November!

November must be my second favorite month, right after October. From my desk at work I can only see a window if the manager across the hall has his office door open. So when 5 o'clock rolled around and I happened to steal a glance of the world, I was shocked to see it was almost pitch black outside. WHY MUST WE SCREW AROUND WITH DAYLIGHT SAVINGS TIME?! But when I walked out the lobby door I was greeted with the slight smell of a wood fire and the cool dark night. It was then I realized I love November. As I drove home the full moon hung low over the small towns, lighting up the grey autumn clouds. The tangle of bare branches in the pale light. Most trees having yielded their leaves to the wind on the weekend. Straight out of an Andrew Wyeth painting.

The Night Orchard.

They heard somewhere in that tenantless night a bell that tolled and ceased where no bell was and they rode out on the round dais of the earth which alone was dark and no light to it and which carried their figures and bore them up into the swarming stars so that they rode not under them but among then and they rode at once jaunty and circumspect, like thieves newly loosed in that dark electric, like young thieves in a glowing orchard, loosely jacketed against the cold and ten thousand worlds for the choosing.

-Cormac McCarthy
(All the Pretty Horses)

A couple of things.

Wes Anderson is one of my favorite directors so I’ve been waiting on this one for some time. With The Darjeeling Limited coming out only two years ago, I didn’t expect to see Fantastic Mr. Fox for at least four years due to the stop motion animation. Needless to say I was pretty surprised when this trailer showed up last week out of the blue. I could not ask for anything more from the animation. It’s perfect right down to the way the characters’ fur ruffles as they talk. Despite the fact that the film is animated it sill has that distinct Wes Andseron style, the overhead shot of the desk is perfect. This movie has moved to second on my must see list, right below Where the Wild Things Are which brings me to my second find.

OK. So this isn’t really a trailer, but its well worth watching. This featurette is basically about Maurice Sendak’s thoughts on the adaptation of his book Where the Wild Things Are. There’s some interesting behind the scenes footage and also some commentary from Spike Jonze. Another note of interest is that the song at the end sounds like it is one of the original songs featuring Karen O.

The trailer for the new Richard Kelly film has also appeared online. The Box is about a family who is struggling financially. One day a disfigured stranger appears with box holding a button. If they should push the button they will get one million dollars but someone will die. I love Donnie Darko. I enjoyed Southland Tales, eventhough I didn’t understand a second of it. But this just looks like a let down.

Finally, the trailer for A Serious Man, the new Cohen brothers’ film has made its debut. Looks interesting. The trailer is cool. But something seems missing. I’m sure this movie will melt my mind anyway.

I lied. This is really the last one. Big Fan. I had never heard of this movie. I just happened to be on the Apple trailers webpage, saw a poster with Patton Oswald with his face painted, and clicked on it expecting to see a comedy. I was way wrong. But it turned out to be the most interesting thing I’ve seen this week.

They're here.

After starting these guys a couple of weeks ago I finally got around to finishing them. At first they all came out as dark as the short one on the left. I thought it suited him (he looks like he grew out of the ground in this picture) so I left him the way he was, but repainted the other two. They're sitting beneath a pumpkin vine that sprouted this spring after I threw last Halloween's pumpkins in the garden to rot.

These were inspired by the incredibly talented Bean over at http://thepumpkinhollow.blogspot.com.

Adams Who?

Once again, pure genius. I love the "Adams and Franklin" header, as if it's a TV show or something. The colonial version of The Odd Couple. More of this brillance can be found here.

Fire!

Last night was filled plenty of flashes and sparks and pops and screams and the bitter smell of sulfur.

Here comes the sun.

This trailer for Rockband: The Beatles is genius. My favorite part is the elevator ride with the costume change to the Sergeant Pepper's uniforms. The only drawback is the actual game has full 3D animation instead of what they show in the trailer. On the other hand, new controllers are being released based on the band's classic instruments.

I should have gone to school for animation.

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