Month: April 2024 (Page 1 of 2)

Short Film Spotlight: But We Had Music

Poem by Maria Popova. Reading by Nick Cave. Animation and direction by Daniel Bruson. Music by Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds.

A note from the filmmaker: “How, knowing that even the universe is dying, do we bear our lives? The finitude and yet vastness of both our deeds and the cosmos through a fleeting moment of contemplation.”

But We Had Music was made as part of Universe in Verse, an annual charitable gathering that celebrates the wonder of reality through science and poetry.

‘Mufasa: The Lion King’ Teaser Trailer, Release Date, Synopsis, Cast and Poster: Beyoncé, Donald Glover and Seth Rogen Return

Release date: December 20, 2024.

Directed by Barry Jenkins. Written by Jeff Nathanson. Original songs by Lin-Manuel Miranda.

Synopsis: Mufasa: The Lion King enlists Rafiki to relay the legend of Mufasa to young lion cub Kiara, daughter of Simba and Nala, with Timon and Pumbaa lending their signature schtick.

Told in flashbacks, the story introduces Mufasa as an orphaned cub, lost and alone until he meets a sympathetic lion named Taka, the heir to a royal bloodline.

The chance meeting sets in motion an expansive journey of an extraordinary group of misfits searching for their destiny — their bonds will be tested as they work together to evade a threatening and deadly foe.

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‘Garouden: The Way of the Lone Wolf’ Official Trailer, Release Date, Synopsis, Cast and Poster

Release date: May 23, 2024 on Netflix.

Synopsis: On the run from a past crime, Juzo Fujimaki is blackmailed into joining an illicit tournament and has to face top martial artists in deadly match-ups.

Cast: Ryota Takeuchi (as Juzo Fujimaki), Tetsu Inada, Shunsuke Takeuchi, Rintaro Nishi, Tessho Genda, Aya Endo, Ryota Suzuki, Hidenobu Kiuchi, Junya Enoki, Yoshimasa Hosoya, Junichi Suwabe, Kenjiro Tsuda, Shiro Saito, Maki Izawa, Yume Miyamoto and Yuhko Kaida.

Directed by Atsushi Ikariya. Aimated by NAZ.

‘The Glassworker’ Trailer, Release Date, Synopsis, Cast and Poster: Pakistan’s First 2D-Animated Feature Is Ready for the Spotlight

Release date: July 26, 2024 in Pakistan. A North American release will follow at a later date.

Original story and directed by Usman Riaz. Screenplay by Moya O’Shea.

Synopsis: Young Vincent and his father, Tomas, run the finest glass workshop in the country and find their lives upended by an impending war in which they want no part. The arrival in their town of an army colonel and his young, talented violinist daughter, Alliz, shakes their reality and tests the relationship between father and son.

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Short Film Spotlight: Bad Seeds

Directed by Claude Cloutier.

Synopsis: Bad Seeds takes us to a bizarre world populated by carnivorous plants that can change shapes the way a chameleon changes colors. Cloutier connects growth with rivalry and evolution with competition, crafting an increasingly shocking duel that’s peppered with allusions to the western, the Cold War, board games, and much more.

‘Robot Dreams’ Official Trailer, Synopsis, Poster and North American Release Date

North American release date: May 31, 2024.

Written and directed by Pablo Berger. Based on the comic by Sara Varon.

Synopsis: Dog lives in Manhattan and he’s tired of being alone. One day he decides to build himself a robot, a companion. Their friendship blossoms, until they become inseparable, to the rhythm of 80’s NYC. One summer night, DOG, with great sadness, is forced to abandon ROBOT at the beach. Will they ever meet again?

Short Film Spotlight: The Girl with the Red Beret

Written and directed by Janet Perlman.

Synopsis: A girl takes a wild ride on the metro in Montreal. Travelling from station to station, she encounters an array of colorful characters in a bizarre musical journey that’s peppered with hilarious and unexpected incidents.

This joyful, heartwarming animated film portrays Montreal in all its vitality, creativity and diversity, with plenty of humor and good cheer, to the tune of Kate and Anna McGarrigle’s Complainte pour Ste-Catherine.

The Girl with the Red Beret has won numerous awards, including Best International Short Film at the Los Angeles Animation Festival and Best Canadian Short at FIFEM Montreal Children’s Film Festival.

‘Art College 1994’ Trailer, Release Date, Synopsis, Cast List and Poster

U.S. release dates:
April 26, 2024 – Metrograph in New York, NY
May 3, 2024 – Cinestudio in Hartford, CT
May 3, 2024 – Laemmle in North Hollywood, CA

Directed by Liu Jian. Written by Liu Jian and Lin Shan. Starring Dong Zijian, Chizi, Zhou Dongyu, Jia Zhangke and Bi Gan.

Synopsis: 1990s, China. A motley gang of Chinese art students fill their languid days with inchoate musings about aesthetics, philosophy and the promised ‘good’ life after graduation.

A portrait of youth, the students live in full swing as they take their first steps into adulthood, where love and friendships are intertwined with artistic pursuits, ideals and ambitions.

Caught between tradition and modernity, they now have to choose who they want to become.

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Short Film Spotlight: Regular Rabbit

Written and directed by Eoin Duffy.

Regular Rabbit screened at over 60 international film festivals and was handpicked by Whoopi Goldberg for the Tribeca Film Festival. The film won top honors at the Portland and Oxford International Film Festivals and received nominations at others.

The filmmaker says, “Regular Rabbit challenges our readiness to believe absurd misinformation by deliberately separating visuals from narrative. One does not match the other. It prompts us to question our own gullibility in the face of even the most outrageous claims, i.e. a mass murdering rabbit.”

‘Transformers One’ Official Trailer, Release Date, Synopsis and Cast List

Release date: September 20, 2024.

Synopsis: Transformers One is the untold origin story of Optimus Prime and Megatron, better known as sworn enemies, but once were friends bonded like brothers who changed the fate of Cybertron forever.

Voice cast:
Chris Hemsworth as Optimus Prime
Brian Tyree Henry as Megatron
Scarlett Johansson as Elita-1
Keegan-Michael Key as Bumblebee
Laurence Fishburne as Alpha Trion
Jon Hamm as Sentinel Prime
Steve Buscemi as Starscream
Isaac C. Singleton Jr. as Darkwing
Vanessa Liguori as Airachnid
Jason Konopisos-Alvarez as Shockwave
Jon Bailey as Soundwave
Evan Michael Lee as Jazz

Directed by Josh Cooley (Toy Story 4). Written by Andrew Barrer & Gabriel Ferrari (Ant-Man and the Wasp) and Eric Pearson (Godzilla vs. Kong).

‘Look Back’ Japanese Trailer: ‘Chainsaw Man’ Creator’s One-Shot Web Manga Gets Anime Adaptation

Japanese release date: June 28, 2024.

Look Back is a Japanese one-shot web manga written and illustrated by Tatsuki Fujimoto. It was published on Shueisha’s Shonen Jump+ in July 2021.

Anime synopsis: The overly confident Fujino and the shut-in Kyomoto couldn’t be more different, but a love of drawing manga brings these two small-town girls together. A poignant story of growing up and moving forward.

The main character, Fujino, will be played by Yuumi Kawai. The role of Kyomoto, the other main character, will be played by Mizuki Yoshida.

The director, scriptwriter, and character designer is Kiyotaka Oshiyama, who has worked as a key staff member on many productions, including Rebuild of Evangelion and The Wind Rises.

‘Velma’ Season 2 Trailer, Release Date, Synopsis and Cast List: Scooby-Doo Prequel Gets 10 More Episodes on HBO Max

Release date: April 25, 2024 on HBO Max.

Synopsis: When an even spookier mystery grips Crystal Cove, Velma must find a way to balance her detective work with the demands of her newfound popularity before it’s too late.

Meanwhile, her faithful friends Daphne, Norville, and Fred are powerless to help thanks to their own personal battles and worse… Detention.

Cast: Velma stars Mindy Kaling, Glenn Howerton, Sam Richardson and Constance Wu.

Additional cast includes Russell Peters, Melissa Fumero, Sarayu Blue, Jane Lynch, Wanda Sykes, Cherry Jones, Frank Welker, Nicole Byer, Gary Cole, Andia Winslow and Sara Ramirez.

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