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Headline News

La Memoria dei Cani & The Runt Tie At Kalamazoo

Kalamazoo Animation Festival International (KAFI) closed its 2007 event on May 20, with the awarding of its prizes. Festival fave THE RUNT from director Andreas Hykade tied for first place in the " Independent Works 6 To 30 Minutes" category with Vanessa Degaugue's La Memoria dei Cani. In the "Independent Works Under 6 Minutes" category, Karl Staven's Ottawa 2006 prizewinner BACKYARD SHADOW took home the top prize.

Complete list of winners follows.

Commissioned 1 Minute & Under1st -- THE RUBBISH MONSTER, Braam Jordaan

Blogs

HOT FUZZ (2007) (***1/2)

What writer/director Edgar Wright and co-writer/star Simon Pegg did to the zombie film in SHAUN OF THE DEAD, they turn around in HOT FUZZ and do the same to the buddy cop genre. They certainly know their actions flicks, referencing specific bad actioners like POINT BREAK and BAD BOYS II while skewering the whole genre with pointed jibes, post modern references and a subtly that often walks the edge between homage and satire.

Officer Nicholas Angel (Pegg, SHAUN OF THE DEAD) is the best cop on the London police force. He's so good that his superiors are looking bad, so he gets a promotion to sergeant in a sleepy village where the top crisis is when a swan gets loose. Angel takes his job very seriously. He follows the letter of law precisely. Inspector Frank Butterman (Jim Broadbent, MOULIN ROUGE) tells him that he needs to lighten up and that some rules need to be bent for the betterment of the village. But Angel has a hard time letting things slide such as Butterman's police officer son Danny (Nick Frost, SHAUN OF THE DEAD) driving drunk. Angel quickly becomes a celebrity of sorts in town and Danny begins to idolize the former big city cop. However, when a brutal traffic collision seems a bit fishy, Angel starts to suspect that something is rotten in Sanford and everything seems to point to Machiavellian grocery store owner Simon Skinner (Timothy Dalton, LICENSED TO KILL). When Angel starts to voice is worries to his fellow officers, the intense and crude inspectors Andy Wainwright (Paddy Considine, IN AMERICA) and Andy Cartwright (Rafe Spall, GREEN STREET HOOLIGANS) think he's nuts, because there hasn't been a murder in the village in 20 years.

Events

An Evening with Laura Di Trapani

By Guest (not verified) | Saturday, May 19, 2007 at 11:00am
Begins: May 19, 2007

An Evening with Laura Di Trapani

Laura Di Trapani has been creating both dreamlike personal films and unique award winning shorts for Sesame Street for almost 20 years. Her films have been shown in numerous festivals around the world, including Annecy International, Hiroshima and Sundance. She shared in an Emmy for her contribution to Sesame Street

Events

SIGGRAPH NYC's Animator's Boot Camp & Field Manual

By Guest (not verified) | Saturday, May 19, 2007 at 11:00am
Begins: May 19, 2007

SIGGRAPH NYC's Animator's Boot Camp & Field Manual will be a day of stories, insights and best practices in the burgeoning and diverse field of animation. SIGGRAPH NYC will bring you news you can use from the professionals in the trenches. So whether you are a student or a practicing professional, get the tools, tips and talking points you'll need to get your career to the next level.

Anime Events

Third Annual Asian Heritage Street Celebration

By Guest (not verified) | Saturday, May 19, 2007 at 11:00am
Begins: May 19, 2007

eigoMANGA is producing The Anime Pavilion at the Third Annual Asian Heritage Street Celebration.

The Anime Pavilion celebrates the otaku (anime fan) culture in the San Francisco Bay Area. Anime fans all over the Bay Area are invited to a day-long programming lineup of live Japanese rock (jrock) performances, an anime theme runway fashion show featuring original anime clothing lines from Japanese and Bay Area fashion designers, an anime cosplay masquerade, as well as additional features from the Third Annual Asian Heritage Street Celebration.

Animation Events

Seminar: Flash Animation Essentials

By Guest (not verified) | Saturday, May 19, 2007 at 11:00am
Begins: May 19, 2007

Six Point Harness, a 2D digital animation studio, is hosting a free class for anyone interested in a career in 2D digital character animation. The class will be an intensive two-day seminar taught by leading professionals of the field. 6PH will be accepting applications from individuals pursuing a career in animation for television, film and emerging media. Class size is limited to 16 individuals, who will be selected by the instructors.

Cartoon Events

Center for Cartoon Studies Thesis Exhibit & Commencement

By Guest (not verified) | Saturday, May 19, 2007 at 11:00am
Begins: May 19, 2007

This May marks The Center for Cartoon Studies' inaugural commencement ceremony for its two-year, full-time course of study. Patrick McDonnell, creator of daily of comic strip MUTTS, will be the institution's first commencement speaker. McDonnell's cartoons appear in 700 newspapers in more than 20 countries, including the Sunday section of CCS's hometown newspaper, THE VALLEY NEWS, and are collected and published worldwide.

Chittenden Bank proudly sponsors The Center for Cartoon Studies' inaugural commencement. For more information on Chittenden, visit www.chittenden.com.

Blogs

SHREK THE THIRD (2007) (***)

I walked into this movie not expecting much due to the lackluster appeal of the trailers. I walked out thoroughly entertained, more so than I expected to be. However, now a week after having seen it, I barely remember it and really can't recall anything that really stuck out as spectacular. Shrek is approaching middle age and so is the franchise. SHREK THE THIRD is like going to your high school reunion — it's entertaining to visit with old friends, but those wild and crazy guys aren't like they use to be. That being said, Shrek's latest tale isn't boring and at least moves the franchise into a logical direction instead of just spinning its wheels with a rehash of what worked in the first film.

Events

The Laws of Eternity Screening

By Guest (not verified) | Friday, May 18, 2007 at 11:00am
Begins: May 18, 2007

20th Century Fox is hosting the premiere screening of the anime feature, THE LAWS OF ETERNITY. Based on the spirituality book by Ryuho Okawa, the film was directed by Isamu Imakake, produced by Group TAC and distributed by Toei Animation in Japan. The screening will take place at 20th Century Fox Studios in the Darryl F. Zanuck Theater, 10201 West Pico Blvd., Los Angeles, California 90035, at 7:30 pm. To RSVP visit www.irh-la.info or call (626) 584-0701.

Nickelodeon Headline News

Nickelodeon Latin America Doubles Kappa Mikey Reach to Latin American Households

Nickelodeon Latin America announced today (May 18, 2007) it has closed several key broadcast deals for KAPPA MIKEY, the channel's first anime series created and produced entirely in the U.S., by Animation Collective.

Cartoon Headline News

New Cartoon Series Staring Olympic Mascot Starts Up

Shangai's only authorized cartoon series using the mascots of the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games will start airing in Oct. 2007, CHINA DAILY reports.

The 3D cartoon series is believed to be the first of its kind in the history of the Olympic Games. It narrates a story of how the FIVE FRIENDLIES help the two leading characters back to the real world after traveling through 100 years of Olympic Games.

Headline News

Jackson Puts Arms Around Octopus Role in Spirit

Samuel L. Jackson is in talks to take the role of supervillain the Octopus in Frank Miller's film rendition of Will Eisner's THE SPIRIT, according to THE HOLLYWOOD REPORTER. Lionsgate and Odd Lot Ent. are producing.

In the story, the Octopus starts out as a meek lab assistant who becomes a murderous crime kingpin in Central City. Miller has to still decided his choice for the title character, a cop who is believed to be murder, who comes back to fight crime as the ghostly Spirit.

Headline News

Butler Goes From Sparta to Nim's Island

Gerard Butler (300) has joined the cast of NIM'S ISLAND, which includes Jodie Foster and Abigail Breslin, reports VARIETY. The Fox Walden family film is based on Wendy Orr's kids novel.

Husband-wife directing duo Jennifer Flackett and Mark Levin will helm and have adapted the screenplay. Production is set to begin in late July in Australia. Paula Mazur is the producer.

Sega Headline News

SEGA Seals Unreal Deal, Updates on Trio of Upcoming Titles

SEGA of America and SEGA Europe Ltd. announced a licensing agreement with Epic Games to adopt the Unreal Engine 3 for use in several upcoming projects being developed in North America. This comes on the heals of SEGA's announcements regarding three of its upcoming titles in development, which include GHOST SQUAD for Wii, CONDEMNED 2: BLOODSHOT for Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 and PHANTASY STAR UNIVERSE: AMBITION OF THE ILLUMINUS for Xbox 360, PlayStation 2 and PC.

Headline News

Toei Announces Precure 5 & One Piece Movie Dates

At its May 19, 2007, financial presentation, Toei Animation announced the studios upcoming Japanese slate of films. YES! PRECURE 5 and the ninth ONE PIECE movie will be released in Nov. 2007 and March 2008, respectively. Toei has in development a remake of ROSE OF VERSAILLES, which follows the nobles of 18th-century France, and GEGEGE NO KITARO, which is based on the popular supernatural anime series that previously spawned a live-action feature. Additionally, Toei confirmed the Sept.

Live-action Headline News

Negima! Live-Action Coming to Japan

NEGIMA! creator Ken Akamatsu confirmed on his blog that a live-action feature based on his popular manga is in the works. The film will be based on NEGIMA! MAGISTER NEGI MAGI. Casting for the 31 girls is under way. Earlier rumors claimed the production would debut in 2008.

Technology Headline News

HP & AMD Provide Technology for Shrek the Third

HP and AMD's technology helped power DreamWorks Animation's Shrek the Third, opening today [May 18, 2007].

HP ProLiant servers, workstations and notebooks, powered by AMD64 processors, enabled the creation of technically challenging, detail-rich images and effects in the latest film in the successful SHREK series. Additionally, producers benefited by using HP Halo Collaboration Studios to connect DreamWorks teams from across the globe in a live virtual environment.

Brown Headline News

Gnomon Workshop Offers New Addition to Sculpting Training Series

The Gnomon Workshop offers the sixth Sculpture title from artist John Brown. A long awaited addition to John's brilliant sculpture series; this tutorial leads you with a master's skill through the process of sculpting the female form. Watch as John Brown brings to life a fantasy femme fatale figure, in full detail throughout two hours of instruction.

Kids Headline News

Anna Kournikova & Cartoon Network Team on Get Animated Healthy Lifestyles DVD

Former Tennis Pro and current Boys & Girls Clubs of America (BGCA) ambassador Anna Kournikova is teaming with Cartoon Network on GET ANIMATED WITH ANNA KOURNIKOVA, a new in-classroom DVD program that demonstrates fun exercises to help kids stay healthy and active. It features multiple Cartoon Network animated stars joining Kournikova and BGCA kids in various demonstrations.

The program will be introduced to some 4,000 Boys & Girls Clubs across the country starting June 4, 2007, and will reach more than four million kids between the ages of 6-13.

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