‘A Town Called Panic’: The Best Stop-Motion Movie About Bulk Brick Sales to Ever Emerge from Belgium
On Friday nights, IndieWire After Dark takes a feature-length beat to honor fringe cinema in the streaming age.
First, the spoiler-free pitch for one editor’s midnight movie pick — something weird and wonderful from any age of film that deserves our memorializing.
Then, the spoiler-filled aftermath as experienced by the unwitting editor attacked by this week’s recommendation.
The Pitch: Tragically, Fifty Million Bricks Still Goes Exactly as Far as It Once Did
Two core memories stick out to me from my eighth grade French class: (1) My teacher using the overhead projector as a visual aid while she vented her frustrations about her inability to stop growing hair on her big toe; and (2) watching “A Town Called Panic” for the first time when a substitute was in charge. It’s worth noting that neither of these experiences have had any real bearing on my ability to speak French — but given...
First, the spoiler-free pitch for one editor’s midnight movie pick — something weird and wonderful from any age of film that deserves our memorializing.
Then, the spoiler-filled aftermath as experienced by the unwitting editor attacked by this week’s recommendation.
The Pitch: Tragically, Fifty Million Bricks Still Goes Exactly as Far as It Once Did
Two core memories stick out to me from my eighth grade French class: (1) My teacher using the overhead projector as a visual aid while she vented her frustrations about her inability to stop growing hair on her big toe; and (2) watching “A Town Called Panic” for the first time when a substitute was in charge. It’s worth noting that neither of these experiences have had any real bearing on my ability to speak French — but given...
- 11/4/2023
- by Christian Zilko and Alison Foreman
- Indiewire
“My Life As a Zucchini” director Claude Barras has set up his latest stop-motion animated feature, “Savages!”
Production company Gebeka International — a Hildegarde-Goodfellas company formed in 2021 — and production, financing and sales studio Anton are behind the project, which will be written by Barras and Catherine Paille (“Magnetic Beasts”). The project will be shopped to buyers in Cannes next week.
“Savages!” follows the emotional journey of a girl, her father and a rescued baby orangutan. The film has a strong environmental and conservationist message, exploring the crisis of the destruction of rainforests.
An official synopsis for the film reads as follows: “In Borneo, at the edge of the tropical forest, Kéria is given a baby orangutan that has been rescued from the palm oil plantation where her father works. At the same time, Kéria’s younger cousin Selaï comes to live with her and her father as he seeks refuge from...
Production company Gebeka International — a Hildegarde-Goodfellas company formed in 2021 — and production, financing and sales studio Anton are behind the project, which will be written by Barras and Catherine Paille (“Magnetic Beasts”). The project will be shopped to buyers in Cannes next week.
“Savages!” follows the emotional journey of a girl, her father and a rescued baby orangutan. The film has a strong environmental and conservationist message, exploring the crisis of the destruction of rainforests.
An official synopsis for the film reads as follows: “In Borneo, at the edge of the tropical forest, Kéria is given a baby orangutan that has been rescued from the palm oil plantation where her father works. At the same time, Kéria’s younger cousin Selaï comes to live with her and her father as he seeks refuge from...
- 5/9/2023
- by Manori Ravindran
- Variety Film + TV
"This cow is mine!" 606 Distribution has unveiled an official UK trailer for an Estonian animated comedy called The Old Man Movie: Lactopalypse, originally known as Vanamehe film or The Old Man: The Movie. Based on a popular Estonian web series, The Old Man Movie: Lactopalypse is the most outrageous, crowd-pleasing, stop-motion comedy in years. An outrageous road movie about The Old Man and his three grand-kids in a race against time to stop a milky madman hell bent on killing his prized cow to save the world. The kids and the Old Man have 24 hours to find and milk the rogue bovine before its exponentially expanding udders bring about the "Lactopalypse". Ha. Featuring the voices of Märt Avandi, Reio Blond, & Meriiyn Elge. The film won The Satoshi Kon Award for Excellence in Animation at Fantasia in 2020, and first opened in Estonia in 2019, finally finding intl. distribution this year. It...
- 3/24/2023
- by Alex Billington
- firstshowing.net
L'Etrange Festival returns to Paris this September with a diverse and in some cases provocative lineup of films for this year's edtion. Once again our friends at L'Etrange have avoided the effects of the pandemic and once again are hosting an in-person festival. Good on them. This year's lineup is full of discovery of some current festival hits, some great retrospective programs and new films making their way on to the circuit. Horse, Cowboy and Indian are back in Summer Holidays, the new film from the makers of A Town Called Panic! Festival faves include Prisoners of the Ghostland, Ultrasound and Mad God. The world premiere of Fabrice Eboué’s comedy Barbaque (Tough Meat) will open the festival. Benny Chan's final film, Raging Fire, will close...
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- 8/19/2021
- Screen Anarchy
The Criterion Channel’s July 2021 Lineup Includes Wong Kar Wai, Neo-Noir, Art-House Animation & More
The July lineup at The Criterion Channel has been revealed, most notably featuring the new Wong Kar Wai restorations from the recent box set release, including As Tears Go By, Days of Being Wild, Chungking Express, Fallen Angels, Happy Together, In the Mood for Love, 2046, and his shorts Hua yang de nian hua and The Hand.
Also among the lineup is a series on neo-noir with Body Double, Manhunter, Thief, The Last Seduction, Cutter’s Way, Brick, Night Moves, The Long Goodbye, Chinatown, and more. The channel will also feature a spotlight on art-house animation with work by Marcell Jankovics, Satoshi Kon, Ari Folman, Don Hertzfeldt, Karel Zeman, and more.
With Jodie Mack’s delightful The Grand Bizarre, the landmark doc Hoop Dreams, Orson Welles’ take on Othello, the recent Oscar entries Preparations to Be Together for an Unknown Period of Time and You Will Die at Twenty, and much more,...
Also among the lineup is a series on neo-noir with Body Double, Manhunter, Thief, The Last Seduction, Cutter’s Way, Brick, Night Moves, The Long Goodbye, Chinatown, and more. The channel will also feature a spotlight on art-house animation with work by Marcell Jankovics, Satoshi Kon, Ari Folman, Don Hertzfeldt, Karel Zeman, and more.
With Jodie Mack’s delightful The Grand Bizarre, the landmark doc Hoop Dreams, Orson Welles’ take on Othello, the recent Oscar entries Preparations to Be Together for an Unknown Period of Time and You Will Die at Twenty, and much more,...
- 6/24/2021
- by Leonard Pearce
- The Film Stage
Paris-based arthouse outfit Autour de Minuit, producer of Oscar-winning toon short “Logorama,” will produce toon feature “Spitsbergen” and medium-length “Return to Nix,” both to be directed by Suzie Templeton, who won as Academy Award and Annecy Cristal for”Peter & the Wolf”). “Spitsbergen”marks Templeton’s much-awaited feature debut, currently in development.
The news comes as Annecy awarded a Special Jury prize to the Autour de Minuit-produced short “Homeless Home,“ from Spain’s Alberto Vázquez (“Birdboy: the Forgotten Children”), a heady B & W mix of fantasy genre, casual, modern-day dialog and a horror at blood lust and cruelty.
Yesterday, a second Autour de Minuit short, Geoffroy de Crécy’s “Empty Places” – a hypnotic portrait of a world in which humdrum machines continue to function, though human beings have disappeared – took the Festivals Connexion Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes prize, in partnership with the Lumières Numériques & Mèche Courte Award.
“Spitsbergen” turns on two kids living together...
The news comes as Annecy awarded a Special Jury prize to the Autour de Minuit-produced short “Homeless Home,“ from Spain’s Alberto Vázquez (“Birdboy: the Forgotten Children”), a heady B & W mix of fantasy genre, casual, modern-day dialog and a horror at blood lust and cruelty.
Yesterday, a second Autour de Minuit short, Geoffroy de Crécy’s “Empty Places” – a hypnotic portrait of a world in which humdrum machines continue to function, though human beings have disappeared – took the Festivals Connexion Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes prize, in partnership with the Lumières Numériques & Mèche Courte Award.
“Spitsbergen” turns on two kids living together...
- 6/20/2020
- by Emilio Mayorga
- Variety Film + TV
Rolling off Cannes Directors’ Fortnight hit “I Lost My Body,” Charades has boarded another artful animated film, “Unicorn Wars,” Alberto Vázquez’s solo follow-up to “Birdboy: the Forgotten Children.”
“Unicorn Wars” tracks two brother teddy bear soldiers, Azulín, who yearn for unicorn blood to be beautiful for ever; and Gordi, who just wants to be accepted and liked. Their mission sparks total war, leading to the arrival of the most terrible of demons: Man.
Drawn in expressive and increasingly dark charcoal strokes, “Unicorn Wars” chronicles a brutal and resonant ancestral struggle between teddy bears and unicorns in a magical forest.
Mixing humor, drama and myth, the war fantasy is produced by France’s Autour de Minuit, Borderline Films, Autour de Minuit’s new Angoulême studios, Spain’s Abano Producións, and Uniko, Belgium’s Panique run by Vincent Tavier, whose co-production credits include “A Town Called Panic,” and “Ernest & Celestine.
“Unicorn Wars” tracks two brother teddy bear soldiers, Azulín, who yearn for unicorn blood to be beautiful for ever; and Gordi, who just wants to be accepted and liked. Their mission sparks total war, leading to the arrival of the most terrible of demons: Man.
Drawn in expressive and increasingly dark charcoal strokes, “Unicorn Wars” chronicles a brutal and resonant ancestral struggle between teddy bears and unicorns in a magical forest.
Mixing humor, drama and myth, the war fantasy is produced by France’s Autour de Minuit, Borderline Films, Autour de Minuit’s new Angoulême studios, Spain’s Abano Producións, and Uniko, Belgium’s Panique run by Vincent Tavier, whose co-production credits include “A Town Called Panic,” and “Ernest & Celestine.
- 6/5/2019
- by Elsa Keslassy and Emilio Mayorga
- Variety Film + TV
Annecy, France — In a major strategic move by one of Europe’s preeminent animation production houses, Folivari’s Didier Brunner, producer of the Academy Award nominated “Ernest & Celestine,” has launched an animation studio, Fost Studio.
Co-founded by Folivari executives Damien Brunner and Thibaut Ruby, who will serve as its president and managing director, Fost Studio will be in charge of some of the rough and clean animation on “Wolfwalkers,” the new feature from two-time Academy nominee Tomm Moore and Ross Stewart, and produced by Cartoon Saloon.
Fost Studio will oversee most backgrounds, all the animation and the overall production supervision on “Stinky Dog,” a 52-part TV series adaption of Marc Boutavant and Colas Gutman’s bestselling books, which have sold 500,000 copies in France. Davy Durand and Stéphane Aubier and Vincent Patar (“A Town Called Panic”) direct.
A third production set up at Fost, “The Summit of the Gods,” is...
Co-founded by Folivari executives Damien Brunner and Thibaut Ruby, who will serve as its president and managing director, Fost Studio will be in charge of some of the rough and clean animation on “Wolfwalkers,” the new feature from two-time Academy nominee Tomm Moore and Ross Stewart, and produced by Cartoon Saloon.
Fost Studio will oversee most backgrounds, all the animation and the overall production supervision on “Stinky Dog,” a 52-part TV series adaption of Marc Boutavant and Colas Gutman’s bestselling books, which have sold 500,000 copies in France. Davy Durand and Stéphane Aubier and Vincent Patar (“A Town Called Panic”) direct.
A third production set up at Fost, “The Summit of the Gods,” is...
- 6/11/2018
- by John Hopewell
- Variety Film + TV
Bonjour, Sketchy Listeners. This week is Matt Newcomb’s pick with “A Town Called Panic,” a 2009 puppetoon feature based on the television series of the same name. Those unfamiliar with this title can compare it to a more PG-version of the American “Robot Chicken.” Later, there is a Barnyard-themed name game and a swingin’ jazz track. Enjoy!
Listen in iTunes
Songs
Layin’ A Strip For The Higher-Self State Line
by The Bad Plus
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The post Sketchy Episode 78 – ‘A Town Called Panic (Panique Au Village)’ appeared first on Sound On Sight.
Listen in iTunes
Songs
Layin’ A Strip For The Higher-Self State Line
by The Bad Plus
Follow Sketchy
SketchyPodcast.com
facebook.com/SketchyPodcast
twitter.com/SketchyPodcast
SketchyPodcast@gmail.com
The post Sketchy Episode 78 – ‘A Town Called Panic (Panique Au Village)’ appeared first on Sound On Sight.
- 8/6/2013
- by Ryan Clagg
- SoundOnSight
Here's an early Christmas present worth getting excited about: Panique Au Village - best known on these shores as A Town Called Panic - is returning to screens later this year with a brand new Christmas special. For those unfamiliar, the creation of Stephane Aubier and Vincent Patar is a very special kind of daft: A stop motion animated series of adventures revolving around the simply names Cowboy, Indian and Horse as they dim-wittedly live their lives and stumble into different mishaps. The feature outing of the show premiered in selection in Cannes and many thought - what with the duo nvolved in more 'serious' animation since - that this may be the end of the trio. Not so.Catsuka have word that a brand new,...
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- 4/24/2013
- Screen Anarchy
Much of the attention paid to upcoming animated feature Ernest And Celestine thus far has gone to the fact that two thirds of the directing team behind this film were also responsible for the cult hit A Town Called Panic (Panique Au Village). And, yes, it's a bit of a surprising transition to go from that bit of madness to a gentle adaptation of a beloved children's book.Well, after a run on the festival circuit the full trailer for Ernest And Celestine has arrived, giving us the ability to talk about something else. Namely that the story of an unlikely friendship between a mouse and a bear looks to be an absolute charmer. The artwork is simply gorgeous and - as much as I may...
- 10/2/2012
- Screen Anarchy
Belgian animation duo Stéphane Aubier and Vincent Patar earned themselves an international cult following with their debut feature A Town Called Panic. Based on the television shorts of the same name - Panique au Village in French, actually - the intentionally primitive stop motion followed the adventures of Horse, Cowboy and Indian with hilarious results. They are, of course, doing something completely different with their sophomore feature.The friendship between a little mouse who didn't want to become a dentist and a big bear who didn't want to become a notary.Ernest, a big marginal bear, with a cold and starving, is looking through garbage to find something to eat. Just when he's ready to put the first thing he finds into his mouth, a piercing cry rings...
- 5/14/2012
- Screen Anarchy
You know what they say about overnight successes? Most of them are built on years upon years of hard work in relative obscurity. And that is certainly the case with Belgian animators Stephane Aubier and Vincent Patar. When the duo's stop motion animated film Panique Au Village - A Town Called Panic in English - premiered in Cannes it created an instant sensation amongst fans of cult animation, many of who didn't realize that this was not a new creation. Aubier and Patar had started telling these demented stories years before on Belgian TV. Panique Au Village was a cult hit in Belgium long before it was a feature film and its creators well known even before that for their earlier series Pic Pic...
- 2/6/2012
- Screen Anarchy
Hubert Sauper's Darwin's Nightmare Head-on, Javier Bardem, Imelda Staunton: European Film Awards 2004 European Film Academy Documentary – Prix Arte Aileen: Life And Death Of A Serial Killer by Nick Broomfield & Joan Churchill / UK * Darwin's Nightmare by Hubert Sauper / Austria / France / Belgium Die SPIELWÜTIGEN (Addicted to Acting) by Andres Veiel / Germany La Pelota Vasca, La Piel Contra La Piedra (Basque Ball, Skin Against Stone) by Julio Medem / Spain Le Monde Selon Bush (The World According to Bush) by William Karel / France Mahssomim (Checkpoint) by Yoav Shamir / Israel The Last Victory by John Appel / The Netherlands Touch The Sound by Thomas Riedelsheimer / Germany / UK / Finland European Film Academy Short Film – Prix Uip * Prix Uip Ghent: J'attendrai le suivant… by Philippe Orreindy / France Prix Uip Valladolid: Les Baisers des Autres by Carine Tardieu / France Prix Uip Angers: Poveste La Scara "C" by Cristian Nemescu / Romania Prix Uip Berlin: Un Cartus De Kent Si Un Pachet De Cafea...
- 11/26/2011
- by Andre Soares
- Alt Film Guide
If you find yourself in Oslo, the Norwegian Film Institute’s ‘Filmmuseet’ (Film Museum) is worth a visit. Housed in ‘Filmens Hus’, same building as the city’s cinematheque, this free, compact exhibition gives an engaging overview of film history. It also highlights Norway’s own contributions to film, though in a way that caters more to nostalgic Norwegians than the uninitiated foreigner. Still, it’s educational to see how a nation thinks of itself cinematically. Film museums always give ample room to internationally famous figures: just as Berlin’s film museum devotes most space to Marlene Dietrich, so Oslo’s starts with a case full of Liv Ullman’s awards. Part of the joy of visiting any country, though, is to move beyond stereotypes, and learn how the locals really live: in terms of cinema, discovering the best-loved actors, directors and films that may be less renowned outside their home country.
- 5/10/2011
- by Alison Frank
- The Moving Arts Journal
This year I decided to do something a little bit different with my year-end list -- I have altered the title from “Top 10” to “Favorite 10%”. Personally, I find it very difficult to rank films, especially when there is no feasible way to compare a film such as Exit Through the Gift Shop with Black Swan or A Town Called Panic (Panique au village) with An Ordinary Couple, they are completely different pieces of work and I like them for completely different reasons. So, this list merely serves as a compilation of the theatrically released films that I enjoyed the most in 2010. As far as the “10%” goes…Well, I saw over 300 new films in 2010 and to pick only 10 films for this list was sheer torture. Previously, I averaged seeing approximately 125 new films per year; so, as I see it, I have been writing “Favorite 10%” lists at the end of every year.
- 1/16/2011
- by Don Simpson
- SmellsLikeScreenSpirit
Shown in competition at Cannes as Panique au village, this feature-length, French, stop-action animated film is a sort of highly eccentric, not to say whimsical, Gallic Wallace & Gromit, centring on the adventures around the world and under the sea of three toys – an Indian, a cowboy and a talking horse, who's twice as smart as the other two. It's ingenious, faux-naive, often very funny, but far too long – better served as a series of hors d'oeuvres than the plat du jour.
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- 10/9/2010
- by Philip French
- The Guardian - Film News
This strange, Belgian animated film featuring three - very lo-fi – toys living in the same house may not be at Pixar level, but is entertaining nonetheless, says Peter Bradshaw
Based on a Belgian TV show called Panique au Village, this feature by Stéphane Aubier and Vincent Patar is like a very lo-fi Toy Story with the vibe of a live-action Terry Gilliam cartoon and the addled craziness of SpongeBob SquarePants; it's funny for adults and children alike in a refreshing, barking mad sort of way. This is basically an outrageously homespun animation – though with that homespun look that only clever and expensive animation techniques can contrive – about three small children's toys who all live together in a house: Cowboy, Indian and Horse. When one accidentally orders a million bricks from the internet for the other as a birthday present, construction work begins, but the resulting walls are stolen by sea monsters,...
Based on a Belgian TV show called Panique au Village, this feature by Stéphane Aubier and Vincent Patar is like a very lo-fi Toy Story with the vibe of a live-action Terry Gilliam cartoon and the addled craziness of SpongeBob SquarePants; it's funny for adults and children alike in a refreshing, barking mad sort of way. This is basically an outrageously homespun animation – though with that homespun look that only clever and expensive animation techniques can contrive – about three small children's toys who all live together in a house: Cowboy, Indian and Horse. When one accidentally orders a million bricks from the internet for the other as a birthday present, construction work begins, but the resulting walls are stolen by sea monsters,...
- 10/7/2010
- by Peter Bradshaw
- The Guardian - Film News
"\
You all know what I mean when I say "Fantastic" news tidbits, right? Fantastic Fest is in September and we should be receiving -- and publishing -- regular updates on the lineup, special guests, and whatever other treats the festival has in store for us this year. But there's some other Austin film news, too, so I thought I'd take the lazy way out -- er, I mean the convenient way for readers, that's it -- and combine it all into one nice newsy package.
As I mentioned, Fantastic Fest announced 13 films in their 2010 festival lineup yesterday. If you are a Fantastic Fest fanatic, you probably already know this. I noticed people on Twitter exclaiming that they'd been constantly refreshing the festival website page while eagerly anticipating the news. Nearly all these films are from other countries: Sweden, France, Serbia, Australia, South Africa, Hong Kong and Japan. I don't know...
You all know what I mean when I say "Fantastic" news tidbits, right? Fantastic Fest is in September and we should be receiving -- and publishing -- regular updates on the lineup, special guests, and whatever other treats the festival has in store for us this year. But there's some other Austin film news, too, so I thought I'd take the lazy way out -- er, I mean the convenient way for readers, that's it -- and combine it all into one nice newsy package.
As I mentioned, Fantastic Fest announced 13 films in their 2010 festival lineup yesterday. If you are a Fantastic Fest fanatic, you probably already know this. I noticed people on Twitter exclaiming that they'd been constantly refreshing the festival website page while eagerly anticipating the news. Nearly all these films are from other countries: Sweden, France, Serbia, Australia, South Africa, Hong Kong and Japan. I don't know...
- 7/21/2010
- by Jette Kernion
- Slackerwood
Where the Disney-owned studio leads, the rest of Hollywood follows. And its latest film, Toy Story 3, is already a hit
In the notoriously precarious film industry, where nothing is certain and no one knows anything, there is one word that functions simultaneously as talisman, balm and kitemark. That word is Pixar, and you don't have to be a shareholder in Disney, which bought the computer animation studio in 2006, to feel reassured when you hear it.
With the imminent UK release of Toy Story 3, the apparently final instalment of the groundbreaking series that began Pixar's reign in 1995, the question of how one studio has maintained such incomparably high quality control remains intriguing. Among Pixar's contemporaries, only Japan's Studio Ghibli (much beloved of the Pixar crowd, who even pay tribute to the Ghibli classic My Neighbour Totoro in Toy Story 3) has been more consistently groundbreaking in animation, and even...
In the notoriously precarious film industry, where nothing is certain and no one knows anything, there is one word that functions simultaneously as talisman, balm and kitemark. That word is Pixar, and you don't have to be a shareholder in Disney, which bought the computer animation studio in 2006, to feel reassured when you hear it.
With the imminent UK release of Toy Story 3, the apparently final instalment of the groundbreaking series that began Pixar's reign in 1995, the question of how one studio has maintained such incomparably high quality control remains intriguing. Among Pixar's contemporaries, only Japan's Studio Ghibli (much beloved of the Pixar crowd, who even pay tribute to the Ghibli classic My Neighbour Totoro in Toy Story 3) has been more consistently groundbreaking in animation, and even...
- 7/3/2010
- by Ryan Gilbey
- The Guardian - Film News
Is it a revelation or a revolution? It’s both! The Revelation Perth International Film Festival is tackling the theme of “Revolution” when its 13th annual edition begins violating Australia on July 8-18. Get set for 11 days filled French zombies, Belgian cowboys, outer space outlaws, Beat poets, cat ladies, gospel musicians and other revolutionaries.
Actually, one of the main features of the festival this year is a slew of music documentaries, mostly spotlighting both American and Australian music. On the U.S. side of things there’s Wheedle’s Groove, a look at the history of Seattle funk; Rejoice and Shout, which examines gospel music’s impact on African-American culture — and vice versa; Tom Dicillo’s Doors documentary When You’re Strange; plus The Family Jams and 72 Musicians. And, from Australia, there’s Megan Simpson-Hubberman’s classic concert film The Night of the Triffids.
There’s lots more than music docs,...
Actually, one of the main features of the festival this year is a slew of music documentaries, mostly spotlighting both American and Australian music. On the U.S. side of things there’s Wheedle’s Groove, a look at the history of Seattle funk; Rejoice and Shout, which examines gospel music’s impact on African-American culture — and vice versa; Tom Dicillo’s Doors documentary When You’re Strange; plus The Family Jams and 72 Musicians. And, from Australia, there’s Megan Simpson-Hubberman’s classic concert film The Night of the Triffids.
There’s lots more than music docs,...
- 7/2/2010
- by Mike Everleth
- Underground Film Journal
Good news for fans of cult animation! Vincent Patar and Stephane Aubier, best known as the creators of cult hit Panique Au Village - A Town Called Panic on these shores - are bringing a slice of their very, very strange past to television screens.
Back in the 1990s the duo created a pair of short films using paper cut out animation and starring the Baltus family. And they're now aiming to bring the Baltus' back for twenty six episodes - seven minutes each - in a television series called Les Touplat.
For those unfamiliar with the duo's work it is intentionally primitive, juvenile, very silly and hysterically funny. And anything they care to do is something I care to watch. Check out one of the early Baltus shorts below!
Back in the 1990s the duo created a pair of short films using paper cut out animation and starring the Baltus family. And they're now aiming to bring the Baltus' back for twenty six episodes - seven minutes each - in a television series called Les Touplat.
For those unfamiliar with the duo's work it is intentionally primitive, juvenile, very silly and hysterically funny. And anything they care to do is something I care to watch. Check out one of the early Baltus shorts below!
- 6/29/2010
- Screen Anarchy
Amidst all the technological advances and trending focus on computer animation, I am pleased to see a continued interest in the traditional art of stop motion animation. Stéphane Aubier and Vincent Patar continue the trend with their stop motion animated film A Town Called Panic.
The feature film, a short but sweet 75 minutes in length, is a follow up to the filmmakers. 2000 short animation Panique au village. A Town Called Panic is filled with frantic and energetic, showcasing comical creativity within its structured chaos. In short, watching A Town Called Panic is akin to experiencing Gumby, having been genetically spliced with Toy Story, all jacked up on speed and adrenaline.
A Town Called Panic follows a small village of folks, created in the style of old school molded plastic toys. Horse, quite literally a plastic toy horse, lives in one house across the road from farmers Stephen and Janine. Living...
The feature film, a short but sweet 75 minutes in length, is a follow up to the filmmakers. 2000 short animation Panique au village. A Town Called Panic is filled with frantic and energetic, showcasing comical creativity within its structured chaos. In short, watching A Town Called Panic is akin to experiencing Gumby, having been genetically spliced with Toy Story, all jacked up on speed and adrenaline.
A Town Called Panic follows a small village of folks, created in the style of old school molded plastic toys. Horse, quite literally a plastic toy horse, lives in one house across the road from farmers Stephen and Janine. Living...
- 3/12/2010
- by Travis
- WeAreMovieGeeks.com
"A Prophet" from director Jacques Audiard won nine awards at the 35th annual Cesar Awards. The Oscar nominated film for best foreign language took home best French film of the year, director, screenplay, editing, cinematography, production design, best actor, and most promising actor (best male newcomer) for Tahar Rahim. Niels Arestrup won best supporting actor also for "A Prophet."
Clint Eastwood's "Gran Torino" was named best foreign film of the year, beating out last year's Oscar winner "Slumdog Millionaire" and this year's blue contender, "Avatar."
Meanwhile, "Avatar's" Sigourney Weaver presented Harrison Ford with a Cesar of Honor award. Aw...
Here's the list of nominees and winners of the 35th annual Cesar Awards (winners are highlighted):
Best Film
A l.Origine, Xavier Giannoli
Le Concert, Radu Mihaileanu
Les Herbes Folles, Alain Resnais
La Journee de la Jupe, Jean-Paul Lilienfeld
Rapt, Lucas Belvaux
Un Prophete, Jacques Audiard
Welcome, Philippe Lioret...
Clint Eastwood's "Gran Torino" was named best foreign film of the year, beating out last year's Oscar winner "Slumdog Millionaire" and this year's blue contender, "Avatar."
Meanwhile, "Avatar's" Sigourney Weaver presented Harrison Ford with a Cesar of Honor award. Aw...
Here's the list of nominees and winners of the 35th annual Cesar Awards (winners are highlighted):
Best Film
A l.Origine, Xavier Giannoli
Le Concert, Radu Mihaileanu
Les Herbes Folles, Alain Resnais
La Journee de la Jupe, Jean-Paul Lilienfeld
Rapt, Lucas Belvaux
Un Prophete, Jacques Audiard
Welcome, Philippe Lioret...
- 2/28/2010
- by Manny
- Manny the Movie Guy
No surprises at the 35th Cesars, as A Prophet cleaned up in all major categories it was nominated in: Best Film, Best Director (Audiard), Best Original Screenplay, Best Cinematography (Stephane Fontaine), Best Editing (Juliette Welfling), Best Art Direction (Michel Barthelemy) and last but not least, one of my top 5 performance of the year, Niels Arestrup won for Best Supporting... - No surprises at the 35th Césars, as A Prophet cleaned up in all major categories it was nominated in: Best Film, Best Director (Audiard), Best Original Screenplay, Best Cinematography (Stephane Fontaine), Best Editing (Juliette Welfling), Best Art Direction (Michel Barthelemy) and last but not least, one of my top 5 performance of the year, Niels Arestrup won for Best Supporting -- he of course won best supporting in The Beat that My Heart Skipped. The revelation of the year Tahar Rahim won a pair of awards...
- 2/28/2010
- IONCINEMA.com
February proved to be a winner, but that was mainly thanks to the Portland International Film Festival (Piff). Leonardo DiCaprio in Shutter Island was the only big release film of this month that I thought was truly worth anything. The films are released in reverse chronological order, and if you don’t recognize the title, that means in was shown at Piff.
Click Here to vote in the 8th Annual Tsr Movie Awards
Film Reviews
Cop Out
The Ghost Writer
The Crazies
A Town Called Panic (Panique au Village)
Shutter Island
2010 Oscar Shorts – Live Action Program – film reviews
Oscar Shorts 2010 – Animated Program – film reviews
A Town Called Panic
The Wild Hunt
The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo
The Wedding Song
Welcome
Valentine’s Day
Percy Jackson & The Olympians: The Lightning Thief
The Wolfman
Bluebeard (Barbe Bleue)
A Prophet
Terribly Happy
Fish Tank
Ajami
Sweetgrass
For the Love of Movies: The...
Click Here to vote in the 8th Annual Tsr Movie Awards
Film Reviews
Cop Out
The Ghost Writer
The Crazies
A Town Called Panic (Panique au Village)
Shutter Island
2010 Oscar Shorts – Live Action Program – film reviews
Oscar Shorts 2010 – Animated Program – film reviews
A Town Called Panic
The Wild Hunt
The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo
The Wedding Song
Welcome
Valentine’s Day
Percy Jackson & The Olympians: The Lightning Thief
The Wolfman
Bluebeard (Barbe Bleue)
A Prophet
Terribly Happy
Fish Tank
Ajami
Sweetgrass
For the Love of Movies: The...
- 2/27/2010
- by Jeff Bayer
- The Scorecard Review
A Town Called Panic (Panique au Village)
Directed by: Stéphane Aubier, Vincent Patar
Cast: Stéphane Aubier, Bruce Ellison, Vincent Patar
Running Time: 1 hr 15 mins
Rating: unrated
Release Date: February 26, 2010
Plot: When Mr. Horse’s (Patar) birthday arrives, his friends Indian (Ellison) and Cowboy (Aubier) find themselves unprepared. So in an attempt to make a last minute gift, they order a few too many bricks; unleashing a very unusual series of events.
Who’S It For? Anyone who likes animation, including children. A great treat for viewers looking for something new and fun.
Expectations: From the moment I saw stills from this film, I knew I had to see it. It just looked too unique to ignore.
Scorecard (0-10)
Actors:
Stéphane Aubier as Cowboy: One of the directors voices this character, a child’s toy who lives with his good friends, Horse and Indian. Despite the fact that he’s just...
Directed by: Stéphane Aubier, Vincent Patar
Cast: Stéphane Aubier, Bruce Ellison, Vincent Patar
Running Time: 1 hr 15 mins
Rating: unrated
Release Date: February 26, 2010
Plot: When Mr. Horse’s (Patar) birthday arrives, his friends Indian (Ellison) and Cowboy (Aubier) find themselves unprepared. So in an attempt to make a last minute gift, they order a few too many bricks; unleashing a very unusual series of events.
Who’S It For? Anyone who likes animation, including children. A great treat for viewers looking for something new and fun.
Expectations: From the moment I saw stills from this film, I knew I had to see it. It just looked too unique to ignore.
Scorecard (0-10)
Actors:
Stéphane Aubier as Cowboy: One of the directors voices this character, a child’s toy who lives with his good friends, Horse and Indian. Despite the fact that he’s just...
- 2/26/2010
- by Megan Lehar
- The Scorecard Review
Paris – French Academy members got serious on Friday with two politically charged dramas heading the major categories for the 35th annual Cesar Awards that will see Jacques Audiard's "A Prophet" go head to head with Philippe Lioret's "Welcome." The nominees were announced Friday at a press conference in Paris.
While no one can foresee the winners, "A Prophet" looks bound to triumph with Jacques Audiard's prison drama nominated for 13 awards including best film, best director and a best actor and most promising male newcomer nod for the film's breakout star Tahar Rahim.
Academy voters also gave a hearty reception to Phillipe Lioret's "Welcome" with 10 nods and Xavier Giannoli's "In the Beginning" with 11 nominations.
Radu Mihaileanu's "The Concert" was also music to voters' ears with the tragicomedy about a washed-up former conductor of the Bolshoi orchestra who travels to Paris to make his career comeback scoring six nominations.
While no one can foresee the winners, "A Prophet" looks bound to triumph with Jacques Audiard's prison drama nominated for 13 awards including best film, best director and a best actor and most promising male newcomer nod for the film's breakout star Tahar Rahim.
Academy voters also gave a hearty reception to Phillipe Lioret's "Welcome" with 10 nods and Xavier Giannoli's "In the Beginning" with 11 nominations.
Radu Mihaileanu's "The Concert" was also music to voters' ears with the tragicomedy about a washed-up former conductor of the Bolshoi orchestra who travels to Paris to make his career comeback scoring six nominations.
- 1/22/2010
- by By Rebecca Leffler
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Fantastic Fest favorite Stéphane Aubier and Vincent Patar’s “A Town Called Panic” (French Title: “Panique au village”) begins a two week run at NYC’s Film Forum tomorrow. The flick, which won an audience award at Fantastic Fest, is also distinguished as being the first full-length stop-motion animation to screen at Cannes. Devin Faraci on the film site Chud sums up the film, “‘A Town Called Panic’ follows the adventures of three …...
- 12/15/2009
- Indiewire
[Our thanks to Andrew David Long for the following wrap up of the 2009 Whistler Film Festival.]
Whistler itself is a gorgeous destination, world-famous for skiing and mountain biking, and the Whistler Film Festival (Wff) largely concerns itself with discovering new, independent voices. On those points alone, it's hard to avoid thinking of Sundance, a comparison that can't really be made. Now in its ninth installment, Whistler remains a very intimate festival and is still potentially in the early stages of its development.
Opening Night is at the Whistler Conference Centre, which is licensed, so many of the screenings there are rather more festive. Though the opening speeches are on the long side, the crowd is still happy. While I'm wary of converted screening spaces, the digital projection there is mercifully very good. Back at the hotel, I stare again at the screening schedule and rue the fact that everything screens only once.
Suffice it to say, these few days in Whistler can be packed. Wff is...
Whistler itself is a gorgeous destination, world-famous for skiing and mountain biking, and the Whistler Film Festival (Wff) largely concerns itself with discovering new, independent voices. On those points alone, it's hard to avoid thinking of Sundance, a comparison that can't really be made. Now in its ninth installment, Whistler remains a very intimate festival and is still potentially in the early stages of its development.
Opening Night is at the Whistler Conference Centre, which is licensed, so many of the screenings there are rather more festive. Though the opening speeches are on the long side, the crowd is still happy. While I'm wary of converted screening spaces, the digital projection there is mercifully very good. Back at the hotel, I stare again at the screening schedule and rue the fact that everything screens only once.
Suffice it to say, these few days in Whistler can be packed. Wff is...
- 12/9/2009
- Screen Anarchy
- You have to admire European film industry folks - they go to bat for their filmmakers. Further proof that European filmmakers do have it good, the Board of Management of the Council of Europe's Eurimages Fund agreed to support 13 feature films with some Euros and among the featured projects and filmmakers we have veterans Istvan Szabo (Being Julia), Nanni Moretti (Quiet Chaos) and Bent Hamer (O'Horten) receiving some coin for their latest. Danis Tanovic, who just preemed his film Triage at Tiff will receive once again multi-territory support for Cirkus Columbia, while A Town Called Panic pair Vincent Patar & Stéphane Aubier team for another animated project. Spanish director Iciar Bollain (see pic) is prepping her film Even the Rain - a biopic on Christopher Columbus with actors Luis Tosar and Belén Rueda. Here is the full list below of films to watch out for in late 2010, 2011 and beyond. Kai
- 9/30/2009
- IONCINEMA.com
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