SFFS 4th Annual Animation Festival

[Chris Knipp]

SAN FRANCISCOFILMSOCIETY

FOURTH ANNUAL SAN FRANCISCO INTERNATIONAL ANIMATION FESTIVAL

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I'll be covering this ten-event series Nov. 10-15 in San Francisco, which previews with an avantgarde improvised presentation by Lawrence Jordan, A Dream of Lovers and 2 Blessed 2 Be Stressed.

The opening night film is Wes Anderson's Fantastic Mr. Fox, voiced by George Clooney as Mr. Fox, with Meryl Streep, Owen Wilson, Willem Dafoe, Bill Murray, and Jason Schwartzman, among others, based on the Roald Dahl stroy of a wily fox who defends his family against greedy farmers. Anderson uses classic stop-motion techniques to tell the tale.

Reviews will appear in a Festival Coverage thread, beginning with a general preview.

[Chris Knipp]

Detailed preview of the opening night film, the Wes Anderson feature FANTASTIC MR. FOX

I watched the film in San Francisco this morning (November 10) at a press screening at another location. It premiered at the London Film Festival October 14th, and opened theatrically in the UK October 23rd; it goes into limited theatrical release in the US Friday, November 13th, 2009. This should be considered a detailed preview rather than a full review.

While some reviewers have already said the Cannes animation opener UP by Pixar had more warmth, I'm not a big fan of UP and recommend FANTASTIC MR. FOX for three points of interest: Wes Anderson turning his vision to an animated film and an adaptation of Roald Dahl in collaboration with Noah Baumbach; a highy sophisticated use of the old animation technique of stop-motion; a superb group of actors (many Wes Anderson vets) providing subtle, nuanced voicing to the characters -- including George Clooney, Merly Streep, Jason Schwartzman, Bill Murray, Owen Wilson, Willem Dafoe, and mMchael Gambon. Clooney as the devious but charming Mr. Fox dominates in what some have called a new facet of his Danny Ocean role, but the voices are all so good you could enjoy the picture quite a lot without even seeing the images.

[Chris Knipp]

November 11, 2009.

The Festival officially opens today. Coming soon: more detailed reviews of: THE BEST OF ANNENCY, METROPIA, MUSHASHI: DREAM OF THE LAST SAMURAI, and PLAY IT BY EYE. Coverage begins here.

[Chris Knipp]

FANTASTIC MR. FOX went into theatrical release in the US today, though only in 4 theaters. Metacritic rates it at 88, or "universal acclaim." Today's NYTImes review by A.O. Scott, featured on the first page of the Arts/Movies section of the newspaper, calls it "in some ways Anderson's most fuly realized and satisfying film."


Today in the animation festival:

A TOWN CALLED PANIC/PANIQUE AU VILLAGE Stéphane Aubier, Vincent Patar (Belgium/France/Luxembourg 2009)

Like FANTASTIC MR. FOX an stop-motion animated film that focuses on a town "populated by a random assortment of plastic figurines whose daily activities recall children’s illogical narratives in their herky-jerky disjointedness, celebration of the quotidian and profound brilliance." The film shows at the SFFS Animation Festival Friday the Thirteenth of November 2009 and opens in the US Decemer 16th. Preview coming.

[Chris Knipp]

The best of THE BEST OF ANNECY

A series of short animated films from around the world from one of the world's most respected animation festivals at Annency, France. Some interesting experimental ideas in style here, but "Madagascar" and "Slaves" show no matter how elaborate or playful the visual ideas, it all comes down to what you have to say. "

[Chris Knipp]

MISUHO NISHIKUHO: MUSHASHI: THE DREAM OF THE LAST SAMURAI (2009)

Perhaps the first use of Anime for a "documebntary," this is more a lighthearted instructional film about a key figure in the history of the samurai. 72 minutes long, it features a funny little sensei who lectures us about the life and key battles of Mushashi.

[Chris Knipp]

SEE IT BY EYE: 17 ANIMATED MUSIC VIDEOS

Perhaps the best efforts in this series broke out of any traditional music video or animation mold into something with a more handcrafted look -- and a more self-conscious, witty perspective. What a music video must do is crystallize and memorialize the music and truly illustrate it -- or end the process of seemingly undermining the music by finally underlining and affirming it.

[Chris Knipp]

TAREK SALEH: METROPIA (2009)

Michuk called this his "biggest disappointment of the London Film Festival" because of its 'ridiculous screenplay." I wouldn't go that far on the screenplay, but the rather comatose air of the main characters and the failure to create excitement or momentum gradually do undermine the photo-based computer animated 86-minute film and leave one with a ho-hum feeling, despite intriguing visuals right up to the end.

One of three animated features in the SFFS festival along with A TOWN CALLED PANIC and FANTASTIC MR. FOX.

[Chris Knipp]

STEPHANE AUBIER, VINCENT PATAR: A TOWN CALLED PANIC (2009)

Finally put up a detailed comment, though at request held review for the film's US release in December. This is one of the SFFS's 4th Annual Animation Festival's three feature films (with Fantastic Mr. Fox and Metropia) but is built up out of slapstick material using copies of little child's standup toys originally in a series of five-minute stop-motion films shown on French TV's Canal Plus.