Branimation

I had a little free time at work today so I invented a new art form. I call it “branimation.” It’s like animation, but it uses Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie. “So is this kind of like motion capture?” you wonder. Yes — it’s EXACTLY like motion capture, only with Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie. “You mean like BEOWULF, which had a motion-captured Angelina Jolie with gold CGI body paint and high-heeled feet” you wonder. “Yes — it’s EXACTLY like BEOWULF, which had a motion-captured Angelina Jolie with gold CGI body paint and high-heeled feet, only this would also have a motion-captured Brad Pitt with green CGI body paint and high-heeled feet. And Brad and Angelina (or “Brangelina” as I’ve decided to call them, wittily) would play every role in every film made in the innovative new “branimation” format.

The first branimated picture will be an adaptation of the popular British television programme “The Test Card” (pictured). Brad will play the clown (he’s so funny!), and Angelina will play the girl (she’s so pretty!). With body paint and high-heeled feet. If this is successful, which it is sure to be because millions of people tuned in to watch the Test Card in the 70s, we will follow it up with a new entry in the CARRY ON series, CARRY ON BRANIMATING, with Brad Pitt in the Kenneth Williams role and Angelina Jolie in the Barbara Windsor role. With CGI body paint and high-heeled feet, naturally. Because we don’t want to mess with a successful brand, or “brange” as I’ve decided to call it, wittily.

Of course, I realize there’s a potential flaw in my plan (or “plange”). It is dependant on Brangelina (or “Brad & Angelina” as I’ve decided to call them, wittily) agreeing to be in these films. But in fact, even if Brad & Angelina for some unaccountable reason refuse to appear in my film THE TEST CARD 3D and my film CARRY ON BRANIMATING 3D, I can still make the films, casting unknowns as Brad & Angelina (or “Brad Pitt & Angelina Jolie” as I’ve decided to call them, wittily). We can put the CGI body paint and high-heeled feet in later.

Of course again, casting unknowns isn’t as easy as it sounds. The difficulty is that usually when you’ve cast somebody, they are no longer unknown. The casting process frequently involves getting to know the actor, to some extent. “The system” has worked out many ways to prevent this from happening (casting agents, video auditions, etc), but with limited success. I’m told that Nicholas Winding Refn auditions actors by sitting on the floor wearing tight leather shorts and splaying his legs in an unnecessarily explicit fashion, so that they will not want to get to know him, but even this does not always work, as can be seen by the fact that some actors agree to be in his films.

To really cast unknown actors, one would have to audition them like the way in LAST TANGO IN PARIS Marlon Brando copulates with Maria Schneider (or “Maria”, as I have decided to call them, wittily) — in a vacant apartment with furniture piled in the corner under a dust sheet, without exchanging names or achieving simultaneous orgasm. I’m not saying that’s what I will do if B&M refuse to be in my films. I’m just saying that’s what I might be forced to do if B&M refuse to be in my films.

It’ll be on their own heads.

Sword’s Law

HARAKIRI (which is really called SEPPUKU), a truly savage piece of assault-course celluloid, was one of the first films I ever Shadowplayed, and I was happy to revisit it for Electric Sheep in the light of the welcome new DVD and BluRay from Masters of Cinema. Masaki Kobayashi might be best known for KWAIDAN (which is really called KAIDAN), but I actually prefer this one.

Buy –

Harakiri (Dual Format Blu-ray & DVD) [Masters of Cinema]

Or, if American, there’s the Criterion Blu:

Harakiri (The Criterion Collection) [Blu-ray]

Headspace

New Forgotten!

When Fellini was preparing JULIETTE OF THE SPIRITS, which he claimed (falsely) was his first colour film, he was walking around trying to really SEE the colours of the world, and this put on a certain strain, “Until my friends said, Federico, is there something wrong with your back? Because you are walking like a robotto.”

That probably never happened, of course, but Fellini puts his fat finger on a modern malaise, what we might call The Deckard Dilemma — am I human, or just a perfectly designed automaton? (OK, he wasn’t talking about that at all, but go with it…)

Adjacent to that source of existential angst is another, only slightly less discomfitting — I may be human, but what about the guy in the next office cubicle? What about everybody else?

And THAT is the subject of the ripe slice of Polish sci-fi under discussion at the Daily Notebook, linked to above.