Disney has released the first full trailer for Tomorrowland, Brad Bird's live action sci-fi-fantasy adventure film starring George Clooney (Ocean's Eleven) and Britt Robertson (The Host). Co-written by Damon Lindelof, Tomorrowland is Bird's second live-action film coming off the strength of Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol and such feature-length animated films as The Iron Giant and The Incredibles.
Tommorowland follows an unlikely pair of companions bound by a shared destiny. One, a teenage girl bursting with rebellious scientific curiosity, the other a jaded former boy-genius inventor, as they embark on a mission to unearth the mysteries of a fantastic world hidden somewhere between the intersecting folds of space, time and our collective imagination.
Syd Mead's concept-art, "A place where the best and brightest in the world came together to change it"
I've been eagerly awaiting Bird's next film since it was first speculated to be the next installment in the Star Wars franchise. I'm absolutely in love with the retro-futuristic aesthetic of the film shown so far, and the few snippets of Michael Giacchino's orchestral score in the trailer are already giving me goose-bumps. Lindelof's involvement leaves me feeling a bit lukewarm, at least initially. However, I think that a hypothetical-future world brimming with colorful discoveries and intrigue falls squarely within his wheelhouse. Tomorrowland comes out in theaters May 22nd.
What if the Mighty Morphin' Power Rangers were ostensibly "child soldiers", recruited to fight in an intergalactic war of which they really had no stake in? And, on top of that, what would happen if the bad guys won? This is Joseph Khan's 'Power/Rangers', the latest in Adi Shankar's "Bootleg Universe" shorts that follow in the proud tradition of taking classic saturday-morning cartoons, comic books and action shows of the early-to-mid-nineties and dousing them in a gritty, gun-metal coat of hyper-seriousness.
The Machine Empire has won, the Power Rangers have been disbanded or integrated into the hyper-advanced totalitarian regime, and hope by all appearances is lost. However, perhaps there is one last soldier of Zordon left willing to fight the "good" fight. But who?
Am I watching Power Rangers or Endless Waltz?!
The production quality on this short is off-the-wall. We've got a brief but spectacular glimpse of Megazords going at it, Futuristic cityscapes, retractable metal morphing-suits, and those Ranger katanas are especially sick. Every thing about this film feels so straight-faced it pushes past the brink into self-parody. The upcoming Lionsgate remake has a high bar to live up to.
"I'm like sleepwalking through a lucid dream. Dream-walking, man. That's me...living the dream!"
Such is the life of Gabriel; Eric Lerner's imaginary living-tattooed, motion-graphic graffiti artist who inhabits the border-realm between what is and what might be. It's certainly one of the most attractive shorts I've watched recently, combining impressive motion-capture animation with stylish live-action editing. I would love to see more of Gabriel's musings and misadventures in the "dreamscape". I'm certain that this isn't the last we've seen of this bug-eyed yellow dude. If you like the track, check out Gabriel's bandcamp page!
Sidera is one of four short animation clips produced by France-based production team Catfish Deluxe and Yapiko Animation for Julien Neel's latest film Lou! Journal infime. In the film, Lou is a shy but thoughtful young girl with a profound imagination.
As she charts the uneasy road of her early adolescence Lou retreats to the comfort of her sketchbook where her sci-fi alter-ego mother Sidera blasts across the galaxy in her Space Whale-ship and rides bodybuilding My Little Pony centaurs across sugar-coated dunes of dessert (get it?) planets.
Can you say, "New Background Image"?
Honestly, this is one of the most imaginative short animations I've seen in a long time. Beautiful backgrounds, hilarious character designs, and awesome space action abound. I'm getting a heavy Space Dandy meets Gurren Lagaan meets Stephen Universe vibe off of this.
