By and large, animation gets a bum rap. Anyone on this site is probably a little more open-minded to the medium, but the average filmgoer long ago decided that the medium catered either to kids or arthouse snobs, and Hollywood has spent the last few decades marketing accordingly. Luckily, it’s a medium that also has some of the most fervent and emphatic fans, ones who endlessly support the films and keep the animated flame burning. One emphatic fan is the San Francisco Film Society, which will host The 4th Annual Animation Festival beginning this Wednesday at San Francisco’s Landmark Embarcadero Center Cinema. Boasting four narrative features and a selection of live events and shorts that run the gamut, this year’s festival is a great way to get better acquainted with the overlooked genre if you’re unfamiliar, and if you’re already on the hook it’s a great chance to see some of the best animated films of the year on a big screen.
Likely the biggest draws here are the features:
First up is The Fantastic Mr Fox. Based on a Roald Dahl Novel, Wes Anderson’s latest journeys away from live-action but retains all of the director’s trademark eccentricities thanks to voice-acting from many of the actors who frequent his hit films. Shot entirely in stop-motion, Fox is the story of the titular Mr. Fox, a retired crook who risks his happy home life for one last hit on the three meanest farmers in town. Oceans 11 with George Clooney as a fox? I’ll be attending this screening myself, so I can’t confirm such a fantastic allegation, but fingers are crossed. The film may open wide just a week or so later, but why not see it early and think up a swell question to ask the filmmakers at the Q+A. Check it out Thursday, at 7:00 pm & 9:30 pm.
Next on the schedule is the irreverent Belgian import A Town Called Panic, a film that has definitely gained a few fans on Twitch, and one I’ve been looking forward to for quite some time since quickly discovering the English dub here on Atom Films. Each episode follows the adventures of three toy figures – Cowboy, Indian and Horse – who all share a house. Its simple setup has a big part in creating the sort of universal comedy that has crossed culture lines, the series soon having gained support in the UK from Aardman Animation – the studios behind Wallace and Gromit. Will the 5-minute episodes translate well to feature length? Early word leans towards the positive. It plays Friday at 9 pm.
A new Mamoru Oshii is always big news for animation fans, though you might be surprised to hear that Saturday night’s feature is a samurai biopic. Stepping back from the usual action and sci-fi fare of films like Storm Riders and Ghost in the Shell, Musashi: The Dream of the Last Samurai is more a detailed examination of the political climates that conspired to create the man who became the legendary samurai Musashi, rather than a straightforward story about his life. Using an anachronistic narrator to steer the film from sounding too much like an animated essay, Oshii’s script explores both the myths and the facts but ultimately comes no closer to understanding who the mysterious samurai really was. Even when the film is more glorifying than enlightening, Oshii’s fascination with his subject shines, making Musashi an engrossing exercise in style and structure.
Closing the fest is Tarik Saleh’s Metropia, a near-future mystery flick starring Vincent Gallo as a dissatisfied call-center employee who begins hearing voices after using a new brand of shampoo. As a slow-burn sci fi noir Metropia is often cryptic and scattershot, but anyone familiar with the genre knows better than to expect events to unfold any other way. Saleh delivers enough intrigue and double-crosses, and such an interesting style of animation – big-eyed photorealistic characters that move almost like marionettes – that the contrivances of the plot are negligible. See it Sunday at 3:30 pm
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In what has become a tradition for the Film Society, the fest kicks off with a live event. Tonight in fact, at the Mezzanine, a lucky crowd will enjoy improvised animation from Lawrence Jordan, ‘video projection and dance moves’ from 2 Blessed 2 be Stressed, and a performance from Fortress of Amplitude – a guitar-wielding minstrel from another time and place.
If shorts are more your thing, Saturday brings us a few programs of those as well, most eye-catching is the set of films from The Best of Annecy, marking selections from The Annecy International Animated Film Festival, and Walt Disney’s Alice Comedies, a selection of 56 classic shorts from Walt himself, made from 1923 thru 1927.
Other presentations include -
SF360 Live: Data In Motion: Information Design and Animation Friday, November 13, 2009, 4:00 pm (The Apple Store, One Stockton Street)
The Breakdown Friday, November 13, 2009, 7:00 pm
Super Massive Suspension: Nate Boyce vs. Amy Hicks Saturday, November 14, 2009, 3:15 pm
Play It by Eye Saturday, November 14, 2009, 9:30 pm
Somewhere Where I Don’t Know Where I Am Sunday, November 15, 2009, 1:45 pm
As usual tickets are $12.50 , or $10 if you’re a member and if you’ve got the dough you really should be, as they have great screenings all year round. Hope to see you at the festival.
Some helpful links:
Festival Information and Full Schedule
Town Called Panic – Todd’s Review
