Short Animated Film: Jinxy Jenkins, Lucky Lou

Source: Jinxy Jenkins, Lucky Lou on Vimeo.

Oh my, who would not feel good after watching this?!

DocuShort: The Rushmore School

Houston: The Rushmore School
Source + article: AV Club

Short Film: Crush

Other than cuddly animals, I haven't crossed paths with a video this cute in a while. Maybe I have an affinity for it also because Gillian Jacobs from Community portrays the female lead. I guess I haven't seen her in anything else other than Community. And even though there were quite a few horrifically bad episodes, the last two were so good! It makes up for it all. Anyway, Crush is narrated by Rick and Shira Antonoff, the parents of fashion designer, Rachel Antonoff and the male lead of this short film, Jack Antonoff. It tells the story of how the two met and ultimately, realized that they were in love. And well, I am just in love.

Directed by Bianca Giaever.

Chukotka: A Story from the End of the Earth

Source: Sasha Leahovcenco
Kickstarter: Chukotka

A Story from the End of the Earth: A kickstarter project to travel over 1000 miles to remote areas of Chukotka located in the far east corner of Russia. Sasha Leahovcenco hopes to document the daily struggles of multiple tribes in the region and to provide them photographs, which for many are the very first photos they have seen of themselves.

Film: My Neighbor Totoro

Hayao Miyazaki is retiring. His movies make such an impression on me, and just hearing the name Miyazaki makes me excited.

The first time I saw a Studio Ghibli film, I was completely drawn into the contrast of mundane day to day life and a bizarre children's fantasy world in My Neighbor Totoro. I was an adult feeling enthralled like a giddy little girl. As Satsuki and Mei ran around their new house in the countryside, I too felt the joy in exploring unfamiliar rooms and closets and the surrounding outdoors as a child. The house was also home to strange, black, fuzzy dust balls that scurried away in large masses like bug colonies. I thought I had a rich imagination, but apparently, not as rich as Miyazaki's.

My Neighbor Totoro made me want to believe in the fantasies, even the parts that straddled a fine line between fun and mildly unsettling. For instance, there is a scene where Satsuki, carrying a sleeping Mei piggy back, encountered Totoro wearing a single green leaf as a hat on a rainy day at a bus stop. The interaction between Satsuki and Totoro was so simple and so sweet. A bewildered Satsuki peered up at Totoro from underneath her umbrella while a plush and awkward looking Totoro stared off in the distance. Satsuki offered Totoro a spare umbrella and the two stood there side by side holding up their open umbrellas.

Suddenly, the cuteness of the scene was interrupted by a cat bus that scampered up through the darkness with its 12 legs and Cheshire cat grin. I remember thinking, "what the hell??" and asking, "are those red tail lights ... rats?" The cat bus in all it's furry glory stretched open a window on the side of its body to allow Totoro inside and carried him away, leaving a baffled Satsuki behind still standing at the bus stop. Somehow, Miyazaki managed to create something charming by combining cuteness and total obscurity. I am nearly 30, and I still love Totoro. If he existed, I, too, would happily stand next to him at a bus stop.

Photo of the Day: Wall-E

Well??
Source: ringosdiamond

Documentary: Brooklyn Castle

Kids playing chess.
Source: Brooklyn Castle

Total Agony

Daniel And I'm afraid there's something really wrong, you know. I mean, it's clearly about his mum, but 

              Christ, he might be injecting heroin into his eyeballs for all I know. 

Karen At the age of eleven?

Daniel Maybe not into his eyeballs. Maybe just his veins.

Daniel So what's the problem, Sammy-o? Maybe... school - are you being bullied? or is it, I don't know -

              something worse? Can you give me any clues at all?
Sam     You really want to know?
Daniel I really want to know.
Sam     Even though you won't be able to do anything to help?
Daniel Even if that's the case.
Sam     OK. The truth is... I'm in love.
Daniel Sorry?
Sam     The truth is I'm in love and there's nothing I can do about it, and it just keeps getting worse.
Daniel Aren't you a bit young to be in love?
Sam     No.
Daniel Oh, OK, right. Well, I can't deny it. I'm a little relieved.
Sam     Why?
Daniel Well, you know - I thought it might be something worse. Sam [incredulous]
Sam     Worse then the total agony of being in love?
Daniel Oh. Yeah, you're right. Total agony.

Source: Love Actually

Image source: Fanpop

Coen Brothers: ILDATTHEGASLIGHT

I Want to Go to There: Antarctica

Iceberg
Image source: The Atlantic

Grey shaded area = emperor penguins!
Image source: The Atlantic

McMurdo Station
Image source: The Atlantic

Nacreous clouds are only observed at -100F
Image source: The Atlantic

   Rainbow Aurora. July 15, 2012
   Image source: The Atlantic

    Milky Way and aurora australis   
    Image source: The Atlantic

It wasn't until I saw the documentary, Encounters at the End of the World, that I started to actually think about Antarctica and became really captivated by it. What I liked most about the film is that it is narrated by Werner Herzog. His dry German delivery is both insightful and hilarious. Anyway, the film follows all the random misfits who end up at the South Pole. For example, you are introduced to a linguist who abandoned his PhD thesis to run a greenhouse and a philosopher who drives a forklift at McMurdo Station. Why are they there? The linguist sums it up well:

"If you take everybody who's not tied down, they all sort of fall down to the bottom of the planet ...
We're all loose ends and here we are together."

Later in the film, there's a reference to a lone penguin that wanders further and further towards the mountain ranges instead of the ocean. It's such a good scene. He's essentially lost and heading towards his own demise. But when you see the footage, he seems pretty determined. The other penguins are not that far from him. He could easily follow them in the right direction, but he breaks off onto his own path. Of course, there must be something wrong with him, but I guess I want to think of it as him being just another loose end finding his way.

Contagion

My friend Ali sent me this fantastic video of billboards made of massive petri dishes that are fully equipped with bacterial colonies and fungi. The billboards were ads for the movie, Contagion. I know that the movie came out last year, but I haven't seen this ad before. If you're wondering, Contagion received decent (B) reviews. I haven't seen it myself but supposedly, it's not a complete snooze fest.

Totoro

Bus stop. Image source: Cute Art.

prePOSTERous

Image source: The Republic of Less.

Wilco (Austin). Image source: Lure Design Inc.

Groundhog Day. Image source: Lure Design Inc.

Marvin Gaye? Image source: Linocut Boy.

Zanskar

 

This is the first movie that I want to see that Netflix doesn't carry! 

I tear up just seeing this Zanskar trailer. Either I'm a sap or your heart is made of ice.

Hodge Podge

2 steps 2 products (3 if you count the brush) Make-up Tutorial

Photos of rural American towns from 1939-1943. Depression Era

A little late for Halloween but still cool. Crocheted Cyclops Costume

Building covered with coats. Popular Science 1936

Letterpress Short Film