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No Commentary Necessary — Docter’s “Next Door”

Last updated on: November 19, 2015 at 8:49 am By Joseph Susanka

Just in case I “buried the link” a bit too deeply in yesterday’s Pixar post, I wanted to make sure everyone saw this. It’s called Next Door, and it’s a student film from Pete Docter. You know, Pete “The Guy Who Directed Up” Docter? Which makes perfect sense once you see this. (Especially when you compare Ellie to the little girl, and Carl to Mr. Cranky Squarehead.) I’d never even heard of this before yesterday, though subsequent investigation revealed its presence... Read more

What a Pixar Story Meeting Looks Like

Last updated on: March 17, 2017 at 3:07 pm By Joseph Susanka

This clip’s been floating around the InterWebs, and I finally clicked on it. Story has long been Pixar’s calling-card (though they’ve been criticized for losing a bit of their momentum there in recent years; and fairly, I think), so I’m sure the more story-anemic among us were hoping for some quick pointers. Plus, I’m not really much of a collaborative creator myself, and Pixar is famed for their creative collaboration. So I was also hoping for something that helped explain that dynamic a bit more. (I’d like to be more collaborative than I am. Truly. Maybe for... Read more

Suddenly, For No Reason, Sting

Last updated on: March 17, 2017 at 3:07 pm By Joseph Susanka

Here (with a touch more Today Show and advertising than one might want): Good people give ear to me story, Pay attention, and none of your lip, For I’ve brought you five lads and their daddy, Intending to build ye’s a ship. Wallsend is wor habitation, It’s the place we was all born and bred. And there’s nay finer lads in the nation, And none are more gallantly led. OK, I’ll be honest. It’s not “for no reason.” It’s because... Read more

The Red Beaches of Panjin, China

Last updated on: March 17, 2017 at 3:07 pm By Joseph Susanka

These look fake. They’re not. That’s Red Beach in Panjin, China. It’s famous for its vibrant and unusual color, caused by Chenopodiaceae, “a unique variety of alkali-tolerant seaweed that changes from green to red in the fall.” (This particular branch might be known as Suaeda salsa. I hope that’s right; it sure would be fitting.) I’m having trouble remembering when and where I first stumbled across those images in my feedreader — Was it OneBigPhoto, perhaps? — but the photo collection over at BoredPanda is breathtaking. And... Read more

Fun with ReCut Trailers

Last updated on: March 17, 2017 at 3:07 pm By Joseph Susanka

Recut trailers are great. You know, those YouTube vids where someone takes footage from a particular film and creates a trailer that is radically at odds with the source material? I love ’em. Such great editing exercises, and the grasp their creators’ manifest when it comes to the beats and moods of particular genres often leave me speechless. (Plus, they’re funny. And it’s Friday.) “Scary Mary’s” my favorite example ever, and I don’t expect that to change any time soon (despite... Read more

Everything’s a Remix, German Expressionistic Version

Last updated on: March 17, 2017 at 3:07 pm By Joseph Susanka

The dances I attended during my college years provided me with some of the fondest musical memories I own. Among those memories, Bobby Darin’s lilting “Mack the Knife” holds a place of particular prominence. (I’m not quite sure why; I suspect it’s equal parts unusual rhythmic construction and the strange dichotomy between the song’s easygoing mood and downright unsettlin’ lyrics.) Naturally, I grew familiar with Louis Armstrong’s version in subsequent years, as well as with Ella Fitzgerald’s. And most recently,... Read more

Mark O’Connor, Gypsies, and a Whole Mess of Fiddles

Last updated on: March 17, 2017 at 3:07 pm By Joseph Susanka

For years now, I’ve been searching for a readily-available version of the legendary Mark O’Connor’s highly unusual Fiddle Concerto. It’s a really fun piece of music, and one that deserves to be much better known. The downside to my long-suffering search? I’m regularly demoralized by my inability to find a YouTube link (or playlist) to share with y’all. (There’s Grooveshark, I guess. But I’m not confident that their links will last after I link to them.) The upside? I almost-as-regularly stumble across... Read more

A Tangled and Beautiful Tale

Last updated on: March 17, 2017 at 3:07 pm By Joseph Susanka

Here’s a mesmerizing short film that floated across my radar this morning, courtesy of Corrie Francis Parks, “a freelance animator and photographer based in Montana.” (Montana, huh? So, as we say here in the Wide Open Spaces of Wyoming, “a next door neighbor.”) Somewhat unsurprisingly given her location and interests, this short deals with fishing. But that’s only a surface interpretation. A lone fish, hooked by an angler’s line, encounters another in the same dire situation. As the two fish struggle against their... Read more

Free Association on a Friday Afternoon

Last updated on: February 5, 2015 at 5:39 pm By Joseph Susanka

This afternoon, I find myself with an inexplicable hankering for “Touch of Grey.” So, here. Because Internet. Which, of course, makes me think of Spider Man. Obvious, right? …or perhaps not so obvious. My mind can be a bit labyrinthine at times, even to me. So I had to tease it out a bit. J. K. Simmons. He’s the middle term. A great scenery-and-cigar-chewing character actor. And the star of a charming indie film from a few years back called The Music Never Stopped,... Read more

Maria João Pires and The Wrong Concerto

Last updated on: March 17, 2017 at 3:08 pm By Joseph Susanka

My feedreader’s been sadly neglected over the past few days — a condition produced primarily by my vacation, but perpetuated by a rising terror at the thousands of unread posts that would doubtless assail me upon opening its “pages” — so I’m coming to this story a bit later than the rest of the InterWebs. (Actually, the InterWebs themselves are getting to it a bit late. The YouTube video’s from 2009, and the original comes from a 1998 Dutch documentary, Attrazione d’amore.)... Read more

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