Reviews

The Psychiatrist by Emily Howells

Written by andy 21st October 2009, 3:10pm

Posted in: 2D, Reviews

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I love the yellow beak of the toucan. You probably shouldn’t draw any conclusions from that. The gentleman in this animation keeps one under his hat and is afraid of being left under the stairs after a party like an umbrella full of sick. Do you think the underside of an umbrella is sick-proof? I’m not sure.

Emily Howells has made a mad, 2d animated, poetic rant. It’s done with a mixture of breeziness and menace. The oddball paranoid versifier is voiced by Rodger McGough who speaks of fantastical, fearful and funny imagery whist a chattering toucan sits comfortably in the brain-space of the patient, smoking a pipe. Depending on wether you found a moose head on your pillow this morning, have recently receive a parcel of encyclopaedias in the mail or saw the ghost of King Edward VII fighting with a Chihuahua through your kitchen window, you might find this deeply disturbing or hilarious. I’m off to look for missing prawns.

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The Accident by Sara Nesteruk

Written by andy 12th October 2009, 7:10am

Posted in: Channel 4, Reviews

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Is a simple, touching story of a character remembered: Uncle Stephen, the smartly dressed writer of letters sitting at the kitchen table. Childhood Memories, tangents and details of family life are recalled and reexamined. The animated pen and ink drawing echoing the pen and ink writing of Uncle Stephen: crossings out, drips, things are done and re-done. It’s quietly enigmatic and poignant.

Find out what makes the director tick on her blog, Circles Squares and Lines.

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The Red Suitcase by Saul Freed

Written by andy 6th October 2009, 2:10pm

Posted in: Channel 4, Reviews

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I love cardboard and I always have trouble putting it into the recycler. Yeah it might be a fire hazard and possible rat nest but you never know when it might come in handy, right?

Well, I guess Saul Freed would agree and maybe if, like him I also had  some yarn, a gravelly-voiced, Jazz narrator and a talent for animation, I might be able to make something like The Red Suitcase.

There’s a whole lot of home-made charm in this animation, with its painted cardboard scenery and people that look like knitted versions of Mr Peanut’s hill-billy cousins. There’s a lot of neat story telling moments and fun in here, but there’s a serious slice of life story behind the off-cute style. It’s the small life of a fix-it man and what happens when a stranger comes to town. Someone crosses the tracks. and things change. Suffice to say it involves jazz, wicked, wicked Jazz.

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Love Triangle by Yasmeen Ismail

Written by andy 29th September 2009, 12:09pm

Posted in: 2D, Channel 4, Reviews

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My mother used to warn me that I might turn into something.

There’s a deep truth in this film. Alright, I admit it, I once had a partner and… she turned into a triangle. I didn’t deal with it very well. There, I said it. I’ve come clean. Sometimes geometry gets in the way of life. I knew somebody who turned into a rhombus. A former flatmate of mine even turned into a 4 dimensional hyper cube AHHHHHHRRRGHH! It’s a modern plague!

Yasmeen Ismail’s simple, uncluttered, hand drawn style gives this slice of life with a twist, real heart.  This charming little film has genuine warmth and humour and more importantly shows how to deal with interpersonal triangulation. It turns out you need a hot oven and a tolerance for infanticide.

Now, is it lunchtime yet, I’m hungry.

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The Man with the Beautiful Eyes by Jonathan Hodgson

Written by andy 28th September 2009, 1:09pm

Posted in: 2D, Reviews

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Here is a bright, bold and colourful film about a dark, confusing and sinister event. A group of children are drawn to the strange house of an outcast.

Jonathan Hodgson’s film of Charles Bukowski’s poem is a beguiling visual mix of abstraction, pattern, and typography, always in motion. It takes us deep into the confusion and fear of childhood and the powerful significance of small things. The paint and hand drawn style is simple and powerful. It’s real visual storytelling at its best and satisfyingly compliments Bukowski’s lyrical poem, which tells how innocent games can share a border with the forbidden territory of violence and the unexplained and cause a terrible realisation about life to come into focus. A powerful and beautiful film.

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Icycle, a game by Reece Millidge

Written by madevi 24th September 2009, 11:09am

Posted in: Games, Reviews

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Play Icycle.

We’re lucky here at 4mations.  We sit in large, comfortably upholstered chairs, receiving offerings from the internets - animated films, yes, comedy gems, sometimes, but also offers of credit, diplomas, and piles of medication that would make the NHS blush.

I’m particularly suspicious when reviewing non-film submissions, so when “Icycle” landed in our submissions pile, I hovered dangerously over the delete button.

I’m glad I didn’t. Because how else would I have played a naked middle aged business man riding through an ice age, collecting bubbles on a BMX? (Take that, keyword spammers).

I could tell you many things about this game. How every part of it is lovingly crafted, the backgrounds elegantly simple and stylishly textured, the animation full of life and humour.  How the sound design, by Stilton Studios and Studio 42, is chillingly atmospheric and effective. Or how Reece Millidge of ‘Damp Gnat‘, the talented animator and compositor behind the game, taught himself Flash and spent 4 months over a period of 4 years making Icycle, in between full time gigs at Nexus Productions, making sure the unfunded production would allow him to develop his own illustration and art direction skills.

I could tell you all this, and make us all marvel at Reece’s commendable dedication and remarkable talent, but I’d have to get out of this plush chair and stop playing this blasted, fun, addictive game. So go and play it, will you? Because I have bubbles to collect work to do.

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The Imperfectionist by Asa Lucander & Vicki Kitchingman

Written by andy 22nd September 2009, 7:09am

Posted in: 2D, Channel 4, Reviews

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Doodle, doodle, doodle… Doodling is better than working. It helps you think. Think deep thoughts about the universe (does it end?) and make lists: cake, pie, chips, soap… maybe I should live in a boat?…cake. I’ve drawn a giant snail and a man with one leg longer than the other. A parrot driving a car on a world the size of a balloon held by a cat faced boy. I leave notes to my future self which I cannot decipher. I’ve done it and I’ll do it again in my sketchbook.

The Imperfectionist uses the crazy JUXTAPOSITIONS (sorry I have to break off and put 50 pence in the JUXTAPOSITION box) found in a sketchbook to tell the untidy, ink-stained story of an illustrator who has one of those god-awful, embarrassing “relationship” conversations with his mum. Its all played out across the pages of his sketchbook: giant cats, stop signs and street scenes, big sneakers and inkblots, wallpaper-balloons, funny creatures, weird birds, little people, shopping lists, a rogue-independent foot and a series of unflattering self portraits all explained by the effortlessly droll Julian Rhind-Tutt.

Are you alone? Are you some kind of man-beast unworthy of human affection? Watch this. You won’t find the secret to a healthy relationship but you will see some stylish, scribbly doodles brought to life.

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How to cope with Death by Ignacio Ferreras

Written by andy 18th September 2009, 3:09pm

Posted in: 2D, Reviews

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The Grim Reaper visits a very old woman. So, here’s what I have learned from this film: don’t mess with old ladies. Don’t go thinking you can turn up round their house with your creepy boney Grim Reaper face and super-bendy neck and just get your big’old scythe out. All I’m saying is there may be repercussions.

Back in 2002 Director Ignacio Ferreras emerged from years of isolation into the full glare of the animation media spotlight and won a pile of awards.

If you follow animation and you’re more than 7 years old then chances are, you’ve seen this. If not, many shames upon you! Either way, what you probably don’t know is… It took 14 years to complete this film. Ignacio drew it with his eyes closed, standing on one leg in a wind swept hut on the slopes of the Himalayas, circled by ravenous wild dogs, eating only gruel. He was visited once a month by cruel monks who made unkind comments about him through his letterbox. It was a tough life. Now some of these facts may be entirely made up by me just now but that does not change the fact that “How to Cope With Death” is cosmically awesome and probably took ages. And even if you have seen it, see it again because you know what, it’s still good.

I hate to say “OOoooh look at the detail in that.” but “OOoooh look at the detail in that”. This is a masterful bit of traditional animation full of great timing and great story telling detail. It’s scary and funny and‚ well, just watch it. And maybe after you watch it you should give your Granny a call.

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Middle dog gets angry by George Gendi

Written by madevi 16th September 2009, 2:09pm

Posted in: 2D, Reviews

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George Gendi is a mind controller. No no, stay with me here.

Try to watch the short animated film “Middle dog gets angry” without clapping at the end. Is it those big bulgy eyes? The simple, slyly expressive drawing style? The exuberant dance moves? The heart-warming finale?

Whatever the formula is, I was drawn in to this simple tale from the very beginning.  With minimalist visuals but plenty of timing and acting flair, George Gendi managed to tug at my heart strings, make me laugh out loud, raise my eyebrows in surprise, and clap delightfully. And that’s when I realized that the characters were watching me clap. I freaked out.

George Gendi, you are the Derren Brown of movement. The Paul McKenna of animation. The James Randi of dogs. Now go and update your blog, will you? I want more. MORE! MORE!!!

If, like me, you are an impressionable, pliable soul, you can see more samples of George Gendi’s work on Sherbet’s site. He has a youtube channel too. Who’s for forming a fan club?

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Posthaste by Rob Zywietz

Written by andy 11th September 2009, 11:09am

Posted in: 2D, Reviews

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This is a gem. No pun intended because it actually has a gem in it. That’s just a co-incidence.

We all have our own personal peeves and preferences. I for one am always pleased to hear the phrase “It’s the rozzers”. This animation does not disappoint. Especially since it follows up with “step on it!”. It’s all part of the general retro vibe, from the cannonball heads of the gangsters to the domed helmets worn by the police. It’s Ealing comedy meets 70s cop show wrapped up in a Saturday morning cartoon. This is the sort of thing I would like to watch over a bowl of cornflakes, that’s if the postie hasn’t stolen my milk.

The minimal scribbly drawing and hand colouring is full of character and there’s enough going on to keep you entertained.

I did wonder momentarily whether Director Rob Zywietz was harbouring some secret loathing for postal workers until I realized everyone depicted in this short is pretty useless, from the dim witted police to the incompetent gangsters. Either way, this is fun, it has real pace, it even has a convincingly action-packed chase, helped along by Paul Harrison’s jazzy cop show music. It’s cleverly put together and feels oddly satisfying. Like I said, a gem.

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