The “Harlem Shake” video fad is finally petering out, thankfully so for a whole host of reasons, not the least of which being that no one’s actually doing the Harlem Shake in them. As a Harlem resident commented, “I know the Harlem Shake, but that ain’t the Harlem Shake. They’re dry-humping air.”
But if you are going to dry hump air, you might as well do it in style, like the kids from Milford High School in suburban Detroit, who all got suspended for a Harlem Shake video that included upside-down air blow jobs and a kid air humping a live duck. As an animal lover, I know I shouldn’t encourage any behavior that might lead to mistreatment of animals, but… Well, I’m just going to leave these ellipses here. You do with them what you see fit.
Just so we have at least one post on here today that isn’t Oscars-related hit-whoring, here’s a 10-minute documentary about Patton Oswalt, To Be Loved & Understood, from director Julien Nitzberg. Nitzberg previously directed The Wild and Wonderful Whites of West Virginia, which is also pretty great, and available right now on Netflix Instant. Being that Patton Oswalt is my favorite comedian and has been for almost a decade, the whole tone of “I like Patton because I’m a nerd and his comedy is so nerdy!” of the fan interviews in the first half of the film annoys the ever-loving shit out of me. Patton’s nerdiness is part of him, but that’s not what makes him great. What makes him great is that Patton Oswalt will take a premise that a lot of comedians would get to – like being annoyed with his hippie friends telling him to have a natural childbirth, for example – and he’ll write a good, solid bit out of it, that only really good comics could and any would be proud to have written. But the beauty of Patton is that he’ll take that bit to another level, this layer that almost no other comedian gets to, a level of absurd wordplay and the fantastic that makes his jokes just a little more than a perfectly-wrapped bit package. Whereas most of the childbirth bit is just a better version of bits you’d hear other comedians doing, the line “last night I saw a jack rabbit with a woman’s face!” is that extra level of fantasy and wordplay that you only get with Patton.
See, you stupid nerds? Liking Patton Oswalt is for liberal arts majors! (*wedgies nerd*)(*wedgies self*)
I guess what I’m saying is that in 10 minutes, this little doc does a fantastic job getting at the way we all claim ownership and are fiercely protective of our own superficial little reasons for loving a comedian that we project onto him just because he happens to be good at explaining who he is in a relatable way. And that’s probably applicable to phenomenon of fandom in general. Great work. There should be more short documentaries in the world.
Disney just released their Oscar-nominated animated short, Paperman, on YouTube, which seems like a great place for a short film.
A blend of hand-drawn animation and computer graphics, Paperman is set in a stylized mid-century Manhattan. It deals with the star-crossed love of two office workers, and how a pile of papers brings them together. Disney released the video on YouTube late Tuesday.
The short is drenched in nostalgia — not least because of our increasingly paperless offices. (Throwing your laptop out of the window doesn’t quite have the same airborne effect.) But the seamless hand-drawn and computer combo — created by a group of just 12 artists and first-time director John Kahrs — is something new in the world. [Mashable]
After the jump, I’ve got a short film by Edson Oda, a Brazilian doing his MFA in film and TV at USC, called Malaria. He posted it to Vimeo almost a month ago, but I hadn’t seen it, so I’m remedying that today for all of us.
MALARIA tells the story of Fabiano, a young Mercenary who is hired to kill Death. This short film combines Origami, Kirigami, Time lapse, nankin illustration, Comic Books and Western Cinema.
I’m not sure I’d want to watch a feature-length film in this style, but it’s perfect for a short. It’s really everything a short should be – cool, stylish form with a short, punchy story. It’s kind of like a modern version of La Jetee incorporating animation. Can’t deal with actors or afford locations? You can always do something like this. You know, assuming you’re really good at illustration and scrapbooking and have about a million hours of free time.
British animator Run Wrake died from cancer at the age of 47 over the weekend, and when I heard about it today I asked myself, “Why does that name sound familiar?” Turns out it’s because he directed a BAFTA-nominated short film called “Rabbit” that I posted four years ago. Do you know how awesome an 8-minute short film from four years ago has to be for me to remember it? “Rabbit” is that awesome, I promise you. It turns out I’m a sucker for little kids who gut a rabbit and find a demon inside. Oh God, please watch it, it’s so f*cking good.
So once again, f*ck you, cancer.
Bummer news out of England. British animator Run Wrake died on Sunday morning from cancer at the age of 47. He is survived by his wife, Lisa, and two children, Florence and Joe.
Wrake was born in 1965 as John Wrake in the Republic of Yemen to a father who was an army chaplain. He attended the Chelsea College of Art and Design, and later the Royal College of Art. He burst onto the animation scene with his student film Anyway (1990), which aired on MTV’s Liquid Television.
Wrake spent the next two decades creating all kinds of animation including music videos (Howie B, Future Sound of London, Manu Chao, The Charlatans), MTV idents, concert visuals (U2), TV commercials, and short films, like Jukebox. [CartoonBrew]
There’s not much to say besides RIP, guy. The only silver lining to this turd cloud is that he has lots of his work on YouTube, so I know what I’ll be doing with the rest of my afternoon.
