Yogi's Movie Consumption Blog

Mostly dark with strong colors. Black Ice is harder for me to interpret than Mothlight, especially I have absolutely no idea on the process of making, or any kind of hint to what Brakhage explored with this one. There is an overwhelming quantity of black, with some kind colored patches that are revealed by the "melting" of the black mass - quite possibly, this is where the title comes from. The whole piece is in continuous zooming motion, or at least this is the impression I've had. Nothing new after sitting for hours in front of screensavers, but in a way it evokes just the same kind of feeling. I really liked the very intense colors but the perceived forward motion that is endless made it more difficult to focus on the actual structures and there form. There was a sense of a black center and a more vivid outer region, where the colored patches form. (In memory anyway) Too early, to get a good interpretation - maybe some more re-viewing.

An enchanted beast falls in love with the youngest daughter of a hapless inventor. The Disney version of the original Cocteau version is delightful to watch, but obviously lacks the political allusions of the earlier rendering. I cannot really decide which one reverberates more in my mind, but I am confident in assuming that the black-and-white version will stand the test of time much better. Still there was a lot to like in the Disney version: the playfulness of the supporting cast and the very original animation is always a delight to watch - the overly cautious butler and the stupid happy stable master make a great team, and although their dialogue might have been wittier in a more "adult" script, it still made me grin here and there. The ballroom sequence which - if I remember correctly - was the first foray into the realm of 3D for Disney is still beautiful to watch. The camera movement seems a bit unmotivated, maybe because the vocabulary for the weightless rig...

An abstract animation by the painter Oskar Fischinger. There is an amazing amount of visual and graphic concepts explored in this film. For me this basically represents a treasure of ideas, many of which I felt were developped beautifully to maturity, even though the result only occupies a couple of seconds in the complete film. In my opinion it also represents a beautiful sample of the color palette in use at the time, obviously strongly influenced by the photographic and filmic processes that were applied to create the film.

 WWII Propaganda animation about Hans, a German boy, who is raised to become a Nazi. The most startling thing about this short animation that it is actually talked in German. I wonder how the decision to do this came about.  Maybe to lend it more "authenticity" which seems a bit ridiculous in an animation that was pretty expressive in design. The marching scene at the end is quite iconographic and might be traced back to WWI pictures. (Fields of crosses, etc). An interesting watch, as it lacks humor, but also delivers the strange message: "Not all Nazis are bad, the Germans can't help it". It's quite clear that the audience is supposed to partake in Hans' fate of being bent by the propaganda around him, until he becomes the "killing machine" he was always intended to be. The film falls short, as it tries to convincingly explain the rise of the fascists in large numbers from the world view that everybody is born equal. But it is exactl...

 A skyscraper construction site is musically reinterpreted by Freleng and his animators. Although quite an old animation this one held quite a few surprises for me in terms of visual gags. The story is quite simple, if you could even call it that. I like the idea of the foreman being a high-brow conductor although his "construction mentality" shines through every now and then. The animation plays on the famous photographs of the men sitting on beams high above the city. When the building collapses I was wondering if there was a general notion in those days that high-rise buildings might not be up to par with quality standards.

The 3D adaptation of the Belgian comic is surprisingly good. I expected something like Polar Express meets Tron:Legacy in terms of experience. But I was more than pleasantly surprised. Spielberg has somehow managed to capture the essence of the Tintin books: fun for young boys. There is a sense of that feeling there, that I remember having when I first saw Indiana Jones. People were actually having fun making the movie - (or so it seemed) The best scene is the chase scene down the hill from the palace to the harbor. There are three or four amazing things happening in the main action, but there is also a lot of really detailed stuff in the background. Most of which I didn't have the slightest bit of time to study. I really hope that this is a film with treasure of little easter eggs and hints to other films. I'd run out and by a BluRay and study every frame. There were two or three moments when I didn't feel quite at home in the picture, but they were only few. The ...