I am posting this one as more of a curiosity than something I would recommend. I’ve posted several Soviet era and post-Soviet animated films on the blog side of my efforts lately, with more to follow whenever I get around to it. In fact, the Soviet Bloc produced vast quantities of animation, most of it […]
Read more "Mezhplanetnaya revolyutsiya [Interplanetary Revolution] (1924)"If you had to slap a convenient label on this film, you might call it the Destination Moon of the Soviet Union. Like any other hasty label, that really doesn’t sum this film up: after all, it didn’t inspire a long string of other films and usher in a wave of new Soviet Science Fiction […]
Read more "Polyot na Lunu [Flight to the Moon] (1953)"This is a singularly dark and disturbing film, one which may haunt you long after you think you’ve forgotten it. It is also an animated film, a type of film we tend to associate with Children. Which may be why it is so disturbing. And, if you haven’t guessed yet, it is one of the […]
Read more "Labirynt [Labyrinth] (1963)"I’ve always loved animated science fiction films, particularly those which are set in outer space. Unfortunately, they are quite rare. Well, outside the world of Japanese anime, that is. Very few were made in the English-speaking world, but for some reason a number of quite interesting examples came out of Europe. Or it might be […]
Read more "Fiul Stelelor [The Son of the Stars] (1985)"It’s amazing what you can do with very little. Consider Loop, an amazing eight-minute short film from Argentina which has been shown at an incredible number of film festivals and is now available on YouTube. Pablo Polledri, a prolific Argentinian filmmaker, wrote and directed this stunning exercise in limited animation: Loop uses a driving score […]
Read more "Loop (2021)"(aka, 360 Google Doodles/Spotlight Stories: Back to the Moon) Honorable Mention George Melies holds a special place in the history of Science Fiction film, as his legendary short film, A Trip to the Moon is generally held to be the first Space flight movie. It is often called the oldest science fiction film as well, […]
Read more "Back to the Moon (2018)"I’m not even sure where to begin with this one. I suppose it would help if I pointed out that Professor Kleks first appeared in a classic Polish children’s book back in the Forties. The author, Jan Brzechwa wrote three books about the character, and, in the Eighties, they actually filmed three movies about Professor […]
Read more "Pan Kleks w kosmosie [Mr. Blob in the Universe] (1988)"I am a big fan of Ray Bradbury. Although I will admit that at times he does get a bit too poetic for my tastes. Yes, I love the wondrous flood of words he produces in some of his best stories, but the sheer rush of verbiage seemed to end up outweighing everything else as […]
Read more "Icarus Montgolfier Wright (1962)"It always saddens me just a bit when I discover something only a few people have even heard of, let alone seen but which deserves a bigger audience. I’ll admit that does happen to me quite a bit because I have put a bit of effort into finding little seen movies, but it seems particularly […]
Read more "Ginga tansa 2100-nen: Bôdâ puranetto [Galaxy Investigation 2100: Border Planet] (1986)"You learn what you are up against in the first few minutes of Mercano the Martian. Mercano — a little, green, squiggily-animated Martian — has just stolen a computer and run away from the police. They follow him down into the subway, only one of the cops — who is afraid of heights — slides […]
Read more "Mercano, el marciano [Mercano the Martian] (2002)"
rivets on the poster 