Ryan was “a Canadian animator. A gentleman panhandler. One of the pioneers of Canadian animation. Oscar nominee. Poor beggar. An artist unable to create. God observing the world. Fallen angel. Arrogant. Shy. Broken. Not destroyed.” 30 years ago, Ryan produced some of the most influential animated films of his time. Years later, plagued by alcoholism and drug abuse, he was destitute on the streets of Toronto.
In this rather captivating and haunting short, called simply “Ryan”, Chris Landreth animates a tribute to Ryan Larkin.
In Ryan we hear the voice of Ryan Larkin and people who have known him, but these voices speak through strange, twisted, broken and disembodied 3D generated characters… people whose appearances are bizarre, humorous or disturbing. Although incredibly realistic and detailed, Ryan was created and animated without the use of live action footage, rotoscoping or motion capture…but instead from an original, personal, hand animated three-dimensional world which Chris calls ‘psychological realism’.
RETROnoob’s Retro Reality series of photos is a wildly imaginative idea.
By taking classic video game characters and Photoshopping them into actual pictures, they take on a realism that is somewhat creepy yet definitely cool.
Niko Bellic is a pretty realistic character in Grand Theft Auto IV to begin with, so Pixeloo’s latest untoon isn’t quite as impressive as the last few, but regardless, he’s got more skill in his little pinky than I have in the entire Photoshop part of my brain, so check out his latest work and prepare to be amazed once again.
Daily Monster is Stefan G. Bucher’s quest to draw one monster per day for 200 days.
Each monster starts out as an inkblot, and then Stefan adds to that blot until it starts to take on a character of its own. Then, users can submit a back-story for the monster, and Stefan picks some of the best and publishes them on his blog.
Each monster features the accompanying video where you can watch Stefan work his magic, and it’s impressive to watch each one take shape.
On May 2, Stefan drew the final monster in the series, so check out his site for a look at each one of the 200 monsters.
Cubeecraft is a site that features a new cube based papercraft toy/character each week.
Each toy is designed with interlocking tabs, so there’s no need for tape, glue, or other adhesives, and you simply print, cut, and fold your way to a cute and fun paper toy.
If you haven’t already seen it, then fire up Fandango, find a theater that’s playing it near you, and go see Juno.
It’s that good.
The story is about Juno MacGuff, a “confidently frank teenage girl who calls the shots with a nonchalant cool and an effortless attitude as she journeys through an emotional nine-month adventure into adulthood”.
Ellen Page plays Juno, and lights up the screen with what I can easily imagine will be a multiple-award-winning performance, Her witty, fast paced dialogue creates a lovable character that you can’t help but root for, and she manages to both control her life with a tough exterior and search for meaning within a growing interior at the same time.
Michael Cera plays Bleeker (the father) and continues his recent climb up Hollywood’s star ladder. He isn’t in the film as much as I would have expected, but the scenes that he is in are filled with a great dialogue that lends itself well to the high-school theme. Both Juno and Bleeker are a mix of confidence and confusion, and their growing and changing relationship mirrors the growing and chancing that Juno’s body is going through.
Jason Bateman and Jennifer Garner play the role of the adopting parents, and each deliver a stellar performance that adds another element to the film. Bateman struggles to figure out what type of person he wants to become as Garner struggles to become the person that she knows she wants to be, and neither over-sells their role.
Allison Janney and J.K. Simmons play the role of Juno’s parents, and are supportive in a way that is both enviable and believable.
For a movie that manages to make you feel good, it does deal with a rather heavy issue, and also runs through the full range of emotions. There are moments of pure comedy, moments of great emotion and connection, moments of truth and moments of powerful silence, and each pulls you in a different direction. However, the plot never takes you down an expected path, and in the end, you’ll want to cheer for a film that manages to define what a coming-of-age tale should be.
Pixar has a habit of sneaking in-jokes and self-references into their feature films and shorts.
Whether it’s bringing characters from different Pixar projects together or referencing earlier and/or upcoming productions, Pixar likes to fill their films with Easter Eggs and secrets for you to find.
Some of them are rather hidden, and most take a keen eye, so for those of you who don’t want to weed through your old DVDs with a fine toothed comb, Jim Hill has put together a definitive list of locations and screen shots for the doubters.
Now, there are actual World of Warcraft commercials that feature Mr. T and William Shatner explaining their in-game characters like only Mr. T and William Shatner can.
Little Gamers taught me a new word today: Shrimp. I always thought the term Butter Face was a humorous description of the same type of person, but shrimp has so much more character. Bite the body.
