Tag: Recommended viewing

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Bowl Of Noses

The Rube Goldberg variations

As I said,  Rube Goldberg was one of my first favorite cartoonists. He drew these wild machines that were soooo complicated but did simple things.

And his cartoons have inspired one of our favorite short films of all time: THE WAY THINGS GO. Definitely Recommended Viewing.

The Way Things Work have in turn inspired a series of commercials which are pretty darn fun. Here’s one:

And Rube, The Way, and these commercials have inspired a whole slew of wonderful homemade contraptions that all over the internet. But we will look at those later.

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Bowl Of Noses

Recommended Viewing #3: Nausica Of The Valley Of The Wind

NAUSICA OF THE VALLEY OF THE WIND (1992) was the first film of Studio Ghibli (even before they were Studio Ghibili!).  It’s got everything in it, from the first seeds of steampunk, robots, a great female youthful heroine, and an environmental message (plus another one of how aggression is often a cry for love…).  We’ve watched it numerous times, have the figures, and our very own pet fox-squirrel.

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Bowl Of Noses

Recommended Viewing #2: Pom Poko

The greatest animation company ever, Studio Ghibli, produced this fantastic movie in 1992.  You can tell the makers of OVER THE HEDGE watched it but, boy, does their movie stink in comparison!  They missed all of the fun, ideas, and greatness of POM POKO.  Being a Racoon was never so much fun — nor was pranking the humans.  It’s a great tale of resistance and rebellion.  There’s a couple of spooky sequences and you can see the creatures’ private parts, but still we think it’s appropriate for age 6+.

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These Are Those Things

One Of The Top Films Of All Time: Chris Marker’s La Jetee

Chris Marker’s LA JETEE haunts many filmmakers’ work.  When I went to NYU, it was required viewing and I think you can see it’s influence in many grads’ work.  Its marriage of form and content has rarely been equaled.  His film SANS SOLEIL has also forever provoked me to deliver a true Essay Film — and I will one day.  Both are Required Viewing.  

One of the beautiful things about his work is that its effect runs far beyond the work at hand; he changes how we look at things, makes us reflect upon our own choices.  Marker is a true believer in the power of the dialogue between screen and audience. He recognizes how some of the best work is created when our imagination fills in the gaps.  Today far too much is actually shown, preventing us from becoming complicit in the narratives. His great essay on Hitchcock’s VERTIGO makes clear his passion for this process.  If only others could follow this lead…

There’s a lot of great writing on this film out there. Here’s Senses Of Cinema’s…

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Bowl Of Noses

Recommended Viewing #1: My Beautiful Girl Mari


Lee Seong-kang’s MY BEAUTIFUL GIRL MARI (2002) was one of our great film discoveries this year.  The animation is beautiful and inventive.  It’s the story of a young boy who seems to have everyone around him always leaving him.  He seems to find a solution by entering a dream world, where he meets Mari.  Seeing it’s set during his summer vacation there’s no better time to watch it than right now.  We’d say appropriate for age 7+.