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/
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