Photo of Hayao Miyazaki by Jun Sato

Hayao Miyazaki Making CG Short Film

Famed animator Hayao Miyazaki is returning to the drawing board... literally. It's been two years since Miyazaki's retirement and the release of his last film, The Wind Rises, yet it was only a matter of time before the legendary director got the creative itch and returned to work on a new project. However, there are a few caveats surrounding the announcement of his return.

Firstly, the short, which is rumored to be a 10-minute short about a fuzzy caterpillar named Boro, might be a Ghibli Museum-exclusive. Miyazaki has created Ghibli Museum-exclusive shorts before, such as the My Neighbor Totoro follow-up, Mei and the Kittenbus, but rarely do they screen in the United States, nor do they ever get an official domestic release. Fans of Miyazaki interested in seeing this new short will have to visit the Ghibli Museum in Tokyo to do so. The second caveat, which isn't much of a bad thing, is Miyazaki's use of CG to create the short. Miyazaki has utilized CG in the past to supplement his art, but this will be his first full CG short film. Lastly, it might take an estimated three years for the short to be completed.

Regardless, it's great to see Miyazaki returning to what he loves the most. We can only hope he'll still have the itch to develop a full-length feature once the short is completed.

[via Variety]


Photo of the American Megabot from Megabot

America and Japan Are Going to Have a Giant Robot Duel

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When I was a kid, I used to love the Gundam anime series (G Gundam, for life). Giant robots punching each with laser light fists just spoke to me. Humanity's been chasing that impossible dream for years, but now it's just a wee bit closer. Last week, American company Megabot showed off footage of a real working mecha (that shot paintballs of course) with the intention of fitting someone inside for giant robot battles a la Pacific Rim or Robot Jox. Footage of their robot came with a challenge to Japanese robotics company Suidobashi Heavy Industry for their robots to fight in 2016.

This week, Suidobashi replied with their own video. Draped in a Japanese flag, CEO Korgoro Kugata had some awesome trash talk claiming the American machine could have been cooler (and has too many guns because America). All the while accepting the challenge to fight their robot, Kuratas, against the American Megabot. Unfortunately we don't have any details of the big "fight," and the whole thing screams publicity stunt. Perhaps it's to draw attention to Megabot's once failed Kickstarter campaign to start an entire league of mecha fights. Whether or not it's a coordinated stunt, why has it taken this long for us to get to this point? Something like this should've happened a long time ago. When will our lives go full anime?

Hilariously enough, this was all around the time of a notable World Cup match between America and Japan where Japan was decimated as USA scored four goals in under sixteen minutes (three of those belonging to superwoman Carli Lloyd). To top if off, Independence Day was last weekend so everyone's far more patriotic than usual. I'm sure the American robot will win just because I don't see any other outcome being possible. It's running on bald eagle power right now.

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[via Popular Science]


[Album] Melt-Banana: "fetch" + 2 do what 2 fetch North American Tour dates

It's been six years since Melt-Banana's last studio album, Bambi's Dilemma, and a lot has changed for the band in the interim. 2011's Tohoku earthquake stalled fetch's release, then the band's long-standing bassist, the diminutive Rika mm, left the band in 2012. Deciding to continue on as a duo (the band hasn't had a permanent drummer for some time now), guitarist Agata and human machine gun vocalist Yako have pressed forward. Thankfully, too, because fetch is the band's best album since 2003's Cell-Scape.

Bambi's Dilemma was a huge departure from Melt-Banana's noise-core, grimy punk sound; simply put, it sounded too over-produced and poppy. The second half of that album played up to what the band has become known for in their 20+ year history: quick-hitting, messy guitar-addled 30 second quips. With fetch, there are no games played, no punches pulled, and no ear drums left intact. Many words can be used to describe Melt-Banana's sound, but the phrase that fits them best is discordant dissonance.

Melt-Banana

Take, for example, fetch's intro, "Candy Gun." The album lulls listeners into a false sense of security as the sound of waves lapping are paired with what sounds like a CD skipping as a chiming beats lightly between the ears. The ghost of Rika's heavy bass tones soon come in as Agata's guitar to seemingly dance and skip over the bass lines before the drum machine kicks in, further setting the rhythm of the song. Almost two minutes pass before Agata's frenetic guitar playing rears its head, colliding head-first with Yako's high-pitched yelp (yes, all of Melt-Banana's songs are in English). Suddenly, the third act begins with guitar, bass, and drums exploding into one another while Agata's guitar scratching pairs with laser-like effects that shoot left, Yako's staccato spreading right, and the destruction of the rhythm section simply crashing down beneath the two.

fetch features a Melt-Banana that has eased off of the gas pedal a little bit. This is, after all, a band that recorded a raw, purposely lo-fi debut album (Speak Squeak Creak) in famed Chicago producer/audio engineer Steve Albini's basement back in 1993, but also began exploring a higher fidelity in sound and song structure 10 years later in Cell-Scapefetch, then, is the combination of their early days' aggressive, grind-core sound with their recent increased focus in melody - discordant dissonance at its finest.

You can stream fetch exclusively on Spin; you can also purchase the album on iTunes.

Melt-Banana will be embarking on their first North American tour since 2011 in support of fetch on the aptly titled "2 do what 2 fetch" North American Tour beginning on October 16th in Vancouver and running from coast to coast until November 16th in Oakland. I'm curious to see how their live performance has changed with the absence of Rika bouncing along on a bass that's 3/4 her size, but considering Melt-Banana's insane fan base, the set shouldn't suffer too much, if at all. Full tour dates and tour poster can be found below. I'll hopefully see some of you guys at their Chicago date on October 27.

Melt-Banana 2 do what 2 fetch North American Tour

2013-10-16 Vancouver, BC at The Biltmore Cabaret

2013-10-17 Seattle, WA at Chop Suey

2013-10-18 Portland, OR at Dante’ s

2013-10-19 Boise, ID at Neurolux

2013-10-20 Salt Lake City, UT at Urban Lounge

2013-10-21 Denver, CO at Laimer Lounge

2013-10-23 Minneapolis,MN at Triple Rock Social Club

2013-10-24 Milwaukee, WI at The Cactus Club

2013-10-25 Grand Rapids, MI at The Pryamid Scheme

2013-10-26 Cleveland, OH at Grog Shop

2013-10-27 Chicago, IL at Double Door

2013-10-28 Pontiac, MI at The Crofoot Ballroom

2013-10-29 Toronto, ON at Lee's Palace

2013-10-31 Philadelphia, PA at Union Transfer

2013-11-01 Brooklyn, NY at Saint Vitus

2013-11-02 Providence, RI at AS220

2013-11-03 Boston, MA at The Sinclair

2013-11-04 Washington DC at Black Cat - Backstage

2013-11-05 Chapel Hill, NC at Local 506

2013-11-06 Atlanta, GA at 529

2013-11-08 Dallas,TX at Club Dada

2013-11-09 Austin, TX at FFF Fest

2013-11-11 Albuquerque, NM at Launchpad

2013-11-12 Phoenix, AZ at Last Exit

2013-11-13 Los Angeles, CA at The Troubadour

2013-11-14 San Diego, CA at The Casbah

2013-11-15 Pomona, CA at The Glasshouse

2013-11-16 Oakland,CA at Oakland Metro Opera House


Tom Hardy starring in Takashi Miike's first English-language movie, The Outsiders

Tom Hardy has built up a reputation as a versatile actor, playings roles that are both physically and mentally taxing from Bronson to Warrior to last year's The Dark Knight Rises. His dedication to the craft is definitely paying off, as he has a variety of films coming up, such as George Miller's reboot of the Mad Max franchise, Mad Max: Fury Road, Steven Knight's directorial debut, Locke, Michael R. Roskam's (BullheadAnimal Rescue, and is in talks to portray Elton John in the proposed biopic of the singer, Rocketman.

Yet despite having a full slate of projects to carry him well into next year, word has come out that Hardy will star in The Outsider, which will serve as Takashi Miike's English-language debut. A few days after the trailer for his film, Wara No Tate was released, the news of an English-language Takashi Miike film is the perfect way to cap off the week. The Outsider, which will be produced independently by Silver Pictures, will focus on Hardy's character, a former World War II GI, becoming a part of Japan's Yakuza. Takashi Miike certainly knows how to direct a Japan-set period piece, and with Hardy attached to the project, this has makings to be another cult film for the director.

[via Deadline]