Anomalisa (2015) or, Depressed Adult Male

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Lead character Michael Stone looks himself in the mirror dejectedly on this poster for Duke Johnson and Charlie Kaufman's Anomalisa

Our protagonist Michael is a guru for the service industry and comes to Cincinnati to give a lecture but finds himself in a mentally disturbed state.

Anomalisa is an existential romance-drama written by Charlie Kaufman (Synecdoche, New York (2008)), based on his same-titled 2005 play, and co-directed by Kaufman and Duke Johnson (Mary Shelley's Frankenhole (2010-12)). It is made in fascinating, almost masochistically time-consuming stop-motion animation, which is carried out in very detailed and vivid fashion.
The story of Anomalisa is relentlessly downbeat; the theme of alienation dominates everything; the lighting, Michael's sudden infatuation with Lisa, a woman he meets in the hotel, and the day after. It takes place in a dispiriting tone of near futility in any kind of human relation, which is the feeling that encapsulates the overall very melancholic Anomalisa. It doesn't indicate that Kaufman has gotten any better, or lighter, mentally speaking.
Ultimately a question of temperament, taste and tolerance will decide whether you'll love Anomalisa to death or mostly shrug it off like a miserable cold, as was the way I more or less felt about it.

Related posts:

Charlie Kaufman: 2015 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED IV]

2015 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED III]
2015 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED II]
Adaptation (2002) or, Charlie Kaufman's Fictional Life (writer)
Confessions of a Dangerous Mind (2002) or, The Gong Show Killer (writer)
Being John Malkovich (1999) - Jonze, Kaufman and Malkovich's great triumph (writer)

Watch a trailer for the film here

Cost: 8 mil. $
Box office: 5.6 mil. $
= Huge flop
[Anomalisa premiered 4 September (Telluride Film Festival, USA) and runs 90 minutes. In the play, David Thewlis, Jennifer Jason Leigh and Tom Noonan also played the parts and sat on different parts of the stage and didn't move, only interacting through dialog. The film version should be identical, only different in terms of its media and that the action actually takes place. The film started as a short film that got off as a Kickstarter campaign that gathered 400k $, enabling funding for it as a feature to come together. The puppets were created with a 3D printer, and production lasted for two years. Paramount bought the worldwide distribution rights after the film's Toronto screening. It opened #34 in 4 theaters to a 135k $ first weekend in North America, where it peaked #18 in 573 theaters and grossed 3.7 mil. $ (66.1 % of the total gross). The 2nd and 3rd biggest markets were the UK with 321k $ (5.7 %) and France with 167k $ (3 %). The film was nominated for the Best Animation Oscar as the first R-rated animation to ever achieve this, but lost to masterpiece Inside Out. It was also nominated for a Golden Globe, 4 Independent Spirit Awards, and was the first animation to win the Grand Jury Prize at the Venice International Film Festival. Anomalisa is certified fresh at 92 % with a 8.4/10 critical average at Rotten Tomatoes.]

What do you think of Anomalisa?

Sausage Party (2016) - One outrageous, funny, horny adult animation

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An appropriately outrageous, funny poster for Greg Tiernan and Conrad Vernon's Sausage Party 

 

Sausage Party is the first R-rated CGI-animated movie, described as a spoof on Pixar movies by some, it is a furiously horny raunch-comedy. It is writen by Seth Rogen (Superbad (2007)), Evan Goldberg (The Night Before (2015)), Kyle Hunter (The Night Before) and Ariel Shaffir (The Night Before), with Jonah Hill (21 Jump Street (2012)) contributing story elements, and directed by Greg Tiernan (Thomas & Friends: Sticky Situations (2012)) and Conrad Vernon (Shrek 2 (2004)).

Frank, a sausage who is in love with a bun named Brenda, has high hopes of the divine afterlife outside the store which are to be fulfilled on 'red-white-and-blue day' (4th of July). But new intelligence rocks the food items' firm belief in a great beyond...

Sausage Party deals with more real content than most audiences probably expect: SPOILER Namely the idea of a divine afterlife, - and in doing so staunchly reproving and rejecting all religions, which isn't my cup of tea, but at least it's done with a lot of humor here. SPOILER And on its ambitious path, it also attempts to solve the Israel-Palestine conflict and reproves reactionary, Islamic politics!

 

 

But don't kid yourself: While doing these seemingly serious things, Sausage Party delivers enough f-bombs and more finessed sexual references to satisfy even the most vulgar teen or adult. It really is outrageous SPOILER and, of course, all culminates in a joyous, funny, exhilarating food orgy. - Literally. The film also references countless movies and celebrities.

Of the many star voices in the film, Rogen and Kristen Wiig (Ghostbusters (2016)) as the leads do well, - although there wasn't that much Wiig-quality to Brenda, perhaps a side-effect of the lovely funny-woman's simply over-working herself these years. David Krumholtz (Hail Caesar! (2016)) is funny as Lavash, and Edward Norton (Moonrise Kingdom (2012)) stands out as Sammy, - in a good or bad way will be up to the individual viewer, - with a voice that's very recognizably shaped on Woody Allen. Salma Hayek (Frida (2002)) is also good fun as a lesbian taco.

Sausage Party is filled with amusing moments and some that are laugh-out-loud funny. The animation isn't on par with Pixar movies, (but look at the budget and go figure), and is still of impressively high quality. It is an outrageous, very funny and very horny movie, bringing to mind such flicks as Everything You Always Wanted to Know about Sex *But Were Afraid to Ask (1972) and Fritz the Cat (1972). It could only come from the warped, baked minds of Goldberg and Rogen.

 

 

Watch a trailer for the film here

 

Cost: 19 mil. $

Box office: 114.3 mil. $ and counting

= Huge hit

[Sausage Party premiered March 14 (SXSW Austin, Texas Festival) and runs 88 minutes. Rogen has stated that the film took 8 years to get made due to hesitance and fear in Hollywood and has said of its development: "What would it be like if our food had feelings?’ We very quickly realized that it would be fucked up." The film dodged a NC-17 rating by removing some pubic hair from one of the food characters in the film to receive its R-rating. Controversy has surrounded the film's production, as animators have allegedly been forced to work overtime without pay to complete the film on its assigned budget. A large number of animators have reportedly been removed from the credits due to complaints about this outrageous praxis, alleged to have been at the behest of co-director Tiernan. (This story seems to explain some of the reason why the film could be made for such a low budget.) The film opened #2, behind Suicide Squad, with a 34.3 mil. $ first weekend in North America, where it stayed #2 for another week and remained in the top 5 for 5 weeks in total, and has to date grossed 93.9 mil. $. The film has yet to open in several important markets and so is likely to gross a good deal more still. Rogen has talked of an idea for a sequel, which is likely to materialize now. Sausage Party is certified fresh at 82 % with a 6.7 critical average at Rotten Tomatoes.]

What do you think of Sausage Party?

Beavis and Butt-Head Do America (1996) - Judge's hilarious America portrait

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+ Best Road Movie of the Year + Best Satire of the Year

Mike Judge's uniquely off-putting animated teenage characters arrive on the big screen in full colors on this adventure-teasing poster for his Beavis and Butt-Head Do America

Typical US teenagers and heavy rock fans Beavis and Butt-Head suffer the agony of having their TV set stolen, and to get it back they end up crossing the country and falling into a nasty situation with an assassin, without ever really realizing this however.

Beavis and Butt-Head Do America is written by Joe Stillman (Gulliver's Travels (2010)), co-writer/director Brian Mulroney (KaBlam! (1997, TV-series)) and great Ecuadorean-American filmmaker, feature-debuting co-writer/director Mike Judge (Idiocracy (2006)), who created the Beavis and Butt-Head TV-series that ran from 1993-11. Mike de Seve (Father of the Pride (2004, TV-series)) and Yvette Kaplan (Zooey's Zoo (1999, TV movie)) co-directed.

Beavis & Butt-Head Do America may be the funniest adult animation comedy of all time. A road movie comedy based on MTV's popular cartoon-looking series' juvenile duo, the humor is drier, more low-key and hysterical than the loud escapades of Springfield (in the Simpsons TV-series (1989-) and the 2007 movie), and different from the 1999 South Park movie, which are the two closest comparison works.
The animation is neat, and especially the delightful caricatures of a palette of more or less archetypical American characters is highly comical. Robert Stack (Mumford (1999)), Demi Moore (Ghost (1990)), Bruce Willis (Die Hard (1988)) and Cloris Leachman (When We Last Spoke (2019)) deliver some of the best voices in the film, besides the two leads which Judge do himself.

 

Related posts:

Mike Judge: 2015 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED IV]
 

2015 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED III]

2015 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED II]

2015 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED I]

Silicon Valley - season 2 (2015) - Critically deflated second run for beloved sitcom 

2014 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED IV] 

2014 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED III] 

2014 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED II] 

Silicon Valley - season 1 (2014) - Judge and Co. introduce a hilarious tech-centric satirical sitcom

1996 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Watch a trailer for the movie here

Cost: 12 mil. $
Box office: 63.1 mil. $ (North America alone)
= Huge hit (projected return of 5.83 times its cost)

[Beavis and Butt-Head Do America premiered 15 December (Los Angeles) and runs 81 minutes. The show was put on hiatus to make the film. The film opened #1 to a 20.4 mil. $ first weekend in North America, where it spent another weekend in the top 5 (#4), grossing 63.1 mil. $. The film went unreleased in many markets and was likely mostly a North-American-centered hit. My projected world gross total is 70 mil. $. Roger Ebert gave it a 3/4 star review, translating to a notch under this one. A VoD sequel followed in 2022, Beavis and Butt-Head Do the Universe. Judge returned with Office Space (1999). Beavis and Butt-Head Do America is fresh at 71 % with a 6.40/10 critical average at Rotten Tomatoes.]

 

What do you think of Beavis and Butt-Head Do America?

A Scanner Darkly (2006) - Dick and Linklater's drug-infested vision of the future

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+ Best Adult Animation Movie of the Year + Best Drug Movie of the Year

Sexy Winona Ryder and three male stars that look like bums peak through shades on this somewhat esoteric poster for Richard Linklater's A Scanner Darkly

 

In a near future, drugs have increased their grip on society, and society fights back with informant culture and surveillance.

 
A Scanner Darkly by Texan master filmmaker, writer/director Richard Linklater (Boyhood (2014)) is a really psychedelic, innovative and exciting drug movie visually speaking. - It is a bit like hanging out with trippy junkies for 90 minutes,  but, mark you, junkies created by one of the greatest sci-fi minds of all time. The plot unfortunately drags itself into motion.
The film is an adaptation of Philip K. Dick's (Counter-Clock World (1967)) same-titled 1977 novel, one of his more personal, it is claimed, (perhaps also since he himself was a drug addict and got permanent pancreatic damage as a result.)
A Scanner Darkly doesn't reach the top with the greatest Dick adaptations (which are Blade Runner (1982), Total Recall (1990) and Minority Report (2002)), but it does hold killer performances from Rory Cochrane (A Kiss Before Dying (1991)) and Robert Downey Jr. (Kiss Kiss Bang Bang (2005)) as a paranoid rambling addict, and the other cast members are also good. The film uses the unusual technique 'interpolated rotoscoping', meaning that digitally recorded footage was then animated by frame-by-frame outlining, a difficult and long process.
But the resulting film looks really cool, but is definitely also not for everyone. But followers of drug movies, Dick-adaptations and/or weird science fiction should find it highly interesting.

Related posts:

Richard Linklater: The 2010s in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess 

2014 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED IV]  
2014 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED III]
2014 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED II]
2014 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED I]   
2014 in films - according to Film Excess 
Boyhood (2014) or, Colored Mirror
Before Midnight (2013) - Linklater, Hawke and Delpy's Before trilogy comes to a tender, incisive and chilling end 
2011 in films - according to Film Excess 
Top 10: The best true story movies reviewed by Film Excess to date
Bernie (2011) - Linklater, Black and Hollandsworth's incredible true-crime dramedy

2006 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED III]

2006 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED II] 

2006 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED I]

2003 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED I] 

School of Rock (2003) - Best school movie ever! 

Dazed and Confused (1993) - Linklater's stoner youth nostalgia is a blast

 

 

Check out the wild style of A Scanner Darkly in its trailer here

Cost: 8.7 mil. $
Box office: 7.6 mil. $
= Huge flop (returned 0.87 times its cost)

[A Scanner Darkly premiered 25 May (Cannes Film Festival, Un Certain Regard section) and runs 100 minutes. Linklater obtained permission from Dick's daughters to make the film. Shooting took place from May - June 2004 in Texas, including Austin, and in California. The animation process dragged out and required extra funds. The film opened #19 to a 391k $ first weekend in North America in 17 theaters, where it peaked at #10 and in 263 theaters, grossing 5.5 mil. $ (72.4 % of the total gross). The 2nd and 3rd biggest markets were the UK with 1.1 mil. $ (14.5 %) and Australia with 186k $ (2.4 %). Linklater returned with Inning by Inning: A Portrait of a Coach (2008, documentary) and theatrically with Me and Orson Welles (2008). Keanu Reeves (John Wick (2014)) returned in The Lake House (2006); Winona Ryder (Girl, Interrupted (1999)) in The Ten (2007)); Downey Jr. in Fur: An Imaginary Portrait of Diane Arbus (2006); and Woody Harrelson (Bunraki (2010)) in Nanking (2007). A Scanner Darkly is fresh at 68 % with a 6.60/10 critical average at Rotten Tomatoes.]

 

What do you think of A Scanner Darkly?