"Early Man"

I've been a big fan of Nick Park since I first saw his amazing short "Creature Comforts" in Annecy, way back in 1989.  He's such a nice guy, very modest - but what a terrific talent!

He now has a new feature film produced by Aardman Studios - and I went to see it last night.  It's a pure Nick Park film, in terms of style, design and humor. 

But one of the problems with the film is that it's about soccer (called football in the rest of the world) and even though that's a popular sport in the U.S., it's not as popular as the other U.S. sports.  However, soccer (football) has a massive audience worldwide. 

Also, it just wasn't as funny as all of his other films, like "Chicken Run" or "The Curse of the Were-Rabbit".  The script is clever and has a great message, but the audience I was with seemed very subdued. 

To me, Nick Park is a singular genius in animation, so I was a bit disappointed that the film wasn't a laugh riot.  However, not to worry, the film should do well everywhere else. 

I give it a "B".

Bill Plympton

My Favorite Films for 2017 Oscars

Now that it's Oscar season and the nominations are out, it's a wonderful opportunity for my to declare my favorite films of last year.  Because of my busy schedule (I just completed a 30-minute long set of music videos for Jackie Greene) I have to admit that I haven't seen all of the nominated or eligible movies, so this list will be just from the films I've watched. 

I'll start with the foreign films, with a brief description of each: 

"The Insult", a very engaging look at the long-simmering political battles between Catholics and Muslims in Beirut.  A very dramatic film directed by Ziad Doueiri.

"Foxtrot", directed by Samuel Maoz.  A wonderful mix of amazing style, great acting, humor and tragedy on the Israeli border. 

And "The Square", directed by Ruben Östlund from Sweden.  A hilarious look at an avant-garde art gallery director and his problems with thieves, the press and a crazy lover.  Not to be missed!

And next, here are my favorite films of the year:

7. "Good Time", directed by Benny and Josh Safdie.  The darkest and strangest film of the year.  Robert Pattinson stars as a totally corrupt grifter who attempts to save his mentally deficient brother.  And he barely escapes one disaster after another using his lying charms.  A crazy move that was barely seen. 

6. "I, Tonya", directed by Craig Gillespie, starring Margot Robbie.  My sister was one of Tonya Harding's teachers in West Linn, Oregon, and she said that the portrayal of her mother in the film is not really a caricature - it's true!  I loved this film!  And even though it's a true story, it's still the funniest film of the year.  Every character is true-to-life and hilarious. 

5. "Get Out", directed by Jordan Peele.  It's a true horror film, with a racial twist.  I'm not usually a big fan of the scary film genre, but this one is so well done and truly frightening, I'm putting it on my list.

4. "Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets", directed by Luc Besson.  A truly visionary film.  His visuals are wonderfully mind-blowing.  A while back I did a blog post about stoner films, and this one should be at the top of that list.  The only problems is that it ends on a whole bunch of talking, which ruins the momentum.  Too bad, because I loved the movie.

3. "Coco", directed by Lee Unkrich.  I've written about this Pixar movie before in an earlier post, nevertheless, it's still an amazing and emotional film. 

2. "The Shape of Water", directed by Guillermo del Toro.  It's got everything I love in a film - 1950's alien paranoia, surreal monsters and an alien/young girl romance.  One of my favorite films from one of my favorite directors.

1. "Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri", directed by Martin McDonagh.  Both Frances McDormand and Sam Rockwell should win Oscars for this movie.  A very powerful story told with wit and very dark humor.  You've got to go see it, my favorite film of the year.

And here's the film that I think is the most overrated film of the year - "Call Me By Your Name".  All the reviews say how beautiful it is and what a terrific love story it has - but I've seen a lot of films that were more visual, I thought the acting was mediocre and the music sucked.  They must have spent a lot of money on promotion, because to me, the film's a big loser.

--Bill P.

"Have a Nice Day"

I heard about this new animated film from China from two of my closest friends, it's called "Have a Nice Day'.  They both loved it and said it was done by an indie filmmaker from China.  I didn't even know that China HAD indie filmmakers - and with me being the "King of Indie Animation", I thought I should go check it out.

Fortunately, the film was still playing at a cinema very close to me, the Angelika Film Center down on Houston St., which has really good popcorn.  I raced down there and really enjoyed myself.  The film's backgrounds are very realistic and grainy, the characters are done in a very limited rotoscope technique, which basically means that the director, Jian Liu, took still photos of the actors and then animated small parts of their bodies, like their lips or arm or whatever.  So, it's almost like a slide show.

The story is very noir-like and violent - which is why the film was pulled out of the Annecy Animation Festival, because it showed the darker, sleazy side of China, and politicians felt it would be bad P.R. for their country.  However, the film premiered at the prestigious Berlinale, and now it's getting good distribution in the U.S.

I have a few complaints about the film - it was hard to follow the story because the timeline is all chopped up.  And also it was difficult to keep the different characters straight, who they were and how they get involved in the drama.

But listen, I'm a big supporter of adult indie animation, and I believe it's going to be the next big thing.  Plus it seemed like this guy did a lot of the film by himself, like I do, so I'll wish a great success for this film.  I give it a B-.

Also I want to remind everyone about THREE big events coming up:

1) On February 27, my new animated feature film "Revengeance", co-directed with Jim Lujan, will be screening at the famous Nitehawk Cinema in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, where they fashion food to match each film.  I wonder what they'll cook up for "Revengeance" ?

2) Then on Sunday night, March 18, you'll get to see my brand-new epic couch gag for "The Simpsons", which came in at two minutes long, I think that's a record for couch gags.  This is the SIXTH couch gag that I've been able to animate for this amazing cartoon on FOX, and if you're any kind of Bill Plympton fan, you WON'T want to miss this one!

3) Finally, on Wednesday, March 28 at 7 pm I'll be appearing at the SVA Theatre, 333 West 23rd St. in Manhattan, with great singer-songwriter Jacke Greene for the world premiere of our 30-minute long music video compilation "The Modern Lives".  Jackie will be there to perform two songs LIVE and we'll talk about the process of making music videos.  I'll also be showing four of my previous music videos for Madonna, Kanye West, "Weird Al" Yankovic, and Parson Brown.  (Sorry, Kanye and Madonna are not scheduled to appear...)

The best thing, it's a FREE show and everyone who attends will get a FREE sketch from me!  So please tell all your friends and I hope to see you there!

--Bill Plympton

For more details:

"Revengeance" at Nitehawk Cinema:
https://www.facebook.com/events/2083713115190369/

"Jackie Greene's Music Video Extravaganza" at SVA Theatre:
https://www.facebook.com/events/1960550730863347/