A few years ago, Warner Bros. announced plans to give “The Iron Giant” a new Blu-Ray release, and merely was content with stuffing the DVD port over to Blu. Director Brad Bird was not happy with the announcement and asked fans to demand so much better as “The Iron Giant” deserved a lot better than a mere DVD transfer. I was one of those fans that tweeted and asked Warner Bros. to give “The Iron Giant” much better treatment than a simple transfer. I’m happy a shortly after, Warner has allowed consumers the option of two special deluxe editions of “The Iron Giant,” and Brad Bird is able to give fans a bang up edition that is pretty much the ultimate realization of his masterpiece. Not only is director Bird able to deliver his film in High Definition, but he manages to add a few small scenes here and there to inject more nuance and character depth. These alterations work in favor of “The Iron Giant” adding a bit more dimension and length for folks that always hoped for an extended edition.
Tag Archives: Animation
HollyShorts Film Festival 2016 Shorts Selections Part 2
The short film festival HollyShorts took place in Hollywood August 11th to 20th, 2016. It showcased a ton–yes a ton–of short films from the US and around the world. Here are more short reviews of some of these bite-sized films. This is Part two of the HollyShorts Film Festival Round Up.
HollyShort Film Festival 2016 Shorts Selection
The short film festival HollyShorts took place in Hollywood August 11th to 20th, 2016. It showcased a ton–yes a ton–of short films from the US and around the world. Here are short reviews of some of these bite-sized films.
Fantasia International Film Festival 2016 Wrap-Up
This year’s edition of Fantasia was their 20th, having missed only three or four, I was eager to attend this anniversary year. As usual since moving from Montreal to Southern California, I was only able to attend for a short period, so I made sure to enjoy it as much as possible, making it a point to see films with a crowd and going to the official festival pub while attending the same week as the market and a few friends. I also made a point to see as many movies as possible, seeing a grand total of 28 films for which the reviews can be found at the below this piece (before the list of winners).
Harmony (2015) [Fantasia International Film Festival 2016]
Health and happiness conscious people have found a way to live forever and without despair. In this utopian future, Tuan Kirie is an investigator for the health agency. As she breaks the rules at her outpost position, she is brought back to Japan where a sudden wave of suicides happens as she arrives. Tuan Kirie is dispatched to investigate these and she takes advantage of this to investigate her past as well.
Seoul Station (2016) [Fantasia International Film Festival 2016]
“If I had a place to go… I wouldn’t have stayed at Seoul Station.”
Yeon Sang-ho’s animated prequel to the excellent zombie action film “Train to Busan” is every bit as terrifying as its successor, and occasionally much more intelligent and biting in its social commentary. While “Train to Busan” is a very emotional look at class warfare and how the society divides in the time of crisis, “Seoul Station” is a very evocative commentary on the poverty crisis in the world. This horrific zombie virus is able to thrive thanks to the massive homeless population in South Korea, and it’s confronted more than once in how the government views its homeless as animals and sub-human even before the flesh eating ghouls appear.
Battledream Chronicle (2016) [Fantasia International Film Festival 2016]
I was a bit mixed on French anime “Battledream Chronicle” until the very end. I love the concept from Alain Bidard. It’s a very unusual mix of “Tron” and “The Matrix” where world decisions and lives are based around a virtual reality game based around gladiators and battling that results in actual lives lost. Set in the year 2100, humankind has managed to achieve paradise, but that’s been taken away by an evil computer AI. The computer has recruited various warriors from across the world to compete for the fate of their country. The team Mortemonde is on the verge of dominating the world after winning endless tournaments, and it’s up to Syanna to compose the perfect team to stop AI and give the world its freedom back.
“Battledream Chronicle” has a very unique idea that could be developed in to such a remarkable film, but in the end I had a difficult time finishing. Bidard takes such a long time developing any kind of characters and spends an obscene amount of time building up to the finale. For some inexplicable reason, entrenches us in to the middle of politics and characters bouncing dialogue off of one another, and how much is at stake if heroine Syanna doesn’t choose the proper teammates to take in to combat. I loved a lot of the concepts behind this digital tournament, including the soldiers that rule over it, and the weapons that are handed to the various gladiators to take in to combat. I wanted to know so much more about this bits and pieces.
But Bidard takes us more mystical here and there, relying on a lot of symbols and icons to represent various weapons, and conveying this digital world as something that’s one step up to achieving a higher state of mind. You’d think that would amount to a rich and complex fantasy, but I found it pretty muddled and I didn’t think there was enough glimpses in to the digital realm of Farandjun as there should have been. That said, “Battledream Chronicle” should be applauded for employing a large cast of minority heroes, including main character Syanna, who is African American. There’s also the wonderful animation which really compliments the quasi-futuristic aesthetic that kept the film walking the line between hard science fiction and dark fantasy.
I’d suggest checking this out if you’re a science fiction fan prone to experimenting and dabbling in more out of the ordinary fare. I found it fairly mediocre and severely lacking in action and excitement.