Otaking's 'TIE Fighter' Is The Star Wars Anime Tie-in We Deserve

The Force is strong with this year. While sci-fi afficiandos and movie-goers patiently wait on further news and publicity concerning the seventh Star Wars film slated for release this December, Paul "Otaking" Johnson's fan-made short TIE Fighter only proves that the franchise's future continues to resonate long after the films.

The short follows a troupe of rebel X-Wings embroiled in a deseperate fight against a fleet of Star Destroyers and their host of TIE Fighters. Accompanied by Zakir Rahman's inspired heavy metal soundtrack riffing off of the musical troupes of early 90's anime, TIE Fighter is an impressive fan-short that takes as much inspiration from Lucas' iconic space-opera as it does from the works of anime titans such as Yoshiyuki Tomino (Mobile Suit Gundam) and Leiji Matsumoto (Space Battleship Yamato). And to top it off, not only is it painstakingly well-animated, it's canonically accurate as well! Now that's what I call dedication

'Leviathan' Teaser Shows Space Whalers Taming A Demon Of The Skies

The spec-trailer for Ruairi Robinson's sci-fi feature Leviathan has fast been making the rounds across the blogo-sphere since it was first posted on Vimeo late yesterday afternoon. And for good reason, it looks spectacular! Within four painfully short minutes Robinson has already sold me on the idea of space whalers on hover-boats hunting flying behemoths in order to embryos for starship fuel, and that in no small part owed to the funding and support of the Irish Film Board.

It feels trite to try and describe this as "Moby Dick in space" off the impression of one trailer alone, and especially a teaser at that. If anything, the titular beast looks like a cross between the Sarlac from Star Wars and Sin from Final Fantasy X. Still, I'm looking forward to some nihilistic brooding accompanied by death-defying monster hunting action when the final film is released.

Originally one of the many rotating cast of directors attached to steer the live-action Akira adaptation to completion, Robinson left the project, presumably owed to creative differences and funding between Warner Bros.', Appian Way and himself. If curiosity has been peaked and you're looking to learn more about this mysterious director, check out his 2013 film Last Days on Mars and his award-winning sci-fi horror short Blinky. We'll be following Robinson for more news about Leviathan here on out.

The Dilla Dimension

You'll be hard-pressed to find a producer more ubiquitously applauded and dissected than that of the late J Dilla. A formidable beat-maker whose production has been the bedrock of some of hip-hop's most venerated albums and artists, the man affectionately known by his fans and loved ones as Jay Dee passed away in 2006 on the eve of Donuts', his most successful album, release.

The shadow of his influence still hangs heavy and low over the face of contemporary music even nine years since his passing, which is why CGI-studio Cartelle Interactive has created this interactive browser film to commemorate Dilla's last record by transforming it into a kaleidoscopic tunnel-trip through a outer-spacial odyssey of confectionery oddities.

The Dilla Dimension is an interactive, short film that tells the story of two sugarcoated souls and their psychedelic journey through outer space. Each step of their voyage is crafted to a selection of tracks from J Dilla’s classic album, Donuts.

An alternate universe, blanketed with hypercolor sugar and fluorescent glaze, gives birth to an unlikely cluster of donut holes. Suddenly, they are split apart and scattered across a sea of hypnotic, interstellar chaos. But the impossible takes shape when a love is sparked, leading to a desperate search across the universe for one another.

Five Knights Releases The Final Two Installments in the Kin Fables Trilogy

The first installment in Seb and Ben McKinnon's beautifully atmospheric multi-media project Kin Fables was an immensely satisfying and tantalizing glimpse into an alien world of myth back when we covered it two years ago. In the time since then, Five Knights Productions (Ben's talented company of filmmakers) has been hard at work and the fruit of those labors is finally here in the form of the highly-anticipated release of the two-part finale to the Kin Fables trilogy.

Salvage opens with a shot of a starkly bright yellow bi-plane soaring across a vast ocean before plunging into a wall of storm clouds. The lone aviator pilot of the plane manages to survive a terrific crash along the shores of what we can presume to be the same mythic world of the previous film. What he discovers there may both save and invariably change his life forever.

Requiem presents a compelling new dimension into the true nature of the world of Kin and its inhabitants. The film opens with a close-up shot of the unconscious boy who was abducted (saved?) at the conclusion of the first film. An abrupt change in focus shifts our attention to who we can presume to be the very same boy, now a grown man, waking up to a world seemingly indistinguishable from our own. What is the nature between these two, seemingly disparate realities? Nothing is as it seems.

Though this chapter of the Kin Fables story has reached its conclusion, the series' companion graphic novel is still in the works. and I'm all but certain that the McKinnon Brothers have more rapturously-moving installments up their sleeves. If not, I sincerely hope this will not be the last collaboration of Clann's sensational music with the Brother's incredible cinematography. Check out the project's website for more insights into the world and world behind the films, and be sure to follow Five Knights on facebook and twitter for more awesome shorts!

'The Horse Raised By Spheres' is a Rabbit-Hole of Madness

It's not easy being a horse.

Two weeks ago, animator David O'Reilly posted the URL "THEHORSERAISEDBYSPHERES.COM" via his twitter feed. Seemingly in conjunction with a premiere event for this year's Sundance film festival, the address is an interactive text-based web portal to the titular short of a sentient talking horse haunted by his inability to make friends with the other "normal" talking horses grazing on the other side of a field. 

The portal also extends to five other previously unreleased shorts, each one more curiously unsettling than the last. Gaze into the deep, click past the break, and dive into the ineffable abyss that is "The Horse Raised by Spheres".

ANOMALY is a Stirring Sci-Fi Re-imagining of Christian Nativity

Anomaly is the latest stunning collaboration between Directors Salomon Ligthelm & Dan DiFelice. Set amidst the starstruck euphoria and espionage-soaked paranoia of the 1960's, Anomaly draws from the same creative wellspring as the works of Steven Spielberg and Terrence Malick.

Oliver Grier, a young astronaut on a mission to space; experiences the heartache and regret of a broken relationship. The film follows Oliver and his fiancé Haylee Lawson's journey, as they navigate love and disillusionment.  During Oliver's mission, a long awaited astronomical event begins to take place - an event, predicted decades prior by scientist Noel Fitz, an elderly man whose theories have subsequently been disregarded due to an unstable mental condition.

Anomaly has just pole-vaulted itself near the top of some of my favorite shorts this year. Definitely one of the most beautifully shot films I've seen this year (That CIA-redacted title sequence à la Gareth Edwards' Godzilla sold me immediately).

The film hasn't been out for more than a day and it's already managed to garner effusive praise (rightly so) and provoke lively debate, picking apart the film's cosmically-drenched symbolism. Is the Bayt Lahm comet the returning star of Bethlehem? Is Haylee's child the second coming? Visually extraordinary, thematically provocative, and deftly written and directed; Anomaly could not have been released on a more timely date.

Self-Assembly Proves, Once Again, That Dead is Better

In Self-Assembly, A young couple are forced to resort to a demonic resurrection device in order to bring back their son after a freak incidence of tragedy. What comes out of the box is not what they put into it (or is it?), and the couple must decide whether to half-heartedly raise this mischievous homunculus who looks like one of the scammers from Futurama, or if the famous maxim of Stephen King's Pet Sematary remains true.

The short's ominous sense of dark serious is well-established, never abating for even a second while still managing to cram in a few unsettling laughs. It just gets weirder and weirder from minute one. Check out more of Director Ray Sullivan's work here.

Time Trap

Time Trap is a gut-bursting hilarious sci-fi comedy romp through the multi-verse. When a cosmic engineer's ship richochets through an asteroid field and crash lands on a long-abandoned planet, he must use a chronological travel device known as a "time trap" to scavenge replacement parts throughout the planet's past and repair his ship to return home. What happens along the way is a series of hysterical vignettes and jaw-dropping special effects.

With a Doctor Who-style theatrics and a Looney Tunes flair for physical comedy, Time Trap is tightly-packed, well-oiled machine of a short film that lands its punches and never runs out of ways to surprise you. Director Michael Shanks is a VFX-wunderkind, with only 23 years of life under his belt and already courting the attention and talent of industry folks like Guy Pearce. We're keeping our eyes on this guy.

'The Grey Matter' is Dark, Gruesome and Brilliantly Hilarious

Dark comedies focused around the assumed banality and bureaucracy of the after-life aren't anything new (i.e. Beetlejuice and Wristcutters: A Love Story), but The Grey Matter is one of the most gruesomely brilliant twists on the trope thanks to snappy dialogue and sharp transition-editing for comedic effect. After a mysterious injury, an office "stiff" named Simon finds himself stumbling through an absurd, increasingly unorthodox, and potentially fatal series of events.

The Mccoubrey Brothers' short feels like a Twilight Zone episode by way of David Lynch. Ebon Moss-Bachrach is fantastic in his role as meek and unassuming Simon (and that stetson fedora he's rocking definitely feels like a callback to Peter Weller's role in Naked Lunch). And that ending? Forget about it. Go watch this short immediately. Right. Now.

Yopi the Robot

Yopi is an adorable one-minute student film courtesy of Débora Cruchon and Paula Assadourian, alumni of the prestigious CalArts and Gobelins animation academies respectively. The short, an entry in  CalArts-Gobelins 48-hour collaboration contest, follows a well-meaning robot boy-scout embarking on a nature hike on a journey to set the world right with hilarious results.

The chalky pastel backgrounds and enchantingly child-like sound design combine to create a skit worthy of a Saturday morning cartoon or an awesome bed-time story. Hope to see more work from these two in the future!

'The Splinter-Cell' Is A Love Letter To The Franchise At Its Peak

Ubisoft's Splinter Cell is an influential stealth-action series that's been going through something of an 'identity reinvention' as of late. After 2005's sublime Chaos Theory, the series took an abrupt direction into full-on open assault warfare with titles such as Double Agent, Conviction, and Blacklist, straying away from the stripped-down stealth sensibilities of its earlier incarnations.

Directors Ben & Andrew Adams of Austin-based Atomic Productions have managed to craft a short that infuses the best elements of the franchise from both its earliest and later years, though with the noticeable absence of Michael Ironside's signature caustic wit. This short's still amazing though, and I look forward to the promise of more live-action Sam Fisher adventures in the near-future.

"The Splinter Cell' is a live-action short set in the past that follows the early years of the franchise lead as he becomes the titular hero. Before the game stories, before the modern times, and before Third Echelon: There was only a man. Sam Fisher."

'Wanderers' Is A Gorgeous Trip Through The Human Journey Into Space

Optimism for space exploration is in vogue again, and I couldn't be happier for it. From Christopher Nolan's blockbuster Interstellar to Tomek Bagiński's magnificent promotional short film Ambition, dozens of prominent film-makers and independent artists remain stubbornly entranced by the magnetic potential and majesty of outer-space.

Wanderers echoes these sentiments, transporting viewers on a captivating 4-minute tour throughout the hypothetical future of space colonization, all the while narrated by an inspiring spoken meditation on the human instinct to explore courtesy of the late-astrophysicist Carl Sagan. Check out the director's website and stunningly beautiful image gallery here.

"In Lust III" - Get Hot And Bothered

We received an email with a link to a video and a small blurb: In Lust is available for rentals. And what we got is this rather amazing pseudo-music video starring the music of Health (Goth Star specifically). Featuring Eric Wareheim of Tim and Eric fame and Yasmine Kittles, Lust III is a hot and heavy face off starring the two doing their best to express their lust for each other.

"The Gunfighter" - One Very Meta Western

The Gunfighter is a fun, tongue in cheek and very meta short directed by Eli Kissack, exploring the concept of what would happen if a protagonist all of a sudden was able to hear his narrator. Especially for anyone who's played The Stanley Parable, the entire short film becomes a matter of protagonist choices becoming inevitably driven by this voice.

While it starts off like a relatively tame saloon showdown, the narrator chooses to hilariously turn this affair into a very awkward, personal airing of everyone's dirty laundry. Featuring the smoky vocals of Nick Offerman, who depending on your outlook is either a straight shooter or plain out villainous in his homewrecking intent.

Srobotz

A couple of Russian fellows driving through the countryside in their Lada encounter an interesting robot in Srobotz, a truly fun hybrid music video/short created by the French creative collective called HOTU. I especially love their choice of using a dashcam to narrate the intro, considering that just about every car in Russia has one due to the state of road safety there.

Following a brief encounter with a robot at the scene of a wreck, the group takes off together for a fun day of debauchery set to some seriously bassy, funky electro created by the collective as well. Brace yourself for plenty of cheap beer, speedos, facial hair and a hell of a good time in general.

Caveirão (The Master's Voice) Is Now Out!

Following a few years of teasing us with promos dating all the way back to 2012, Guillerme Marconde's Caveirão is finally out! The awesome short employs a hybrid 2D/3D/live action style to tell us about an event that happens every night at 3:33 am. A moment in which a series of bizarre spirits come out to play until a mysterious figure called 'The Master' comes out to drive them out of reality. A colorful, surreal romp into the backstreets of urban Brazil.

Not many people know this but every night at 3:33AM time is frozen for a moment. During what is a fraction of second to mortal eyes there is a second night, a secret one where the spirits of the city come out to play. That is the story of the eternal battle for the soul of São Paulo, the clash between bohemia and authoritarianism, between comedy and horror.

Uprooted

Looking at these stars suddenly dwarfed my own troubles and all the gravities of terrestrial life. I thought of their unfathomable distance, and the slow inevitable drift of their movements out of the unknown past into the unknown future.

-H. G. Wells, 1895

Missing Tiger - A Film As Sweet As IceSugarHammerCream

David Zimmerman's Missing Tiger fits the fashion film bill quite nicely: Beautiful visuals? Check. Plenty of suggestive imagery throughout? Check. A very abstract high level concept driving the vision of the short? Check and double check. With all that out of the way, enjoy this visually stimulating film about making it in the cutthroat fashion industry.

The plot functions as a parable and the meaning is produced by symbolic conjunctions. There are two young women whose relationship is not conclusively resolved: Are they friends, lovers or enemies? Who killed who? One of the two women takes over the symbolic role of the young designer and the other symbolizes the fashion environment in which she has to survive.

Million Dollar Extreme Returns With "Stuff"

The folks at Million Dollar Extreme have been quiet, but just recently appeared again with a new faux film trailer simply called Stuff. While it starts off pretty slow with Sam Hyde simply talking nonsense about different types of weed, we quickly transition into some absolutely insane territory. A whirlwind of madness unfolds: Buxom babes, switchblades, slow motion, spraying blood, gnarly romance, domination, ultra violence and everything in between set to Parachute Ending by French electro outfit Birdy Nam Nam.

The entire thing feels like something that Harmony Korine and the collective creative force of the 80's would put out, and at the end of it I was kind of left wishing it was something real. That's the power of Million Dollar Extreme, they always leave you wanting more. I really hope these guys someday get the chance to direct something more long form, their carefree attitude to everything they make is refreshing in the Youtube landscape of overproduced, overly thought out garbage.

Dysco

Simon Russel's Dysco is a strange but compelling hybrid short about a dystopian, surveillance society overrun with drones. We are given a glance at a gray world devoid of organic life, and ultimately the noises of these drones and a mysterious entity come together to form a rather unique dubstep style track. Wub Wub.

The shape language really takes me back to musical beat games like Rez and Audiosurf, which is not a bad thing to be reminded of at all. You can check out the making of Dysco after the break