Avenue Kurtodrome

Simon Tofield is the man behind “Simon’s Cat”. He taught himself Flash and wanted to do a little experiment. That experiment, the first part of “Simon’s Cat” did so well on YouTube the cartoon was quickly followed by a sequel. The third episode, “TV Dinner” was released on July 16. See it here:

YouTube’s Simon’s Cat channel has all three episodes. Tofield has said more episodes will follow.

A Day in the Death of Donny B. is a pretty obscure short from 1969. (Well, 1969ish: I say 1969 because that’s the info I’d been given, but to me this felt very much like a child of the early Seventies).
This movie is so unknown the IMDb fails to list the title, the director or the producer. Things may change soon, as Terpsichore Collection Inc are including the short on a DVD, but for now you’ll have to watch it online or not at all.

The short follows one Donny B., a junkie who roams the street in search of money. Money which will allow him to get his fix. The storyline is minimalistic: we see Donny on the streets, we see him steal a handbag, look for money inside and go to his dealer.
But this is not all: the movie is intercut with other people commenting on Donny B. or people like Donny. One mother (off-screen) tells how her husband decided to get some insurance for their son (”At least then we’ll make some money off him when he dies, now he just costs us money.”) In the meantime a minimalistic soundtrack plays on, the entire fourteen minutes of this short. Only occasionally, when Donny is on the street, a singer breaks through the instrumental to tell us this is another day in the life of Donny B.

Not everything works here, but the oddness factor of this piece of “blaxploitation meets cinéma vérite” (allegedly) is sure enough to entertain you for a couple of minutes (well, the 14 minutes it lasts). You can watch this online, thanks to the Prelinger Archives.

Here’s the link.

Saw this on Fuori Orario (Rai Tre) the other night.

THE LAST TEARS FROM PLANET EARTH (2003)

A visionary voyage in a deserted land where the human race is a distant memory. This fusion of live footage, mirror photography and computer animation set to the pulse of electronic music of Lorenzo Brusci is a hauntingly beautiful elegy for humanity.

Director: Graziano Staino
Actors: Nami Ha-vinh and Lawrence Ferlinghetti.
Length: 5 min
Genre: experimental, avant garde, sci-fi

http://www.undergroundfilm.org/films/viewer.tcl?wid=1013588&oftype=lar
(Quicktime)

This short movie was the third short from the Belgian company Striker Productions. Their first film was Striker Bob, a zombie movie with a scene at the sea. When shooting was finished the crew left the beach, forgetting all about the props (clothes and fake corpses) they’d used for the shoot.
The next morning the local polices was wondering if there’d been a black mass at the sea… no, officer, just a small movie company.

After their second, the very funny Los Taxios (about two Dutch tourists stuck in the taxi of a madman, who’s keen on showing them the ugly side of Brussels), Striker managed to get more money for their third movie, Black XXX-Mas.
And it shows. The script may not be as tight as Striker Bob or Los Taxios, but Black XXX-Mas looks good and has a raunchy sort of quality that made this one of Atom Films’ favourite movies.

A short summary shouldn’t be necessary, but if you insist:

Once upon a time there was reality. Now in reality, there are no good and bad guys. There are just bad guys and guys that are worse. This tale is an updated, megaviolent Little Red Riding Hood and is definitely not suitable for the kiddies.

It used to be on Atom (link seems to be gone), but now it’s been put on YouTube. So enjoy!

(Warning, the video above is a horror spoof and may not be suitable for minors. Watch it at your own risk.)

Not entirely my cup of tea, but I noticed that it was on tv tonight and found it on YouTube.

Una Historia Tragica Com Final Feliz
a.k.a. “Tragic Story with Happy Ending”
R: Regina Pessoa
Portugal, 2005
animation without dialogue
7 minutes

This short story “received 3 prizes in Annecy “Espace Projects” 2001 and recently won 26 awards including: Spécial Jury Award Cinanima’05, the CNC’06 Quality Award, the Best Animation award at Granada’06, the Special Jury Award at Anifest Trebon’06, the Grand Prix at SICAF’06, the Grand Prix at Annecy’06, the Prize Best of Section at Melbourne ’06, Nominee for the Cartoon d’Or 2006 – Europe, The Special International Jury Prize Hiroshima’06, the Grand Prix at Mecal’06 and a prize at AniMadrid’06.”

Regina Pessoa: I lived in the countryside in a small village near Coimbra until I was 17 years old. My entire universe was rural. We didn’t have television, which was very boring…but in retrospect, thinking things over, maybe it saved me. We read and listen to our elders telling stories.

My uncle used to draw on the walls and on the doors of my grandmother’s home, with pieces of coal. Seeing my uncle drawing on the walls gave us a sense of freedom because we didn’t have paper and pencils but we always had walls and doors – maybe this stayed with me unconsciously because know, much later, it’s already the second film that I’m making in engraving technique…