Kung Fury is Nostalgic '80s Action/Comedy Done Right
It's common to hear about Kickstarter campaigns gone awry for a multitude of reasons, especially in regards to independent films. However, a year and a half after its own campaign ended, Kung Fury was finally publicly released yesterday afternoon. Kung Fury gained popularity during its funding period thanks to its dedication to an over-exaggerated '80s aesthetic and enthusiasm you can only find by the most passionate artists.
Kung Fury could have been a mess. Many similar films sometimes focus too much on the "gimmick" and lose sight of creating an entertaining, fully-realized film in lieu of being as ridiculous as possible. Kung Fury has such moments, like a CGI T-Rex play fighting with a mecha golden eagle. However, Kung Fury is greater than the sum of its parts. Finally, a well-made Kickstarter film that actually lives up to the hype!
It's not everyday that a Kickstarter-funded film premieres at Cannes, yet that's what Kung Fury did earlier this month, paving the way for the next wave of indie films. There've been talks and discussion of adapting Kung Fury into a feature-length film, and while I don't think the short alone would be able to sustain a 90-minute film, it would nevertheless be a great opportunity to director/actor David Sandberg and his production team.
Watch Kung Fury below and let us know what you think! If you can't get enough from Kung Fury, you can check out the special Kung Fury-inspired video for David Hasselhoff's "True Survivor."
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Elaine Constantine's 9 Kisses Features Lip-Locked Actors
The New York Times has a long-standing tradition of gathering the year's best actors and actresses for a quick photo shoot and a short video take showing off their chops. However, the outlet changed the formula for this year, pairing them together for the warmest of embraces: the on-screen kiss. Tapped to capture the festivities is Elaine Constantine, and as you can see in the short and photo spread below, the pairings range from romantic to the rambunctious.
9 Kisses, as the collection is called, features Benedict Cumberbatch (Doctor Strange), Reese Witherspoon (Inherent Vice), Steve Carrell (Foxcatcher), Laura Dern (The Fault in Our Stars), Rosario Dawson (Cesar Chavez), Jenny Slate (Obvious Child), Chadwick Boseman (Captain America: Civil War), Kristen Stewart (Camp X-Ray), Patricia Arquette (Boyhood), Jason Schwartzman (Listen Up, Philip), David Oyelowo (Selma), Timothy Spall (The Love Punch), Jack O'Connell (300: Rise of an Empire), Shailene Woodley (White Bird in a Blizzard), John Lithgow (Interstellar), Julianne Moore (Don Jon), Gugu Mbatha-Raw (Jupiter Ascending), and Miles Teller (Whiplash).
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[via New York Times]
Kathryn Bigelow's Short Film Last Days Brings Awareness to Elephant Poaching
"An elephant disappears every 15 minutes. It is our hope that this film helps to bring an activist into existence at least that often."
Kathryn Bigelow has made very pointed stances against war and terrorism in her two recent films, Zero Dark Thirty and The Hurt Locker. Not one to shy from taking activist stances, the director has collaborated with WildAid to create a short animated/multimedia film detailing the dangers of elephant poaching and its apparent link to terrorism. Last Days is an eye-opening account of how the purchase of ivory-made items indirectly lead to funding of various terrorist groups and organizations, including security footage of the Westgate Mall attack in Nairobi, Kenya back in September 2013 by al-Shabaab.
The short film directs viewers to a website asking visitors to help end ivory-funded terrorism. Those interested in helping the cause can help spread the video and message via social media using the hashtag #LastDays, or can go the extra mile and donate to various non-profit organizations that promise 100% of proceeds will go towards "putting terrorists out of business and elephants out of danger."
Again, you can learn more about the movement at this website.
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[Short Film] The Duet from Disney Animator Glen Keane
Animation might just be one of the most beautiful utilizations of art in existence. The ability to watch someone's imagination dance across a screen is an act that has always amazed me. Like most other children, I had a particular fondness for classic Disney films such as The Little Mermaid and Pocahontas. Toddler Mackenzie had no idea who to thank for these masterpieces, but Glen Keane is the answer for this. His animations have graced a variety of households with works also including Aladdin, Beauty and the Beast, and Tangled.
While most of his work may be within the Walt Disney Animation Studios, Keane found the time to produce his own short animated film called The Duet. The story, entirely animated and directed by the great animator himself, follows characters Mia and Tosh from birth to adulthood as their individual paths in life find themselves continuously intertwining. The illustrations from one scene and period in life for each character flows with such ease on the eyes, and the simplicity of the color scheme adds a beautiful aesthetic that has become extremely underrated with the advancement of animation technology over the years. The film is merely 3:42 long, but the story that unfolds within has a beautiful impact that lasts for a lot longer. Keane always seems to have a way to reach into the hearts of all who watch the films he's involved with, and I must say that his work with this one is absolutely no exception. I can't wait for whatever he plans to surprise us with next!
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