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Jan.
17/03 More
in weblog archive |
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Hoshi
No Koe ("Voice of a Distant Star")
 This
is one of those one-person projects that puts a lot
of larger efforts to shame. "Hoshi No Koe"
(eng. 'Voice of a Distant Star') is 20 minute anime
short that has quality surpassing a lot of commercial
animation. It's also a very touching story about a young
girl who is drafted into an multinational space force
that travels farther and farther away from the Earth
chasing alien invaders.
At
the beginning of the film the girl has a budding relationship
with another boy in her class but is forced to continue
the relationship via her phone. The farther away the
space navy travels, the more time it takes between messages
to be sent. At first it's minutes, then hours, days
and finally, the last message takes years. Aside from
the voice talent, all the art and production was by
one man, Matako Shinkai, an artist for a game company,
reportedly using only his iMac. The sheer production
effort immediately impresses, but the story is so heartfelt
and tenderly rendered that it makes this film a special
creative work. I defy anyone not to tear up during her
last message. Granted, there are the standard space
anime telements of giant robots and teenage girls, but
give it a chance.
Read more about it here >>
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Jan.
13 /03 More
in weblog archive |
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THE
MYTHICAL STREETS
Cidade de Deus ("City of God")
IMDB
| Official
Site
dir.
Fernando Mereilles
starring: Matheus
Nachtergaele, Seu Jorge, Alexandre Rodrigues,
Leandro Firmino da Hora, Phelipe Haagensen
"City
of God" is a brilliant film from Brazil following
a group of kids from a slum outside of Rio de
Janeiro as violence, mishaps and happenstance
take their toll. One boy dreams of becoming a
newspaper photographer while others descend into
gunhappy petty crime. Having the look of a gritty
documentary at once but also brimming with vision,
I can't remember the last time I emerged from
a cinema so eager to drink from the film's creative
source. This film will likely be a favourite for
the Best Foreign Film Oscar in March.
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Do
yourself a favour. If you see this poster; SEE
THE MOVIE
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Director
Fernando Meirelles and cinematographer Cesar Charlone
have crafted a film of tremendous verve and authenticity.
Spanning three decades, the film tells a series
of interlocking stories concentrating on each
character; folk tales that are funny, chilling
and without judgment.
The
some-time narrator of what is a collection of
stories is 12-year old Buscape who at the beginning
of the film is too scared to engage in petty thievery
like the older boys in the favela, including his
elder brother. However, others of his age are
more than willing to plan greater heists in a
bid to escape from poverty, among them a bushy
haired nascent psychopath named Little Ze, a character
who seems to be constantly followed by a cloud
of dread.
During
the eras depicted (60s, 70s and 80s) successive
waves of youth gangs, each younger and more ruthless
than their predecessors, each give rise to notable
characters with colourful names and colourful
stories behind them. Based upon real events, "City
of God" has a documentary feel about it,
defining gritty direction, but also told with
plenty of style. The cutting and editing is playful,
mirroring the action on the screen which is often
comic action. It is the Latin American cousin
to "Pulp Fiction" but told with the
technical sensibility of the video age.
ON
THE RUN AGAIN Another generation of Rio kids trying
to outrun their origins
The secret to the success of "City of God"
is in the wry flavour of each story. Neither judgmental
nor overly farcical, the filmmakers behind this
movie depict events much as anyone who might have
witnessed them might relate them to friends years
or decades after the fact. Even given the grainy
nature of the scenes, and even the brutality of
the acts, there is humour in the remembrance,
where characters are bigger than life-size and
the real events become legend. This is the mythos
of the streets.
An
example of this is in one of the shorter stories
called "the story of the apartment".
In this five minute interlude (which nevertheless
sets the stage for important events to come),
an apartment becomes a rough symbol for the cyclical
nature of the movie. Tenants, petty drug dealers
living a fast and loose existence, take control
of the same apartment, one after another. Each
supplanting the former tenant and taking over
his territory, some lasting longer than the others.
No matter who is in charge, the story remains
the same.
Even
given the sometimes slapstick feel of the stories,
"City of God" has a rich literary structure.
Each story links to the next, minor characters
introduced early in the film become critical elements
in the summing up. Younger boys grow up to become
villains; patsies become heroes. Like all epics,
happenstance and fate collide to provide just
desserts. A brilliant, memorable film.
I
saw this at the Vancouver Film Festival in September
of 2002. It became not only the best foreign film
of the year, it was my pick as the best film of
2002.
Opening
this week in the U.S. and January 23 in Canada
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Gun
animation
I
spent most of Sunday animating and compositing gun flashes
into the "Hit and Run" video. At first an interesting
intellectual exercise (watching "Heat" over
and over and going through it frame by frame on the DVD)
it became a lot of trial and error and laborious tweaking
in Photoshop and After Effects.
Take a look here >>
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Jan
12/03 More
in weblog archive |
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News
Item: U.S.
cyberwar against Iraq includes spam
 Recent
news has indicated that the United States has been
propagating a 'cyberwar' against the Iraqis in the
run up to the possible Gulf War 2. Included in this
electronic campaign has been a massive spam campaign
in which U.S. operatives have been flooding Iraqi
email boxes with messages designed to reduce morale
and destabilize the government.
While
no one has been able to find such an example, based
upon current patterns of email I've been able to come
up with a possible email template that just might
work! See below:
"Dear
Iraqi citizen,
BUSINESS
PROPOSAL STRICTLY CONFIDENTIAL!!
Let me introduce myself. My name DONALD H. RUMSFELD,
Secretary of Defense for the United States of America.
Can we speak about a matter of the utmost importance
and secrecy? I am speaking of an opportunity that
will benefit both our parties with a minimum of risk
to yourself.
I will speak frankly. During the last forty years
certain oil corporations with which I am connected
have been benefiting from control and influence over
the oil reserves in the Middle East through Saudi
Arabia and the other Gulf States. In the early 80s,
myself, certain members of the United States government
and the heads of many of our U.S.-based multinational
corporations - whom I cannot identify because of the
opportunity afforded to us - were assisting your government
headed by President Saddam Hussein in your war against
the fundamentalists of the Ayatollah Komeni in Iran.
During your long war with the Iranians, my business
associates at the highest levels of the U.S. administration
and business leadership
helped your President by supplying arms, providing
intelligence, sending samples of smallpox and other
biowarfare supplies, and embargoing the Persian Gulf,
even going so far as to shoot down an Iranian jetliner
with one of our destroyers. With our intervention,
your dictator Saddam Hussein was able to fight off
the Iranians by bombing them with U.S. made cluster
bombs and used mustard gas in contravention of international
agreements with our knowledge. At the same time, President
Hussein used chemical warfare against your Kurdish
fellow citizens, killing 5,000 and injuring 7,000
in an attack on a village. After this, we provided
your brutal government even more assistance. Over
all this time we spent billions of American dollars
using your government as a proxy against other Muslim
countries even though we knew that President Hussein
was a craven thug who enjoys massacring civilians.
Now, we want our money back. In the oil fields of
Iraq are billions of barrels of petroleum that friends
of our administration want under our control. This
amount could equal trillions of dollars either in
'rebuilding' or 'administration' contracts to U.S.-owned
oil corporations, billions of dollars in military-supporting
industries and consulting companies who have senators
and past-administration officials in their board of
directors, not to mention the effect of a U.S.-led
post-war governance of Iraq would have on oil prices
and pressure on other Gulf States for years to come.
The cost of this exercise will be borne entirely by
taxpayers in democratic countries, the lower and middle
class who form our soldiery, and damage to your country.
We want to transfer BILLIONS of DOLLARS in funds from
Iraq and the U.S. out of each country. Needless to
say, the benefits to us would be extreme. You may
be asking yourself, how can you participate in this
venture? This answer is simple: surrender! As we speak
thousands of American troops and our allies are poised
to attack your country. When you see a western soldier
repel from a Blackhawk helicopter, lie down on the
ground and put your hands on your head. When you see
a Tomahawk missile turning down your street, abandon
that air defense post. If you see Saddam, make sure
you tell the nearest Fox News correspondent; we will
receive the information immediately.
When the war is over in a month, we will be in contact
with you either in the UN food distribution centers
or in the demobilization camps in Cuba to give you
what you deserve.
Finally, it is important to keep the facts of this
exercise to yourself, the way I have done all these
months. You must agree with me, that we cannot blow
up a chance of a lifetime because we cannot be discreet
over a matter that would definitely work to our mutual
satisfaction.
I await your urgent response, while I remain with
best regards for your kind attention.
your servant,
Donald Rumsfeld"
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More
in weblog archive
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I
filmed today's anti-war rally in downtown Vancouver.
The organizers claimed there were 20,000 but I think
it was closer to 5-8,000. At least during the actual
march. Still, it's impressive being in a crowd of that
size striding from Library Square down Robson and then
back to the Art Gallery. Local punk legends DOA played
a set and then the speakers took over. Good cross-section
of young, old, families and non families. Lots and lots
of cameras including activists, major media and just
interested people like me. Not too many business suits,
is all. :)
Fun
with Flash MX and Illustrator 10
