SSF: “Nebula”

Last updated on: January 15, 2015 at 2:46 pm By Joseph Susanka

This is a student film. Hang on. Let me repeat that: This is a student film. Calm down. No need to panic. It wasn’t made by a single person, but by a group of students at the French animation school Gobelins: Camille Andre, Marion Bulot, Clément Doranlo, Myriam Fourati, Jonghyun Jungboix, Alexis Kerjosse and Sarah Simon. Actually, the number of its creators doesn’t really diminish its impressiveness in any way. A soft, wide-eyed look that sort-of-reminded me of The Secret of Kells. And that’s never a bad association, in my book. (Plus, I’m a sucker... Read more

SVS: “The Rocketeer”

Last updated on: January 14, 2015 at 11:49 am By Joseph Susanka

Clifford, when you borrow somethin’ and you don’t tell nobody, they call that stealing, you know. I’ve got a little list. Well, it’s actually more of a super-secret and frighteningly-long spreadsheet in my Google My Drive than an actual pen-and-paper list. But still, I’ve got one. And on that spreadsheet, I keep the names of films not currently available through streaming sources; films that I desperately want to recommend, but can’t. Yet. From time to time — usually at the... Read more

Fun (and Probably Unpronouncable) Word of the Day: “Undulatus Asperatus”

Last updated on: March 17, 2017 at 2:57 pm By Joseph Susanka

OK, yes. That’s two fun and probably unpronounceable words. So sue me. Here, from no less (or is that “no greater?”) an authority than Wikipedia: Undulatus asperatus is a cloud formation, proposed in 2009 as a separate cloud classification by the founder of the Cloud Appreciation Society. If successful it will be the first cloud formation added since cirrus intortus in 1951 to the International Cloud Atlas of the World Meteorological Organization. The name translates approximately as “roughened or agitated waves”. Riiiiiiight. I have …pretty much no idea what that... Read more

Just Messin’ Around with Four Pianos (and Eight Hands)

Last updated on: March 17, 2017 at 2:57 pm By Joseph Susanka

All the likes. All of them, I say. Perhaps not the best version from a technical standpoint (or in terms of recording quality), but it sure is fun to watch Argerich, Kissin, Levine, and Pletnev pounding away together. For those who do not enjoy hearing Bach’s music performed on the the piano — Yes, they exist. No, I can’t explain it. — here’s a wonderful Pinnock-led version on the harpsichord(s). Because I’m nice that way. Oh, and yes. That’s sort of Vivaldi’s piece. RV 580,... Read more

Maya Angelou, Studs Terkel, and Con Men

Last updated on: March 17, 2017 at 2:57 pm By Joseph Susanka

The one thing that con men will tell you; the only way you can be a mark is if you want something for nothing. If you’re greedy, you’re set up. Perfect. I realize that I’ve written about Blank On Blank’s great work in the past. But their latest, an animated interview between Studs Terkel and Maya Angelou, certainly does nothing to diminish my appreciation. I am compelled to share. Fantastic, no? And the best part (as far as I’m concerned) is that... Read more

SSF: “The Herbalist”

Last updated on: January 15, 2015 at 3:41 pm By Joseph Susanka

This one has a gorgeous “painterly” style, even if it’s a bit on the dark side, story-wise. Reminds me of the great Frédéric Back’s “The Man Who Planted Trees,” in some ways. Except way more pessimistic. (Also, you need to watch through the credits, because the reference to the past in the short’s description won’t make any sense otherwise.) A man, in the twilight of his life, is enjoying the sunset. The balance shifts when what he spent his life running... Read more

SVS: “Vampyr”

Last updated on: January 14, 2015 at 11:43 am By Joseph Susanka

As someone who tends to avoid scary movies… …OK, as someone who stays as far away from the horror genre as humanly possible (because SCARY), coming up with a thematically-appropriate film for today is a bit tricky. My first instinct, for example, was to recommend a film more fittingly associated with an entirely different holiday: the weirdly-toned and mesmerizing stop-motion classic from Tim Burton and Henry Selick, The Nightmare Before Christmas. (Which is streaming on NETFLIX INSTANT, for those who are curious. Or... Read more

This One’s For Educational Purposes ONLY…

Last updated on: March 12, 2015 at 10:35 am By Joseph Susanka

…and by “ONLY,” I mean “This video comes from a YouTube channel that describes itself as ‘music examples for teaching and study purposes, uploaded by members of the Music Department at English Martyrs’ Catholic School, Leicester, UK’ and this might not be exactly a teaching ‘purpose,’ strictly speaking, but I’ve been looking for it for ages and it’s HILARIOUS and I want to share it really badly so please be educated by it or study it or something, OKThanksBye!” New... Read more

Living with Musical Free Association Syndrome

Last updated on: March 17, 2017 at 2:57 pm By Joseph Susanka

So, this is pretty much my life in a nutshell — with the emphasis on “nuts:” Start listening to the soundtrack for Terrance Malick’s The Thin Red Line. Think: “Wow. That sounds sort of Inception-y.” Head out onto the InterWebs and find this — a stinging reminder that I’m not even remotely original. (But then, neither is Hans Zimmer.) Pretty seamless, no? Probably because they’re (essentially) the same. Which is fine with me, actually. Classical music afficionados tend to be more... Read more

Turning Science Fiction into Science Fact

Last updated on: January 15, 2015 at 4:01 pm By Joseph Susanka

Rosetta: the ambition to turn science fiction into science fact. Yes, I realize I’m posting a short on back-to-back days, but I just can’t help myself. It’s not so much that it’s a really, really well-made sci-fi short (though that’s not an insignificant selling point). It’s that I can’t remember seeing anything like it before, and that makes it a a “first-timer” thing for me. And that always gets me excited. Behold, Tomasz Bagiński’s Ambition, the first advertisement for a realio-trulio, ongoing... Read more