[Short Film] Usagi Yojimbo - The Last Request
The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles aren't the only anthropomorphic characters with martial arts backgrounds. Old school Ninja Turtles fans may remember Usagi Yojimbo, a rabbit samurai that appeared in a few episodes of the original Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles TV series and was part of the Playmates line of toys. With the Turtles making their return to the big screen, it only makes sense for Usagi to re-emerge, too, right? Lintika Films is doing everything they can to show that rabbits can kick ass, too.
This short film, Usagi Yojimbo - The Last Request, is a stop-motion animated spec demo used to show Stan Sakai, Usagi Yojimbo creator, what they're capable of doing in hopes of getting the rights to create full-length, stop-motion animated film. It all worked, as Sakai has allowed director Roel Robles and his team to go forward with the full feature.
As stated, the short is a spec demo, so it's naturally rough around the edges. However, I enjoy the style and tone of the project. I'm not all too familiar with the comics and mythology behind Usagi Yojimbo, but I love the idea of using anthropomorphic animals based on Edo period Japanese culture. Here's hoping we'll see the full-length Usagi Yojimbo film sooner than later. For now, enjoy the short below.
[youtube id="fxnmeHHEGeQ"]
Rest in Peace Robin Williams (1951 - 2014)
As a '90s kid, I kind of grew up on Robin Williams. My generation had Hook, Aladdin, Mrs. Doubtfire, Jumanji, and Flubber. When I got older and my appreciation for film expanded, I was able to revisit Mr. Williams' career in a new light with films like Good Will Hunting, Bicentennial Man, and Death to Smoochy. He had an indelible charm and energy that always shone through every one of his performances. Growing up with him, he became one of those actors that you expected to always be around.
Yesterday, the legendary actor was found dead at the age of 63 of an apparent suicide. Three new films will be released posthumously: Night at the Museum 3, Merry Friggin' Christmas, and Absolutely Anything. His wit and energetic charm will always be remembered. His death also highlighted calls for mental health awareness. Please, don't ever be scared to reach out to somebody willing to talk (or even just listen) if you ever reach a dark point; adversely, if somebody's reaching out to you, please do what you can to let them know you support them.
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Sequel Greenlit
For all of the critical hate Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles received this weekend following its debut, it was a financial success, making $65m to take the top spot at the box office away from Guardians of the Galaxy. As if the notion was ever in doubt, Paramount Pictures announced that a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles sequel has been greenlit with a scheduled 2016 release. The film's screenwriters, Josh Appelbaum and André Nemec, will return to write the sequel's script, but there's no word if director Jonathan Liebsman will return. Here's the official word from Paramount's Adam Goodman:
Launching a new take on the Turtles into the feature film world was a daunting task because as fans of them ourselves, we felt a great responsibility to ensure audiences were going to experience everything they loved about the Turtles, while also getting to see them brought to life in a way they had never been seen before. The result exceeded our high expectations and the response to the film is beyond great, making it all the more fun to get started on the continuation of their story.
I caught Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles on Saturday, and while I had major qualms with the film's plot and narrative, I ultimately liked the film's message and characterization of the Turtles themselves. If you haven't seen it yet, go into the theater knowing that it's a film created with the current generation of kids in mind and not meant to appease older fans. The film still has a lot for both young and old fans to enjoy, but here's hoping the sequel will skewer a bit towards the older crowd.
[via /Film]
North Coast Music Festival 2014 Lineups Revealed
In three short weeks, North Coast Music Festival will be celebrating its fifth anniversary in Union Park! Earlier this week, the single day lineups were released, allowing NCMF-goers to plan ahead properly. Single day tickets are also available now via Clubtix, so cop a pair (or two!) if any of the artists performing tickle your fancy. Some of my personal highlights for the festival include: Bassnectar, Action Bronson, BADBADNOTGOOD, and Prob Cause for Friday, Kid Cudi and Talib Kweli for Saturday, and Snoop Dogg, Midnight Conspiracy, Porn and Chicken, Saba, and Zaramella for Sunday. We'll have a more in-depth preview piece for North Coast Music Festival 2014 as we get closer to the event weekend, but for now, check out the full day lineups below!
Canon Might Develop New Medium Format Camera
As an undergrad, I took a lot of photography classes to hone my abilities. Following 35mm classes were 120mm/medium format classes where we utilized cameras beyond the standard 35mm SLR cameras. One of my favorite cameras to ever shoot with was a Yashica TLR (twin-lens reflex) camera. Shooting in 120mm after 35mm was like making the jump from standard definition to high definition. Colors were more vivid, the area shot was 4x6, and the amount of detail in each photo was beautiful. If rumors are true, the modern digital camera game is about to change.
While rumors have been swirling for months that Canon was interested in entering the medium format area, nothing concrete ever came of it. Technically, nothing concrete has happened yet. However, a recently-released questionnaire sent to prolific Canon users included questions about medium format cameras, including questions on "image quality, usage scenarios and lens requirements." Canon might make the announcement official next month, but for now, this is all speculation. Chances are, they won't develop a digital TLR, which would be my dream camera. However, I'm crossing my fingers and toes in the off-chance that their first foray into the digital medium format arena comes in the form of one.
[via PetaPixel]
[Weekly Netflix Fix] Huge August Update Features Rocky, Mad Max
New month, new stash of Netflix Instant updates. While the initial August 1st offering of films and TV shows wasn't as amazing as July's, it still came loaded with some amazing films. The post-apocalyptic classic Mad Max is one of the highlight of new titles. The entire Rocky series (sans Rocky Balboa) was also added. Hockey fans (yes, this includes you, too, bandwagon fans) have The Mighty Ducks and D2: The Mighty Ducks to look forward to (complete with knuckle pucks!). Auteurs can sit back and watch Robert Downey, Jr. channel Charlie Chaplin in Chaplin. Madonna will make sure you don't cry for her, Argentina, in Evita. And, best of all, Audrey Hepburn graces us with her amazing beauty in Sabrina.
You can find the full list of offerings below.
- Bad Ass 2: Bad Asses
- Justin Bieber's Believe
- Psycho-Pass
- The Spoils of Babylon: Season 1
- Bicycling with Molière
- Alien Abduction
- Immigration Tango
- Mickey's Twice Upon a Christmas
- Zach Galifianakis: Live
- 10 Rules for Sleeping Around
- The Cold Lands
- Ed's Next Move
- Lavell Crawford: Can a Brother Get Some...
- So Much, So Fast
- Troublesome Creek: A Midwestern
- Wave Twisters
- Air Bud
- Air Bud: Golden Receiver
- Allan Quatermain and the Lost City of Gold
- American Experience: The Amish: Shunned
- Amish: Out of Order: Season 1
- Art Machine
- Bad Boys
- The Barbarian Invasions
- Billy & Buddy
- The Birdcage
- Blown Away
- Bug Off!
- The Cable Guy
- Cane Toads:
- Caveman
- Chaplin: The Movie
- Chasing Shackleton
- The Conqueror Worm
- D2: The Mighty Ducks
- Dark Tourist
- Day of the Siege
- Day Watch
- The Devil's Bible
- The Dogs of War
- Eddie Griffin: You Can Tell 'Em I Said It
- Ella Enchanted
- Evita
- F**k for Forest
- Face/Off
- Fall Time
- The Five Heartbeats
- Foyle's War
- Freaky Friday
- The Gabby Douglas Story
- Goodbye World
- Harlock: Space Pirate
- Hawking
- He Said, She Said
- Hitler and the Occult
- Hitler's G.I Death Camp
- Hunt for the Abominable Snowman
- Hunter X Hunter (2011)
- Inside Fendi
- Katt Williams: It's Pimpin' Pimpin'
- King Solomon's Mines
- Kinky Boots
- Lassie
- The Last Days of Osama Bin Laden
- Lewis Black: Old Yeller: Live at the...
- The Longest Day
- Mad Max
- Make Believe
- Maya & Miguel
- Mean Creek
- The Mighty Ducks
- Mike Epps: Under Rated & Never Faded
- Mysteries of the Bible: Season 1
- The Natural History of the Chicken
- The Newton Boys
- Not Waving But Drowning
- Orca: The Killer Whale
- Original Gangstas
- Playing by Heart
- Postcards from Buster
- Prefontaine 1997
- Pumping Iron
- Red Dawn
- Rocket City Rednecks: Season 1
- Rocket City Rednecks: Season 2
- Rocky
- Rocky II
- Rocky III
- Rocky IV
- Rocky V
- Rounders
- Sabrina (1954)
- Sabrina (1995)
- Saints and Soldiers
- Hunter X Hunter (2011): Season 1
- Maya & Miguel: Season 1
- Postcards from Buster: Season 1
- Chasing Shackleton: Season 1
- Hunter X Hunter (2011): Season 2
- The Mind of a Chef: Season 2
- FETCH! with Ruff Ruffman: Season 2
- Hunter X Hunter (2011): Season 3
- FETCH! with Ruff Ruffman: Season 3
- Hunter X Hunter (2011): Season 4
- The Killing: Season 4
- Hunter X Hunter (2011): Season 5
- Second Chances
- Secrets and Lies: Season 1
- Secrets of the Freemasons
- Shooter
- Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow
- Southie
- Spark: A Burning Man Story
- Spice World
- Spies of Mississippi 2014 NR 2.6 new Aug 1 HD 1:00 | play queue
- Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home
- The Substitute 2: School's Out
- The Substitute 4: Failure Is Not an Option
- The Substitute
- Switchfoot: Fading West
- Time Zero: The Last Year of Polaroid Film
- Trees Lounge
- Turner and Hooch
- Vigilante Force
- Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea
- Where the Red Fern Grows
New Batch of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Images
I've thrown caution to the wind when it comes to the new Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles film. I was hesitant, didn't want to get my hopes up, yet optimistic that, despite Michael Bay's involvement with the franchise, the Turtles could return to the big screen in an entertaining and successful way. Then suddenly, over the past week, my mind became occupied with how awesome it would be to see my friends again, no matter the situation. Honestly, I should know better. As somebody who loves to analyze adaptations and compare/contrast them with their source material, I know there's a very high chance that I'll be let down, left defeated and disappointed. However, in spite of that, I'm latching on to the small glimmer of hope that Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles will be everything I want it to be.
For now, enjoy this new batch of high-res images from the film. Collider has plenty more if you're jonesing for more Turtles. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles will be hitting theaters on Friday.
[via Collider]
Is Studio Ghibli Shutting Down?
Studio Ghibli is one of the greatest animation studios around. At one point, Ghibli was seen as the East's equivalent of Disney (and hell, many still do) thanks to the amazing vision and talent from Ghibli co-founder Hayao Miyazaki. It's Miyazaki's many films, including My Neighbor Totoro, Porco Rosso, Princess Mononoke, and Spirited Away, that helped elevate the widespread acceptance and critical praise of feature-length anime films in the West. However, with the rising costs of production and the lack of financial profit guarantee following Miyazaki's retirement last year, the company has decided to go on a temporary hiatus as they re-evaluate their future.
Over the past few days, many outlets reported this news as Studio Ghibli completely shutting down. Thankfully, however, it was all a misunderstanding over a translation error. What is known is this: Studio Ghibli will be cutting back on production in an attempt to find a better financial solution that will allow them to continue creating films post-Miyazaki. After all, while the iconic director was arguably the most well-known from the studio, there are many other talented animators working for Studio Ghibli, including Miyazaki's own son, Goro, that will help keep the studio going for a long time.
Here's hoping the future of Studio Ghibli is just as successful as its past.
[via Collider]