I think according to the Chinese calendar – their New Year is just approaching.